Everyone has things in their past that haunt them but what do you do when that past comes back to haunt your present. Do you face it, or run and hide? What if that past was violent? Would you confront it?

Spookie is a small peaceful town but that is about to change. A sixteen year old girl disappears on her way to school. Search parties have form to comb all the wooded areas between the girl’s home and the local high school. Days pass and still no sign of her. Then, one day, a clay figurine shows up in the family mailbox.

Frank Lester saw many things as a Chicago cop but the most disturbing was the Mud People Killer case. It was a serial kidnapper/killer case that had the Chicago cops baffled. This case was one that was personal for Frank. The killer enjoyed tormenting Frank with messages holding riddles on who the next victim was going to be. Then the phone calls to the media started when the cops failed to catch him. When a friend of Frank’s disappeared, he knew who was responsible. Frank set up a stakeout for the kidnapper but when he failed to capture him, Frank felt that it was his fault for not getting backup. After that, the killer/kidnapper was never heard from again--that is, until now.

For Abigail Sutton's life, if not what she and her dead husband Joel dreamed of, is still pretty good. She has her house, her career, good friends and her growing relationship with Frank. She has a new commission to paint a mural for the local library, her biggest job yet. Yes, life is good, or it was, until people start disappearing without a trace.

Then Emil Brooks disappears. A hard working family man with a desperately ill wife and seven children, Emil is not the type of man to just to up and disappear. Having made friends with two of the Brooks children, Laura and Nick, while at the library, Abby feels for the Brooks family. She does more than just sympathize with the family. She has been where they are now--in more ways than one. Abby grew up in poverty and when her dad became ill, she had to give up her dreams to go to college to study art, which is one of Laura’s dreams.

When Abby is almost kidnapped, Frank calls his old partner Sam Cato to help protect her. Frank knows that this time it’s going to be either him or the killer who wins this deadly cat and mouse game. Do Frank and Abby have the patience to wait out the killer? Will Abby and Frank be able to come to terms with their growing relationship?

For those mystery fans who are not into the gruesome-type of mystery, Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s All Things Slip Away is the book for you. This book combines mystery and relationships to tell the story of freelance artist Abigail Sutton, retired Chicago cop Frank Lester and the little town of Spookie. All Things Slip Away picks up where Scraps of Paper left off with Abby and Frank’s relationship taking on a new twist.

Ms. Griffith’s proves once again that what may seem to be on the surface of the idyllic small town life can have it’s roots in tragedy and that the only things that can be counted on are love and trust. Filled with strong relationships, quirky characters and a good mystery, it is the relationships that really make this book shine for me. If you get the chance to read All Things Slip Away, grab it because this book is a definite keeper. I can’t wait until the next Abigail Sutton book comes out.

Reviewed By Theresa Rhodes
© May 2006