Keepers [Paperback]

In Keepers: A Port Silva Mystery, sixth in Janet LaPierre's (Baby Mine) series, mother and daughter PIs Patience and Verity Mackellar, two new characters, search for a missing child. An undercover investigation in an insular religious community on California's Lost Coast provides a fitting background for the strange and dangerous goings-on that the Mackellars encounter. (Perseverance/John Daniel, $12.95 paper 252p ISBN 1-880284-44-8) Fifteen Jeffrey Rand and Leila Gaad stories appear in The Old Spies Club: And Other Rand Intrigues, by Edward D. Hoch (The Spy Who Read Latin and Other Stories). Rand, a semi-retired British espionage agent, and his wife Leila, an archeologist, embark on various and sundry Cold War adventures in Cairo, Moscow, London, New York and elsewhere.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A distraught father visits private investigator Patience Mackellar's office in Port Silva, California, seeking to find his missing family. This is the fifth mystery in LaPierre's Port Silva series, in which the characters change but the place remains the same. It's a well-paced story with a difficult-to-solve mystery at its core. LaPierre's portrayal of Port Silva, a fictional community near Mendocino, gets the feel of northern California just right, not only in the descriptions of the rugged coastline and dense woods but also in the people and plotline, which involves a New Ageish religious community. The book's strong female characters and northern California setting will appeal to fans of series by Marcia Muller and Susan Dunlap. This is a solid series that deserves more attention. John Rowen
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Meet two new, fascinating Port Silva characters, Patience and Verity Mackellar, a mother-daughter private investigative team. Patience, a policeman's widow, has kept her late husband's PI agency. Verity, seeking refuge from a troubled marriage, joins her mother to do the legwork. Finding lost pets and exposing unethical doctors leads to more difficult and dangerous work. A lost child forces the duo undercover into a reclusive religious community. Amid the spectacular beauty of the Northern California's dramatic Mendocino Coast -- the Lost Coast -- two sets of mothers and daughters find their lives in jeopardy.

Janet LaPierre is the author of the six books in the Port Silva series, all critically acclaimed. She has been nominated several times for the Anthony and Macavity awards and lives in Berkeley.