An adoption agency is the epicenter of the action in this uniquely styled mystery by Hank Phillippi Ryan. When adopted newscaster Tucker “Tuck” Cameron becomes convinced that she has been reunited with the wrong birth mother, she enlists the help of her former colleague, Jane Ryland (introduced in 2012’s The Other Woman), to look into the Brannigan Children Services agency.

A Brannigan employee, Ella, is dismayed by the mismatched mother-daughter reunion and begins secretly snooping into the agency’s files. Soon, several employees of the adoption agency die under suspicious circumstances, and Jane begins receiving threatening phone calls to back off.

In the meantime, a foster mother’s murder leaves two young children homeless. When Jake Brogan, a detective with the Boston PD, investigates the murder, he notices an empty crib, leading him to wonder if a third child was kidnapped from the scene of the crime. The question becomes, is the foster mother’s murder connected to the adoption agency’s secrets?

Tuck, Jane, and Jake start digging for answers that reveal Tuck’s mistaken reunion was not an isolated incident.

Setting the mystery around an adoption agency provides an emotional element that is a welcome change of pace from traditional murder mysteries. Tuck is less well-developed than Jane and Jake, whose romantic tension adds appeal to the story and depth to their characters. The two would like nothing more than to pursue their relationship, but their respective jobs often conflict, creating an ethical conundrum explored deftly by the author. Ryan keeps the reader guessing throughout, making this a fun whirlwind of a read.