A Twisty, Tasty Mystery!
Down to the Needle is yet another tightly woven mystery/thriller by Ms. Deal. Here we enter the world where one woman's twenty-three-year search for her kidnapped daughter culminates in a clash of gangs, Aryans, ex-lovers and corrupt officials, all bent on keeping the truth from being revealed. We are taken on a journey with Abi, the mother of the five-year-old abducted 23 years ago, her companion/lover Joe, and a cast of characters that will amuse you and infuriate you in turns.
Deal is a master of dialogue and she brings her characters to life with conversations that are truly real, breathing life into even secondary characters so well that we forget these are fictional people. My favorite, the detective "Britto," is so fully fleshed that I wanted to meet him. He fairly leaps off the pages, into your heart.
The book is well-managed with a definite pacing and rhythm that can only be achieved by a trained storyteller. Author Deal is well-practiced at mystery (evidenced by her award-winning book, River Bones), and she draws you into this tale of a woman on death-row and our journey to discover if she is Abi's long-lost daughter. Time is against Abi though, for this woman is about to die. In a race to determine the truth, we meet a second cast of rather undesirables, and these too are cleverly brought to life. You will cheer and yell at this book, because Deal makes us care that much.
