Minneapolis restaurateur and amateur sleuth Jane Lawless finds herself drawn into her 23rd mystery in The Mirror and the Mask. Jane feels like she’s hit a rough patch: her two successful restaurants don’t inspire the passion that they used to; plans for a third restaurant have been put on hold because of the tough economy; her ex-lover Kenzie is unwilling to reconcile and is out of touch; and Jane can’t seem to come to terms with her own accountability in the breakup. When beautiful loner Annie Archer appears, looking for work and for help tracking down her father, Jane feels that helping her with this simple investigation might be a way out of her slump. But as Jane probes further into the case, she finds that Annie isn’t who she says she is, and that getting emotionally involved on the job is not just complicated, but dangerous. Meanwhile, Jane’s best friend Cordelia has an unexpected visit from her estranged sister Octavia, and Cordelia’s hopes to gain back custody of her niece are all but destroyed.
Hart’s consistent writing holds true in The Mirror and the Mask, and though it’s another page-turning novel, she has written more compelling plots in past Jane Lawless mysteries. Fans will notice that Hart has left some subplots wide open from her previous book Sweet Poison, which will leave them hungering for the series’ next episode. New Hart followers might prefer to start earlier in the series. Recommended for adult mystery buffs, and public libraries with mystery sections.
Reviewed by, Jesse Nachem
Records Specialist
University of California