Past Perfect

I'm not normally a huge fan of mysteries--with my overanxious personality, I don't need any convincing that a dangerous felon lurks behind every tree. Once it's dark and I'm at least 100 feet away from my car or my house, my imagination goes to work, the whites of my eyes start to show, and it's all downhill from there.

I picked up this book because the jacket doesn't explicitly label it as a mystery. It is a novel, but it's so suspenseful and there are deaths scattered throughout the story, so make your own decision...

Katie Schottland is a modern New York mother and wife--her son Nicky is off at summer camp and her husband Adam is a pathologist at the Bronx Zoo. Fifteen years before, she was a low-level editor at the CIA before she was abruptly walked off the premises and told never to return. Without a good recommendation from them, it has been impossible for her to find work since. When an acquaintance from her Washington days calls her in an unexplained panic, Katie starts trying to unravel the reasons behind her firing. Of course, this leads her deeper and deeper into trouble, and soon lives are at stake.

I liked this the way one likes toffee. Nice to have occasionally, but one piece always satisfies the craving. You'd make yourself sick if you ate it all the time. But a book like this every once in a while is good for diversifying the palate and keeping your imagination active. Enjoy!