Through the Darkness: A Hannah Ives Mystery

Marcia Talley has outdone herself with Through the Darkness. The characters are well developed; the plot kept me turning pages. I loved Eva and hope to see her in future books.

The characters really came to life for me and there was never slow page. The dialogue and plot movement--everything worked. But the best was definitely the character development. Hannah Ives is a very real, human, engaging narrator.

Not your typical murder mystery--a baby disappears and a suspenseful drama begins, leading readers through a maze of police procedural activities and taut family emotions. I could not put this book down once the baby was gone. Marcia Talley's done it again! Well written and highly recommended.

Hannah Ives is delighted to have her daughter Emma, her son-in-law Dante and her three grandchildren move back to Maryland where they plan to open up Dante's Paradiso, a plush full service spa with a day care facility. Emma leaves Timmy by himself for a couple of minutes in the spa's nursery, but when she returns he is missing. A through search of the premises prove that the infant is not there. The police and the FBI investigate, but no ransom demand is made leading the profiler to believe that the kidnapper plans to raise the child as theirs. As the days pass with no recovery in sight, the family loses hope; Emma and Dante drift apart as they both subconsciously hold her culpable. After an odd encounter at the mall, Hannah begins her new brand of inquiry that includes an audacious plan to bring her grandson home. As usual Marcia Talley has written an entertaining who-done-it that pulsates with energy due to the interactivity of the beleaguered family members and several support players. Hannah, a strong willed individual, takes the necessary actions (at least as she sees it) because once she gets an idea in her head a nuclear bomb could not dissuade her. A subplot involving sexual predators targeting minors over the Internet adds a warning to parents as well as enhancing a tense trip THROUGH THE DARKNESS of human cruelty and desperation guided by the intrepid Hannah Ives, grandmotherly amateur sleuth and lioness. Harriet Klausner

Marcia Talley has won the Agatha and Anthony Awards. Through the Darkness is the sixth Hannah Ives Mystery. Hannah Ives is a six-year breast-cancer survivor. But the terror she felt fighting cancer is nothing to the terror she feels following the kidnapping of her one-year-old grandson, Tim. Hannah's son-in-law Dante Shemansky would prefer to be known as simply Dante. He's a man with big dreams and he has a dream in the making. He's turning a former restaurant into a 20,000-square-foot day spa that is the epitome of luxury. It even boasts a day care center for children that is being readied by Emily, Hannah's daughter. Right before the opening of the day spa, Hannah's grandson, goes missing from the day care center. Because there is no ransom note, it is believed that a monster has taken the child. Hannah won't rest until she finds her grandson, but her quest may be beyond dangerous. I enjoy heroines that are middle-aged. It is proof (I knew) that women of a certain age are strong, smart and resourceful. Hannah is all that and more. I intend to read her previous novels. Armchair Interviews says: Through the Darkness is a page-turner.