Find Her by Lisa Gardner

Find Her is the latest book by author Lisa Gardner in her D.D. Warren series of mysteries.  It tells the story of Flora Dane, a woman who was kidnapped as a college student on her Spring Break trip and held for 472 days.  At the end of that time, Flora is rescued and comes home to her family.  Seven years have passed and Flora is again brought to the attention of police.

D.D. Warren is on restricted duty with the Boston P.D.after her injuries in a previous book.  She's supposed to be handling the things that a Detective Sergeant handles and letting her team investigate.  She's supposed to be managing and supervising from a desk.  That's not really D.D.'s style though, and she arrives at a crime scene to learn that a woman, naked and with her hands bound, has killed a man.  She's done it in a very unusual way.  That woman is Flora Dane.  And Flora doesn't want to identify herself or talk to the police.  Instead, she's asked for FBI Victim Specialist, Dr. Samuel Keynes.

I'm not really going to share much else about the story except to say that another college girl has been abducted and all of Boston has been searching for her, including Flora.  And Flora, who has never been the same girl she was before her captivity, has been learning how to defend herself.  Is Flora a victim?  Is she a vigilante?  These are the questions that D.D. and her squad need to answer.  But then, Flora herself disappears again and things get really complicated.

I've read several books by Lisa Gardner.  She writes both series and standalone books and they sometimes cross over between settings.  I really liked the previous D.D. Warren book, Fear Nothing.  I like D.D.'s character a lot and there wasn't as much of her in Find Her as I would have wished.  Plus she had the restricted duty, so she was supposedly constrained in what she could do.  I wasn't all that enamored of Flora herself.  She was a tough cookie and had painstakingly put herself back together after her long period with her kidnapper.  But, at great cost.

This book tells the current day story interspersed with Flora's kidnapping experience.  I usually like that method of relating the narrative, but I somehow didn't care for it as much here.  It might have been because I have read several books in the last few months that concerned situations sort of similar to this.  I'm really not sure I can put my finger on it.  I did like this book because I finished it.  I don't finish books that I dislike.  Perhaps it is just that I didn't get as much of the character that I do like a lot and too much of a character that I wasn't all that interested in.

In any case, I'll continue to read Lisa Gardner's books.  I find that some books by favored authors work better for me than others.  Many reviewers have found Find Her quite gripping.  Don't let me put you off of it.  I am curious to know how D.D. will fare in her next book and whether some other characters will show up again at a later time.

I also want to thank the publisher for giving me a copy of Find Her.  It was most appreciated.