I can see why Don't Cry (c2010) by Beverly Baron spent time on the best seller list. The twisted plot, growing list of suspects, electricity between J.D. Cass and Audrey Sherrod, and dark secrets in the past combine to keep the action and the romance moving. Audrey's baby brother was one of several toddlers kidnapped over 20 years ago and never found. Now several women have been abducted and murdered. When their very publicly displayed bodies are found, the skeletal remains of babies are in their arms.
J.D. Cass is an agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation assigned to help the Chattanooga Police Department find the killer. Audrey Sherrod is a grief counselor with close ties to the CPD. J.D. and Audrey hate each other on sight, but Audrey befriends J.D.'s fourteen year-old rebellious daughter which brings J.D. and Audrey together more often than they would like. When J. D. puts together a time line on the abductions from 20 years ago, he discovers a major flaw in the original case that was never investigated. Audrey's Uncle Garth was a policeman when the abductions took place and he was the one who discovered that Audrey's baby brother was missing. Now Garth and Audrey's best friend, Tam, are the investigators on the present case for the CPD and neither of them are happy with J.D. as he puts together various lists of "persons of interest."
The plot is nicely complicated and well-paced. As the clues slowly build, both reader and J.D. realize there is something more here than just a serial killer and kidnapped toddlers from 20 years ago. Don't Cry is a statement on how adults can use the trust of children for their own misguided purposes, however, this is not a message book. It is a really good page-turner that will keep you reading into the night.
