Jane MacGuire had seen a lot in her seventeen years. Orphaned early in life, she had survived for a few years on the streets and in foster homes before coming to live with Forensic Pathologist Eve Duncan and Detective Joe Quinn when she was ten. But never had she come across someone who would murder women just because they had her face! Jane had certainly never asked to look like some actress who had been dead for two thousand years. The nightmares she had been having were terrifying enough. Now she had to deal with a madman out to kill her. But Jane was tough, and there was no way she was going to sit meekly by and let it happen.

Mark Trevor was an extremely accomplished con man. Only chasing after the murderer known as Aldo was no con. Trevor was used to doing things on his own. Like Jane, he was an orphan. He was both amused and, if he admitted it, slightly jealous of Jane's relationship with Eve and Quinn. Trevor had been tracking Aldo for quite some time when Aldo began focusing on Jane as the reincarnation of the long-dead actress, Cira. In order for Trevor to get closer to Aldo, he needed to get closer to Jane. He didn't count on the overwhelming attraction he would feel for her. And even with the constant reminders to himself of Jane's age, it was increasingly difficult to maintain his emotional distance from her.

What started as a routine investigation of Aldo changed drastically once he upped the stakes by contacting Jane personally. Taking her dog and using him as bait to lure her to him was the last straw. Now Jane was determined to draw Aldo out and end it all. She would use his obsession with Cira against him. The hardest part, at least in Jane's mind, was getting Eve and Quinn convinced that her plan was the best way to accomplish this. Trevor would do all he could to keep her safe. But when things went wrong, eerily reenacting the way it was assumed Cira died, they all needed to work together to get out alive.

Readers, don't let yourselves be fooled into thinking that BLIND ALLEY is like any other run of the mill Romance novel. For starters, the main female character is only seventeen, although she's convincingly portrayed as an extremely mature "going on thirty" teenager. Add to that the fact that the romance in the story is secondary to the mystery that dominates the plot. Although intriguingly enough, that same mystery seems to be centered on a very subliminal romance between the villain and his obsession. And perhaps the most surprising twist--there wasn't a fairy tale ending. All in all, definitely an engrossing novel.

BLIND ALLEY exceeded any expectations I might have had, having never read anything by Iris Johansen before this. But now, I can't wait to get my hands on her next novel!

Reviewed by Tracy Atencio
© October 2004