Book Description:
One case from her past defines homicide detective Abby Hart. With a possible serial killer stalking elderly women in Long Beach, California, Abby’s best lead is Luke Murphy, an irritating private investigator who saw a suspect flee the scene of the latest homicide. When Abby discovers that the most recent victim is related to the governor, she’s anxious to talk to him about a cold case that’s personal to her—one Luke is interested in as well. As she learns more about the restaurant fire that took her parents’ lives years ago, Abby discovers why Luke is so invested in finding the ones responsible. The more they uncover, though, the more questions they have. Can Abby find peace without having all the answers?
Author Bio:
A retired Long Beach California police officer of 22 years (16 in uniform and 6 as a non-career officer), Janice Cantore worked a variety of assignments, patrol, administration, juvenile investigations and training. During the course of her career in uniform Janice found that faith was indispensable to every aspect of the job and published articles on faith at work, one for a quarterly newspaper called “Cop and Christ”, and another for the monthly magazine “Today’s Christian Woman”.
With retirement Janice began to write longer pieces and several novels were born. She has a two book suspense series in print she calls Brinna’s Heart Series, The Kevlar Heart and A Heart of Justice (Oaktara Publishing). Janice is excited and honored to now be a part of the Tyndale Publishing House family. Accused, the first installment in her new suspense offering, The Pacific Coast Justice Series, is set to be released February 1, 2012 and will kick off a brand new chapter in her writing career. In addition to suspense and action, her books feature strong female leads. Janice writes suspense novels designed to keep you engrossed and leave you inspired.
Janice has bachelor’s degrees in Biology (University of California at Irvine) and Physical Education (California State University at Long Beach). She also completed graduate coursework in Criminal Justice (University of Southern California) and is currently a member of American Christian Fiction Writer’s and Sisters in Crime. She attends Crescenta Valley Community Church in La Crescenta California and while a few years ago she retired to a house in the mountains of Southern California, she currently resides in Glendale California in order to help care for her aging parents. Janice is single and has two Labrador Retrievers, Jake and Maggie. Janice’s hobbies are reading, cross-stitching, kayaking, hiking, walking Jake and Maggie and trying to stay fit.
Donna’s ReviewDrawing Fire by Janice Cantore is book one in the Cold Case Justice series. I know you should not judge a book by its cover but I absolutely love the cover of Drawing Fire and knew I was going to like Abby before I even started reading. I was right; Abby is a very likeable character and you empathize with her along her journey. Abby has worked her way through the police force to the homicide division. She is a perfect balance of strong, tough and human. The book opens with her working a serial killer case of elderly women which is how she meets Luke. He is her lead witness and it was fun to watch her opinion of him change as they spent more time together. Luke is a PI but had met Abby in the police academy. There is a story there but I will let you read it. Cantore has a perfect balance of details that make the story human and entertaining (youtube, oreos, the dog) to balance the very serious nature of the cold cases. Abby and Luke realize they have both been researching the same cold case; the murder of her parents for many years. The more questions they ask the more dangerous it becomes. Will she ever learn the truth? I highly recommend this book if you like a well written plot, developed characters and a surprise of two to make you gasp.