Review: Surrender by Donna Malane [Jan]

Diane Rowe finds missing people.  Usually she works for the police finding identities of bodies found in crime scenes or washed up on the beach.  Then her little sister, Niki, was murdered.  Diane focused on pushing the police to find the killer forcefully.  Too hard, as it lost her credibility as she put it above all other cases.  It also caused the breakup of her marriage, as finding Niki’s killer became her only thought.  Her policeman ex-husband quickly found a replacement.

Then the main suspect, Snow,, turns up dead, murdered the same way Niki was and in the same place.  The new case turns up evidence of Niki’s seedy past and Diane learns things she’d rather not know.  She embarks on a journey to uncover the killer of her sister, as the police case is finished now Snow is dead.  At the same time she has been asked by the police to find the identity of a 30 year old skeleton found in the bush, her chance at regaining credibility and more work.

This story had a strong plot, believable characters, quite a bit of action, and a strong heroine who could look after herself.  Oh, and a cute but tough dog.  I really enjoyed this book, I was kept intrigued by the unfolding of the story, and it offered up a few twists I didn’t see coming.  Set in New Zealand, it won the 2010 New Zealand Society of Authors – Pindar Publishing Prize and has some glimpses of the breathtaking beauty of the bush.  The cover has an instantly recognizable picture of the lights on Wellington’s waterfront.  Definitely a must read and I plan to read more of the Diane Rowe series.

I received my copy as a paperback from HarperCollins and it seems to only be printed in New Zealand.  There is a kindle edition on Amazon.

Title: Surrender
Author: Donna Malane
Published: HarperCollins, c2010
Series: Book 1 in Diane Rowe
Reviewer: Jan