Shady Finances at a For-Profit College and a 30-year-old Mystery

WATCH HER

Hester Thursby # 3

Edwin Hill

Kensington Books

December 29, 2020

Hester, her veterinarian "non-husband" Morgan, and his niece, 5-year-old Kate, are attending a gala at the new campus of Prescott University. Also in attendance are  Detective Angela White. The university owners are Tucker and Jennifer Matson, and the President is Vanessa Matson, their daughter, Vanessa's husband, Gavin Dean, is CFO. However, the real mover and shaker and a sort of adjunct to the family is Maxine Pawlikowski. The only missing principal is reclusive Jennifer Matson. During the course of the evening, Maxine approaches Angela and Hester for help, and a quick visit to Pinebank, the Matson's historical mansion in Jamaica Plain. Jennifer has called reporting that Pinebank has been broken into. Maxine doubts that and would like Hester and Angela's input before making a formal report. After talking to the vague Jennifer, the three are convinced that Jennifer staged the break-in. But then, Angela is knocked down by an intruder while checking the grounds. As an aside, Maxine asks Hester to use her considerable talents as a research librarian to track down some missing alumni. One of these missing alumni is soon found murdered in her apartment.

The connections between all the characters run wide and deep in Watch Her starting with the "accidental" drowning death of 2-year-old Rachel, the youngest Matson daughter on the Pinehurst property nearly 30 years earlier: a death which quickly disappeared from the news. As Hester observes, she "doesn't need to be a police officer to know that it would take a whiteboard, string, and about a hundred hours of group therapy to figure out the dynamics going on among these people." Shame and what lengths people will go to avoid it, along with some plain everyday larceny, play a prominent role.

Watch Her has all the crime fiction elements that I most enjoy: a complex puzzle, relatable if not all likable characters, and plenty of suspense. I highly recommend it, but I also would say that it would be best to read the previous books, Little Comfort and The Missing Ones. Both are page-turners, highly addictive, with good insight into Hester and Morgan's relationship. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 5 Stars