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Micky Knight #4

Lost Daughters

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Micky Knight, a bayou-bred and out-of-the-closet New Orleans private investigator, takes on the cases of a widowed mother looking for her daughter and a tough gay boy hunting for his biological mother. When a young woman patient is murdered at Dr. Cordelia James’s clinic, it seems to be just a bizarre coincidence. But when another woman, also a patient, is murdered, these events reveal the frightening possibility that the crimes are more than just random chances. Even more alarming, the killer seems to know too much about the victims. As the killer circles ever closer to Micky—and the lost daughter she is trying to find—the coincidences become a grisly the one characteristic all the victims share is that they dare to love other women.

317 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 1998

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260 people want to read

About the author

J.M. Redmann

27 books199 followers
Also writes under the pseudonym R. Jean Reid.

Jean Marie Redmann is an American novelist best known for her mystery series featuring New Orleans private investigator Micky Knight.

Main themes of Redmann's novels are the protagonist's troubled childhood and how it affects her adult life, discrimination based on sexual orientation and alcoholism. Her novels follow the tradition of hardboiled fiction. Redmann's third book The Intersection of Law and Desire won the Lambda Literary Award for lesbian mystery.

Jean M. Redmann is a gay rights activist and works as the Director of Prevention at NO/AIDS Task Force.

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5 stars
284 (45%)
4 stars
244 (38%)
3 stars
82 (13%)
2 stars
12 (1%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Corrie.
1,653 reviews4 followers
July 19, 2025
J.M. Redmann consistently keeps hitting it out of the park with the Mickey Knight series. In part 4 Lost Daughters we stay closer to home as Mickey takes on two cases that involve a mother looking for her lost daughter and an adopted son looking for his birth mother. It makes her think of her own mother who abandoned her when she was 5. Coming home for a funeral reveal some matters that make Mickey determined to find out the truth once and for all.

Next to Mickey’s sleuthing we have a secondary plot involving a chain of brutally murdered closeted lesbians that seem to have a connection to her lover Cordelia’s clinic. Or do they?

Superb writing and a great plot kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning. I don’t mind losing sleep when it concerns Mickey Knight. If you haven’t started this series yet, you are really missing out. I’m just sayin’ .

f/f

Themes: New Orleans, mothers and daughters, family.

5 Stars

-------re-read after 6 years----------------

Totally engrossed into Mickey Knight again. Re-reading these books brings me much joy.

5 Stars
Profile Image for Alexis.
510 reviews648 followers
February 27, 2020
Micky's Many Mommy Issues

The plot. Micky has her hands full when she takes on the case of a boy looking for his biological mother at the same time she accepts another case where a mother is looking for her daughter. Things get even more complicated when Micky finds herself wanting answers about her own mother. And to top it all off, bodies of murdered women are once again starting to pop up.

The characters. As usual the entire gang of previously introduced characters made a (very) short appearance but they were clearly placed on the back burner for this book. Redmann really had the spotlight focused on Micky's personal journey and the couple of new characters that were introduced.

The writing. Personally, I thought this book started off a little slow. I had gotten so used to the other books being action packed that when Redmann offered a look at Micky's day to day life, I kept waiting for someone to jump out from behind a door and attack her. But of course Micky wouldn't be Micky if she didn't have some type of crazy person chasing her at some point, so it's all good.

The special. Redmann's writing continues to impress me. Book one made me laugh, book two made me angry, book three made me feel hopeless and the end of book four broke my heart. What the bloody devil's next?

The negative. Not necessarily a negative thing but what I've missed the most is Micky's sarcastic snarky wit from book one. Her humor offered quite a bit of levity that I certainly found entertaining but I also suspect was a part of Drunk Micky™ and Sober Micky™ is a lot more straight-laced.

