She Had Enough by Stacie Grey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
While out to dinner on a Girl’s Night with her college friends, Mallory Taylor has an interaction in the bathroom with a member of their group, Caitlin, that she doesn’t know as well as the other women. Caitlin is quiet, and Mallory doesn’t know too much about her, except that she comes from money and her mother recently passed away.
If pressed, Mallory might describe Caitlin as someone who has always seemed a little lost, like she’s not living up to her potential. Nevertheless, when Caitlin asks Mallory to hold something for her, she does and then forgets about the object shortly thereafter.
Mallory’s not a forgetful person, but shortly after the dinner breaks-up, with all women going their separate ways, a giant earthquake rocks their city of San Francisco.
It’s a really scary night, and Mallory is lucky that she and her two cats survive unscathed, though her apartment, not so much. In the aftermath, Mallory realizes that she still has the object Caitlin asked her to hold. Thinking it might have sentimental value to her, Mallory vows to find her and return it when things settle down.
However, with the city in shambles, that task isn’t as simple as it may sound. As it turns out, Caitlin disappeared the night of the earthquake and no one has seen her since.
No one else seems alarmed though, reasoning that a lot of people left the city after the quake, but Mallory knows it’s more than that. The more she digs, the stronger her feelings that something terrible has befallen Caitlin.
Mallory begins her own investigation, and what she discovers is disturbing. All her digging hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Soon she find herself in the hot seat. Will she be able to find the truth about what happened to Caitlin, and expose the perp before they get to her too?
This was fun. It’s the 3rd-novel that I’ve read from this author, and I’ve enjoyed them all. I loved the backdrop of the San Francisco earthquake, and I enjoyed following Mallory as a main character.
Mallory felt very relatable to me. She just seemed like just an average woman, but one who wasn’t willing to turn the other way when someone may be in trouble. She was determined and plucky, and I liked that about her a lot.
She was also smart, and I enjoyed the way she worked through all of the information she had, and came up with steps to take next in order to try to find out the truth about Caitlin. She was very methodical about it all, which obviously made her dangerous to the baddie.
The mystery though, while intriguing throughout, did wrap-up a little too quickly and easily for my tastes. It had this great build, and Grey did a good job of steadily giving new info and adding tension to progress the plot. However, the big reveal lacked oomph for me.
Also, some of the side characters’ reactions, or more like non-reactions, to the who and what of it all, seemed lackluster. This was a major event, and they were like, ‘huh, weird, can’t believe they did that. Let’s brunch!’
It seemed odd right there at the very end.
At the end of the day though, I did find it gripping and entertaining. I liked many aspects, and even though the ending didn’t have quite the impact that I would’ve hoped for, I’m still happy with the experience overall.
Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to future work from this author. She’s quickly becoming a go-to author for me!