Dodge and Burn

May 1, 2023
In the third series entry, photojournalist Sophie Medina continues to search for the truth about the death of her CIA agent husband, not believing the official version. During a jog, Sophie and her friend Jack find Supreme Court Justice Everett Townsend close to death and call for help. Complicating matters, her young friend Javi is missing, possibly on the run, and a woman attempts to blackmail Sophie's family, claiming she was married to Sophie's famous photographer grandfather and they never obtained a divorce. Sophie works to unravel her grandfather's past and searches for Javi, whose disappearance is connected to the attack on Townsend, and she ultimately learns facts about her husband she would rather not have known. As she uncovers evidence of a conspiracy, her studio is ransacked and she is shot at, but she perseveres, doggedly pursuing the truth. Sophie is a principled, smart, well-drawn character in a fast-paced story with multiple plot lines, framed by details of homelessness, DC politics, and photography.

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March 4, 2024
Crosby’s uneven fourth adventure for news photographer Sophie Medina (after Blow Up) undermines its devilish central whodunit with some far-fetched backstory. Sophie once jetted around the world at a moment’s notice for the International Press Service, but she left that job to be closer to her family in Washington, D.C., after her CIA agent husband was murdered. She still takes private gigs, however, and one afternoon receives an inquiry from philanthropist and art collector Robson Blake, who wants her to photograph a rare patent apparently prepared by Thomas Jefferson that he stumbled across while browsing used books. Sophie agrees, and promises to turn over all her work to Blake once it’s complete. The commission takes a deadly turn when Sophie discovers Blake dead in his home with one of his valuable antiques missing. Authorities find blood on one of Sophie’s tripods, and determine that Blake was bludgeoned to death with a blunt object, placing Sophie near the top of the suspect list. In the attempt to clear her name, she uncovers secrets about her own lineage that cause her to believe someone in her family may have set her up. Crosby’s prose and characterizations are top-notch, but her plotting becomes unwieldy in the third act, and she wraps everything up with a predictable reveal. Here’s hoping the series returns to form next time out.

April 1, 2024
A photojournalist's life is roiled by shocking revelations. After a murder at Dulles Airport, Sophie Medina is sent to take pictures, and she helps identify the contents of the victim's suitcases as antiquities that were stolen from a museum in Ukraine. The well-connected widow of a murdered CIA agent and the daughter of a short marriage between her mother and the late soccer star Antonio Medina, Sophie was brought up in Virginia by her mother and stepfather, a wealthy horse breeder. Robson Blake, a philanthropist with a fabulous art collection, hires her to photograph some new acquisitions, making it a condition that she delete all copies after she gives them to him. Arriving at Blake's home, she's sent to his vault to take photos but accidentally gets off on the wrong floor and sees a room full of stunning icons. Shortly thereafter, Spanish journalist Enrique Navarro, a friend of her father's, tells her she has a half-brother, recently vanished reporter Daniel Worth, and reveals that her father wrote her letters for years, setting up an upsetting meeting with her mother, who admits to getting the letters, keeping them, but never showing them to Sophie. Furious with her mother's meddling, she returns to D.C., has dinner with Navarro and learns that Danny is a modern-day Robin Hood who liberates stolen artworks and returns them to their owners. When Danny breaks into her studio, they have a long talk, and she mentions her suspicions about stolen items in Blake's collection. She's plunged into the dangerous world of stolen art when she finds Blake murdered with her tripod. Could Danny be the killer? A fascinating look at a worldwide problem spiced with romance and family angst.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 15, 2024
Washington, DC-based photojournalist Sophie Medina is hired by wealthy philanthropist Robson Blake to shoot some historical documents and take his author portrait for an upcoming book. Sophie is stunned to discover she has a half brother who belongs to a group that steals back stolen art pieces to return to their rightful owners. The group plans to steal an icon in Blake's house to return to a church, and Sophie agrees to help by providing a floor plan of the house and information on the security system. When Sophie returns to Blake's home to take the author photos, she finds Blake dead in his study and the valuable icon missing. She soon learns her tripod, which she must have left behind after photographing the documents, was the murder weapon. Is someone trying to frame her for the murder? Details of art and art thefts frame this fast-paced, compelling story with the principled, well-drawn Sophie trying to come to terms with her past.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.