The verdict. Is there anything more complicated than the (lack of) relationship between mother and daughter? Heading straight into book five because why the hell not?
Profile Image for Lex Kent.
1,683 reviews9,779 followers
April 14, 2017
Not as fantastic as the previous three books, but still a really good read. This book has a lot to do about Mickey's family life. So many twists and turns that I felt like I was reading a soap opera, but it kept things interesting.
The mystery was more in the background, but still had an exciting climax that Redmann is great at writing. Looking forward to book 5.
Profile Image for hubsie.
614 reviews85 followers
December 17, 2019
In Lost Daughters, MC Micky has been hired to find a drag queen's lost mother, which leads to Micky's own search for her mom, oh and lesbians are being brutally murdered that have a loose connection to Micky's lover Cordelia. This had some initial resemblance to book 2 in which Cordelia's clinic was involved in the drama, but I'm glad it panned out as to not be a main story line. It was yet another roller-coaster of prose with grisly detail and god-awful antagonists peppered with more falling in love with Micky. 

This was the shortest of the Micky Knight series that I've read so far and breezed through it in a day. It is no less powerful than the other three however, and deals mostly with Micky's fractured family, but with the mystery of the murders as well. I didn't think it was possible for my heart to bleed more for her than it already did, but that final chapter? Bawled in my office on my lunch break. Full out Oprah ugly-cry for reals. I was going to go with a 4 star rating but that last chapter cinched it to a full 5, even though I didn't like how quickly it ended. However, knowing more detail will come out throughout the series, I ain't even mad.
Profile Image for Lexxi Kitty.
2,059 reviews469 followers
September 20, 2019
The fourth Micky Knight book, and the fourth book I’ve reread by this author. If I recall correctly, this would be the 15th book I’ve read, counting rereads (the nine books in this series which are currently published, the two books under a different name, then four rereads).

Right, so, this is one of the ones I liked best the first time I read this series. I do not recall if it had been my favorite, as I’ve not reread, or even looked at the others in a long while. I did remember it, though, both with fondness and a certain amount of confusion as to why it was rated so, relatively, lowly (it’s not the worst rated, but also not the highest rated in the series). It answered certain questions, and seemed to find the characters at their best. More or less.

I did not recall this about the book, but this book occurs three years after the end of the prior book (just as, I found out after starting the next in the series, that the fifth book occurs roughly 7 years after the end of this book here). At least three years. I know because the book opens with Micky and Cordelia celebrating their third anniversary of living together. Even though I mentioned ‘characters at their best’, Micky and Cordelia still have rough moments, but that’s what they are like at their best. And the friends even acted like friends instead of complete dicks like they tend to act towards Micky.

Right, so. Prior book was the ‘child abuse’ book. This one is the ‘looking for parents/children’ book. As in: Micky has three cases, two ‘paid’ (one of the clients doesn’t really have money, while the other barely scratched together $100), and unpaid (the one she did for herself). All three cases have a certain similarity: case one involves a mother looking for the daughter (adult) who was kicked out of the house for being a lesbian; case two involves a drag-queen ‘friend’ of Torbin’s who wants to find his biological mother who had given him up for adoption (his adopted parents also kicked him out for being gay); while the third case involves Micky looking up her own mother – the one who ‘ran away’ when Micky was five, and stopped sending letters when Micky was 10 (when Micky’s father died and she was forced to go live with Aunt Greta and Uncle Claude (and their three children)).

The live and death part of the book comes from another case, one Micky isn’t investigating, but one that she’s connected to for various reasons. Partially because she’s a lesbian, it’s a small town in terms of everyone knowing everyone else in the gay community, and there’s someone killing lesbians. Adding an extra layer – the lesbians being killed are those who are closeted . . . so how’d their killer know to target them? Most also happen to be patients of Cordelia’s clinic, but her clinic is known to be ‘gay-friendly’.

Right, so, another good book. The ending pushes it up to 5 stars. Otherwise I’d probably have rated it lower than the previous book.

