Private Investigator Alice James recently found out she had a half-sister, Corina. Her father had left Alice and her mother years before and she had just recently found out about him. Now, she was on the verge of meeting a half-sister she hadn’t known she had. She was excited about this newest development because it meant her family was slowly being restored.

While waiting at home for Corina to arrive for their first visit, Alice received an ugly phone call from someone obviously disguising their voice. The voice demanded a ransom from the women’s father noting they had kidnapped Corina and would kill her if their demand was not met.

Alice quickly called Jim Snow, her partner and best friend in the Las Vegas based James & James Detective Agency. She also contacted her father who was currently in Japan. He immediately took steps to get the money together and has his attorney Ron Bain deliver the rather small ransom to Alice. In the meantime, her father joined them in Las Vegas. It was the first time Alice had seen her father in forty years.

After the ransom was delivered and detailed instructions for Corina’s release were discussed, Alice and Jim drove to Lake Mead to pick her up. Unfortunately, the situation did not turn out the way they anticipated. Alice, Jim, Ron Bain, and Alice’s dad Leon Stapper soon found themselves discussing what steps to take next.

With the FBI now involved, Alice and Jim begin their own investigation to find out what happened to her sister. Because Stapper is a high-tech CEO, they soon find themselves in Silicon Valley. What they find is that Ron Bain was personally connected with Corina as well as married to Stapper’s third ex-wife who also vanished leaving no trace behind. Could the two cases be connected?

Desert Drop is the third novel in the Las Vegas Mystery series written by Rex Kusler. The author has created an unlikely and entertaining duo that fit well together while having their ups and downs as well, just to keep things interesting. They are two unique characters who Kusler has fit together like two key pieces of a puzzle, interwoven yet with two distinct personalities. They have a great rapport with one another while they also have the ability to stand alone when they are dealing with other characters.

With Vegas as a setting, the author can take his characters in a number of directions and often uses California as well as local attractions as a setting.

He keeps the plot interesting and the pace moving without spending much time on long discourses. The twists will have readers thinking they know what happens next, only to receive a surprise from the writer. This book is more than just a mystery; it is an entertaining thriller that will have readers longing for more cases from James & James Detective Agency.

A special thank you goes to Thomas & Mercer for providing a complimentary copy of Desert Drop for our review. If you would like to obtain your own copy of any of the books in this series, they are available at Amazon.com.