I read a lot, as those of you who have followed me for a while can tell.  Many of the series are crime or psychological thrillers. Over time, I have found a few favorite characters, and I get more excited when a new book in the series is released. M.M. Chouinard’s Detective Jo Fournier is one of those. Even though it’s only the third book, there are several reasons I like her so much.  

I appreciate that Jo is a fully-realized character, and the author does a fantastic job of balancing Jo’s work and personal life. Everything about her seems real. In the last book, she had to deal with her dad’s cancer. The curveball she gets thrown in this book is a real doozy. The thoughts she ponders and some of her concerns made her more relatable in this book (at least to me) because we are of a similar age, and I could understand her thought process.

In spite of the complications, she still gives total focus to the case at hand, which is realistic as well. And this case is a good one. It starts as a simple memory loss/Jane Doe (even though she is covered in blood – so maybe not so simple). But it quickly becomes apparent that there is more depth to the case than there initially appears to be.

I liked the structure and varying points of view the author used. There were no indicators on the individual chapters to tell whose perspective it is from, but it was always evident. I think the narrative flowed smoothly without the abrupt changes from person to person.

Another reason this worked is that the book is divided into sections. Part One is mostly establishing the case and is from Jo’s point of view. Part Two switches to the Jane Doe – and this is where it gets interesting. We learn a lot more background since she focuses on trying to track down her memories. There are a few interspersed chapters from another perspective, but I’m not going to give that one away.

The second half of the book picks up speed as clues are followed (both by the Jane Doe and by Jo and her squad). It turned into a page-turner, especially since I was waffling about who the culprit actually was. That’s another strength of the author: giving just enough information that I questioned what I already knew.

Her Daughter’s Cry was a great read, and I would recommend the whole series (just to get caught up).

Author Bio

M.M. Chouinard’s first fiction story was published in her local paper when she was eight, and she fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. While pursuing a Ph.D in psychology and helping to found the first U.S. research university of the new millennium, the stories kept rattling around inside her skull, demanding to come out. For sanity’s sake, she released them. She’s currently at work on her seventh novel.