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Fortune's Deadly Descent

A Celia Hagen, Fortune Mystery by Audrey Braun

Fortune's Deadly Descent by Audrey Braun

Review: A power failure causes a passenger train to make an unscheduled stop, during which a young boy inexplicably vanishes, in Fortune's Deadly Descent, the second mystery in this series by Audrey Braun.

Celia Hagen is traveling from her home in Switzerland with her adopted son Benny to the French Riviera to meet with the 8-year-old's uncle Benicio when they are forced to disembark from the train south of Lyon. The boy simply disappears and Celia is frantic. Few of her fellow passengers seem all that concerned; even the local police, and later Interpol, seem to take a casual approach to the boy's disappearance. Their official response: go home and wait. Wait for what, she's not sure. Benny's birth parents are Isabel Martinez, Benicio's sister, and Jonathan Hagen, Celia's ex-husband, both of whom are serving time in Mexico — spoiler alert: this is the storyline of the first, and previous, book in this series — for the attempted murder of Celia. Celia is convinced they must somehow be involved in Benny's disappearance, even though she knows they are locked up in prison. With the local authorities apparently doing very little, and only one inspector expressing any interest at all in the case, Celia undertakes her own investigation into Benny's disappearance.

Fortune's Deadly Descent is an unsettling novel of suspense, a mother's worst nightmare. Though the story is easy enough to follow, it seems apparent that readers, who have read the previous book will have a better handle on, and understanding of, the relationships — and potential motivations — here. Even so, the storyline is exciting and fast-paced, even if there isn't much of a mystery here, more a retelling of a sequence of actions and events that lead Celia — and the reader — to the inevitable conclusion.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Fortune's Deadly Descent.

Acknowledgment: Thomas & Mercer provided a copy of Fortune's Deadly Descent for this review.

Review Copyright © 2012 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

Location(s) referenced in Fortune's Deadly Descent: France

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Fortune's Deadly Descent by Audrey Braun

Fortune's Deadly Descent by A Celia Hagen, Fortune Mystery

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-935597-66-7
Publication Date:
List Price: $14.95

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