Review: Gone by Midnight

Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While I enjoyed Candice Fox’s ‘Redemption Point’, her second novel featuring Queensland PIs, Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell, I struggled to relate to Conkaffey, his every action informed by a false accusation of child abduction to the extent that it slowed the plot. Conversely, Amanda, convicted of a murder she did commit, albeit accidentally, was a whirling dervish, a ball of energy with no social graces who offended all around her while displaying almost Holmesian deductive skills.
‘Gone By Midnight’, the third in the series, is a tighter novel, fast-moving and with fewer flaws. Ted Conkaffey, perhaps due to the presence of his infant daughter who is staying with him for the first time since his fall from grace caused the breakup of his marriage, is a much more sympathetic character. His anger, and shame, at those who still suspect him despite his no longer being a ‘person of interest’, and his love for his daughter, drives him as he and Amanda try to locate an eight-year-old boy who has disappeared from a local hotel.
Amanda remains a thoroughly entertaining character. She ‘hates’ children, shows little empathy for the missing boy or his parents, sees the boy’s disappearance as a competition the winner of which is rewarded with a cake, and makes friends with a criminal biker gang while making enemies within the police force.
‘Gone By Midnight’ is a more complete and confident novel than ‘Redemption Point’. The mystery is intriguing and entertaining, the characters more fully realised, the dialogue sharp and I look forward to the next in the series.

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