When Secrets Die

I started reading Lynn Hightower's books only last year, and each and every one is an absolute gem. For fans of suspense thrillers, Ms. Hightower is definitely an author that should go on your auto-buy list, as her series starring private investigator Lena Padget only gets better and better as time goes on. In WHEN SECRETS DIE, Lena is faced with a case that truly has her baffled. Emma Marsden is still grieving over her young son's death from what she believes to be some type of rare liver disease. Trying to piece her life back together for both her sake and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Blaine, Emma attempts to deal with infant Ned's death as best she can. Her temporary reprieve is shattered, however, when her son's pediatrician, Dr. Theodore Tundridge, accuses Emma of killing her son herself-of secretly poisoning him in a crazy bid for attention as a sufferer of Munchausen by Proxy. Still reeling from her son's death, Emma must now deal with the charges brought against her. Blaine, Ned's half-sister, may now be taken away from her mother due to the investigation by the Department of Children and Family services. With nowhere else to turn, Emma enlists the help of P.I. Lena Padget to disprove the allegations against her. Lena finds other suspicious deaths that have happened under Dr. Tundridge's care, most specifically two SIDS deaths of children of one of his employees, Amaryllis Burton. Then there's more incriminating evidence against the pediatrician-the doctor has sold, for millions of dollars, an unusual, patented genetic material that was found in Ned Marsden's blood. When it looks like the doctor himself might possibly be behind Ned's death, Lena discovers a video-tape that shows, almost without a doubt, that maybe Emma Marsden isn't the innocent, grieving woman she appears to be. But then Blaine goes missing, and no one knows what to do. Is the doctor behind her disappearance, a man who wants nothing more than to get his hands on more genetic material? Is Emma Marsden really suffering from the horrible and unexplainable Munchausen by Proxy? What really happened to Amaryllis Burton's children? And most importantly, can Lena get to the bottom of the mystery before any more innocent children die? WHEN SECRETS DIE is Lynn Hightower at her best. Although Lena Padget isn't the main character of this book in the series, I was thoroughly immersed in the story from start to finish. I've always been interested in the machinations of Munchausen by Proxy, wondering exactly what must be missing in a person's brain chemistry to make them harm their own children for attention. WHEN SECRETS DIE explores not only this dreadful disease, but the fact that power, in the wrong hands, can be a deadly weapon. I can't wait for the next book in the series, and can only hope that Ms. Hightower delves into another interesting subject!

I can say the book was an overall success but I can say that I knew where I was when reading the book except in the first two chapters. The dialogue is easy to sort through and the characters at times are complex but worth it. The story started to lag around the middle but quickly picked up paced. One disappointing thing about this book is that by the last 3 chapters you already figured out most of the plot. It's a fun read and worth the time reading.

Heartsick over the loss of her toddler son, Emma Marsden faces another devastating challenge. She's been accused by pediatrician Theodore Tundridge of poisoning her son. Now the department of children's services is involved, accusing Emma of Munchausen by proxy and seeking to take her teenage daughter, Blaine, away from her. But Emma has a counter-complaint against Dr. Tundridge: he's keeping body parts in the basement of his clinic. Although private investigator Lena Padget is broke, she agrees to take Emma's case in exchange for her BMW Roadster. Lena's investigation leads her into the mountains of East Tennessee and on a desperate search to find Emma's teenage daughter, who has been kidnapped. This is one of those books you do not want to put down. Entertaining, informative, and packed with suspense. In-depth characterization, realistic dialogue, and a galvanizing plot. It is my opinion that the Lena Padget series is perhaps the best series being written today. This PI is down-to-earth, gutsy, and a woman with a compassionate soul. Great series, great book.

After caring for her son during a traumatic illness that eventually killed him, Emma Marsden is finally coming to terms with her grief. Her world is shattered once again when a call from the Clay's Mill children's clinic that was treating her son informed her that they had some of his organs that they kept for research purposes. When she goes to collect them, the person who called her is under orders not to give them to her. She takes them anyway. Soon after that incident, Dr. Theodore Turnbridge, her son's doctor, accuses Emma of poisoning her son because she has Munchausen by Proxy. She is in danger of children's protective services taking her fifteen year old daughter away from her and there is the real possibility she might go to jail. She hires private detective Lena Padgett to disprove the charges. Lena, who has an intenseapport with her client, takes the case but it isn't until Emma's daughter is kidnapped does Lena, the police and the medical people have a clue who is behind Emma's legal troubles. Lynn Hightower is one of the best thriller writers of the new millennium and will appeal to fans of Patricia Cornwell and Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. Readers learn about the power of the medical profession and how in the wrong hands it can ruin the lives of innocent people. Emma is a sympathetic character and readers will empathize with all the problems she has to bear through no fault of her own. Lena plays more of a secondary role then in previous novels in the series but the audience won't feel cheated because she is still a key player in a tense drama. Harriet Klausner