You're NOT my mother!

The Wrong Girl (Jane Ryland #2) by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge hardcover, 10 September 2013).

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.

Jane's former colleague Tucker Cameron shows up on her doorstep one snowy afternoon, saying she has an incredible story.  Over a glass of wine, Tuck explains that, ten years earlier, upon learning she was adopted, she contacted the private agency who facilitated the process, and was told that the records were sealed unless the birth mother agreed to open them.  Tuck had left her name with them just in case the woman ever changed her mind.   

A few days earlier, Tuck received a call from the agency, telling her they'd found her mother.  But, Tuck tells Jane, upon meeting her she was certain that the woman wasn't her real mother at all, and that she had proof.

Meanwhile, Detective Jake Brogan and his partner Paul DeLuca are called to the scene of a murder at an apartment in Roslindale.  The victim was a young woman who'd been found with her head bashed in, thanks to an anonymous 911 call.  There were two toddlers, a boy and a girl, found in the home, and all they could communicate were their names, Phillip and Phoebe.

Hank Phillippi Ryan at The Book Carnival in Orange, CA.

The newspaper assigns Jane to this story, and and as she investigates, she receives anonymous calls and threatening notes, which lead her to the realization that there may be a connection between the two incidents.

This is a worthy  follow-up to Ryan's The Other Woman (which I reviewed here), published almost exactly a year ago.  Like its predecessor, The Wrong Girl is a gripping story with a plot that's just complex enough and well-developed characters. 

In my review of The Other Woman, I cautioned readers not to begin it near bedtime.  I'll reiterate that warning here.



FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to Edelweiss and MacMillan/Forge for the e-galley.