Georgette Hanson's beautiful daughter Brooke died when she drunkenly stumbled onto some train tracks a few weeks before, but Georgette doesn't think it was an accident. The only witness was a man named Jay Nightengale, but his story doesn't quite add up, and Georgette fears Brooke was pushed. Kelly takes the case on, because oddly enough, her dad left her a letter stating that she was to help Georgette, no questions asked, if she ever sought assistance. So Kelly starts digging and things just aren't adding up.
For starters, it turns out Brooke was merely an accounting clerk at the law firm where she worked, although she told her parents she was the head of accounting, certainly not making the kind of money she needed to pay off her parent's house, which she had done some months before. Co-worker Rachel Mosley doesn't have a lot of nice things to say, and Dave Anderson, the slimy CFO, all but ejects Kelly from the law offices. When Kelly checks out Brooke's address, she finds another young woman, Tricia AKA Hannah, living there and she is very evasive about what she knows of Brooke. Even Limbo, the bar where Brooke got so drunk the night of her death that she was cut off from drinking and removed from the bar, turns up more questions than answers when she interviews the cagey bartender, Derek, who acts as if she was just a regular, but she was clearly much more than that.
As Kelly continues to dig, she discovers a gorgeous penthouse apartment connected to Brooke, complete with a bedroom filled with various BDSM paraphernalia, which only leads to more questions, but with these questions come danger. When Kelly begins to get threatening phone calls and is attacked personally, she knows she is on the right track, but can she get to the bottom of this before the killer gets to her? There's also a handsome cop named Kyle who makes her heart flutter, and is also quick to help her out. He could be a part of her life in the future, but not if her ex, Jeff, and his mother, Arlene (who lives right next door to Kelly and has a key) have anything to say about it.
Needless to say, Derailed has a lot of moving parts to it, not the least of which is a very complicated series of family dynamics going on, whether it be Kelly's family or Georgette's. Further, the Portland underground BDSM scene was explored, but I didn't find that it was handled in a lurid fashion. It was nicely woven into the exciting storyline, but it was handled quite tastefully.
If you are looking for your next thriller murder mystery fix, this is it. Mary Keliikoa is a gifted mystery writer and I truly look forward to more of Kelly Pruett's adventures. Highly, highly recommended.
