Dangerous Passage by Lisa Harris, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Detective Avery North, a Behavior Specialist with the Atlanta, Georgia Police Department, is a widow trying to balance raising Tess, her pre-teen daughter, with her demanding career. Her latest case hits pretty close to home as it involves the murder two teen aged Asian girls, both Jane Does, in Dangerous Passage, the first mystery in this series by Lisa Harris.

Both of the dead girls had a magnolia tattooed on her right shoulder. Both had been found in an alley by a dumpster as if they were nothing but trash. Neither girl had any other form of identification on them. Avery's first thoughts are the crimes are those of a serial killer. Jackson Bryant, Atlanta's newest Medical Examiner, joins Avery thinking that together possibly they could do more than work than either alone. While going door to door in an upscale neighborhood to see if anyone had hired either of these girls as a nanny or housekeeper, they become suspicious when one of the housekeepers looked like she recognized one of the girls in photos, although she denied it. After that it didn't take long for them to realize there is much more than a serial killer here. Avery has gone from searching for a serial killer to human trafficking. But tracking down girls, who had been sold like merchandise, was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Avery knows that sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes the good guys don't win. Sometimes nothing makes sense. At times she would just like to walk away and take care of Tess, have time for her family and possibly begin a new relationship with Jackson. But she knows she cannot. Avery does what she does because, while she knows she cannot save the world, what she is doing now will make a difference to the other lost girls when she finds them.

Lisa Harris has a winner with her first Southern Crime series mystery, a strong Christian suspense novel. Although the primary plot in this novel is the dealing with the criminal actions of trafficking young girls, there is another mystery Avery is trying to solve: the murder of her brother, who was also a policeman. The solidly written plotline does well in balancing her investigations with that of a close-knit loving family, her spirited pre-teen, police procedures, and her nascent romance with Jackson.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Dangerous Passage.

Acknowledgment: Baker Publishing Group provided a copy of Dangerous Passage for this review.

Fatal Exchange
Revell (Trade Paperback), May 2014
ISBN-13: 9780800721916; ISBN-10: 0800721918

Dangerous Passage

An Avery North, Southern Crimes Mystery by Lisa Harris