The Front by Patricia Cornwell

I read series out of order, but you knew that. I'm not afraid to pick up book two and just give it a try. So when I found this book, the second in a series starring the same detective, I never even hesitated.

This book follows Winston Garano as he tries to track down the truth behind a cold case involving the death of a blind girl studying abroad in the United States. There are a lot of intriguing characters in this one, including Winston, but the development is too shallow for me. I like to know more about the characters I'm reading. I'm sure this was intentional, as Cornwell likely plans to give us a little more about them with each passing book in the series.

The bigger problem with this book was that the case fell flat for me. The ending/solution seemed to pop out of nowhere. We didn't see the revelations or what lead to it. Just <POP> Winston had figured it out. I read detective novels all the time. This was a frustrating way of handling it. I like to see the puzzle come together. I like to feel like I also figured it out.

Overall, I'm not totally sold on this one and I don't see myself rushing out to find more with this character.