Not Who We Expected

With a duo of complex female protagonists, breakneck plotting, and authenticity informed by her career as a crime scene analyst, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black's Locard Institute Thrillers land her in the same league as Tess Gerritsen, Patricia Cornwell, and Kathy Reichs.

Now forensic experts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies are pulled into solving a deadly mystery unfolding in the shadow of a celebrated rock star.

The two crime experts are enlisted by legendary rock star Billy Diamond to find his missing daughter. A level-headed student at Yale, Devon left six months earlier with her boyfriend, Carlos, for a career development retreat in Nevada. Her calls and notes became less frequent until they stopped. Billy wanted to give his daughter space--but after learning Carlos' body was found a few miles upstream from the ranch, he needs answers.

Rachael and Ellie hatch a plan--as Ellie goes undercover, Rachael will work with Billy to find out about Devon. But Rachael has a second agenda, to find out why Billy seems so familiar with her late sister Isis, whose little boy Rachael is raising. The music idol is hiding something, but what?

The southwest ranch is full of surprises. Devon is not only alive but thriving, and no one mentions Carlos. The attendees follow their leader, Galen, with slavish devotion, and their daily mind-body exercises stretch from brain-numbing to downright treacherous. If Galen is behind some nefarious scheme, how does it relate to the rock star and his daughter?

To answer those questions, Rachael will also have to ask: Who was her sister Isis, really? The answers will draw Ellie and Rachael deeper into danger. In Billy's world and in Galen's, the living, the missing, and the dead all have secrets.

Author: Lisa Black
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Published: 02/25/2025
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.52h x 5.84w x 1.28d
ISBN: 9781496749680


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2025

About the Author
Lisa Black is the New York Times bestselling author of the Gardiner and Renner Novels and the Locard Institute Thrillers featuring Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies. As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office, she analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now she is a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in court as an expert witness over 65 times. Her books have been translated into six languages and she was named finalist for the prestigious Sue Grafton Memorial Award for Perish. She lives near Fort Myers, Florida. Visit Lisa Black online at Lisa-Black.com.