A Town in Trouble

Port Silva, California
Elevation 100 feet
Established 1885
Population 24,020


When Janet LaPierre's first Port Silva mystery was published, Booklist hailed it as "a razor-sharp debut." About Meg Halloran's and Vince Gutierrez's first appearance together, respected critic Ellen Nehr praised "the smooth presentation of believable characters and coastal atmosphere." Reviewers called the succeeding books, "satisfying"(Publishers Weekly), "deftly woven"(San Francisco Chronicle),"warm and thoroughly engrossing"(West Coast Review of Books), "seductive"(PW), and "taut, telling suspense"(PW). The feelings of LaPierre's readers for her series characters were summed up by Mystery News: "Let's just say Meg Halloran rides again, and it's been too long."

Now high school teacher Meg and her police chief husband are back, along with other memorable townspeople, in LaPierre's new novel of suspense. Baby Mine is the sixth in the series and the first to be published by Perseverance Press/John Daniel and Company. Told with LaPierre's characteristic subtlety and power, Baby Mine depicts a difficult time for the Northern California seaside town, as well as for Meg and Vince's marriage.

Drawn from the news stories of the nineties, Baby Mine brings to life the human consequences of such social forces as a depressed economy, an overstressed environment, and an influx of immigrants straining limited resources. These influences come together in the dramatic and mysterious events at a local fertility clinic. Port Silva's web of small-town relationships is fraying; unemployment, racism, and religious zealotry collide to produce an unprecedented crime wave; and Meg and Vince must help their town recover its interconnectedness and save itself.

Genre: Mystery