Rating: 5 stars

September 20 2019

Profile Image for Tory.
390 reviews11 followers
May 25, 2022
Another great one

These books are really good. I am as interested in the life of Micky now as I was in the first book. I will definitely keep reading this series.
Profile Image for Lucky Luc.
124 reviews11 followers
November 19, 2018
3.5 stars. This one took a really long time to keep my interest and I figured out who the bad guy was early on. Not the best of the Mickey Knight series so far but it was good to get a glimpse into her history to learn why she is the way she is.
Profile Image for  Andrea Milano.
496 reviews44 followers
September 26, 2024
Años 90, Nueva Orléans… Michele es detective privada, lesbiana y mestiza. Mientras un asesino en serie se ensaña de manera brutal con sus víctimas, todas lesbianas, Michele se enfrasca en su trabajo, tratando de hallar a personas desaparecidas para reunirlas con sus seres queridos, quizá en un intento de llenar el vacío que le dejó su madre al abandonarla, se aferra a reunir a otras madres con sus hijos. Novela interesante que no se centra en la trama policial, sino en los vínculos rotos, la necesidad de pertenecer y la búsqueda de afectos perdidos. Me gustó.
Profile Image for Elsa .
175 reviews9 followers
June 7, 2020
5 stars since the ending is unexpected.
Profile Image for Justina Johnson.
385 reviews25 followers
February 28, 2014
This fourth book in the Micky Knight series is extraordinarily balanced with multiple story lines that delightfully intersect and support the shared searches for lost daughters. There are also a disturbing number of murders that hit home and at the heart for Micky and her close friends. Micky is not only a key element in the searches, but uncovers the curious link that really ties all the murders together. Such a magnificent story that weaves back and forth between the harsh realities and delicate yet profound love of children and their mothers. Perfect!

Micky Knight starts things off by celebrating her third anniversary with her love, Cordelia. That is an exceptional milestone and is given a wonderfully appreciative hats off to both women for achieving it. Very soon thereafter, Micky digs in on her assignments to find missing relatives for one distraught gay guy's need for his birth mother, one bereft mother in search of her daughter, and her own need to get some definitive answers about her mother. This is all happening while lesbian women are being brutally murdered, and an uncomfortable link to Cordelia's clinic seems to be a factor.

Suzanna Forquet becomes an astounding touchstone for several of Micky's inquiries. She also puts a major move on Micky which certainly sends the sparks flying. Suzanna's husband, his all-round butler, and her neediness to stay far, far away from her desperately poor childhood makes her more than a fascinating counterpoint as she and Micky have several jousting-like encounters. I found Suzanna as intriguing as Micky did, but her fluctuating and compromised marital entanglements reveal a forlorn and shallow foundation that hints at a perilous and extremely fragile lifestyle. Fascinating!

Several lives were shattered, a few people were blessed, and Micky is right in the middle of everything. I more than recommend this book for not only the delightful Micky antics, the hellish do or die concluding confrontation, but the brilliant touching reunions. This is a solid addition to the ongoing Micky Knight saga!


NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Profile Image for Elaine Burnes.
Author 10 books27 followers
December 29, 2010
She's done it again. Whew. This one was great. I love that in each book Micky also solves some important mystery in her own life. I was bawling at the end. And though I figured out what would happen, the details took me by surprise, yet they fit perfectly. Terrific.

I see Bywater has a version of this. I read the Bold Strokes Books edition and was very disappointed in the binding. It was stiff and hard to hold.
40 reviews
November 11, 2020
Lo siento, pero, en mi humilde opinión, es una novela muy mala. Sin estructura, personajes mediocremente construidos, sin ritmo ni tensión narrativa. La novela transcurre tópico tras tópico, con una sucesión de muertes sin sentido. Letalmente aburrida. No me gusta dejar libros sin terminar, y solo por esta razón he perseverado en su lectura. No la recomiendo a nadie. Punto.
267 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2021
New Orleans private eye Mickey Knight takes on a trio of cases of people searching for family members, including Mickey looking for her long lost mother. She also finds herself involved in a NOPD search for a serial killer that is targeting lesbians.I

The first books in the series detailed more heavily Mickey's personal life and her troubled past causing her to drink heavily and make bad choices. This novel has her finally comfortable in her relationship with physician Cordelia and concentrates on her cases. The main case, however, is her search for her mother, who disappeared in New York shortly after her father died.

Returning to this series is, for me at least, is like checking in with old friends and catching up with what is going on with them. Recommended for mystery fans and anyone who loves a good story.
2,878 reviews13 followers
January 31, 2025
“Lost Daughters”, fourth in the 'Micky Knight' series, sees our hero on the trail of a missing daughter, trying to find the mother of a child who was adopted two decades ago, looking for her own mother, and trying to figure out why lesbians (who seem to have a connection to Cordelia's clinic) are being brutally murdered.
Oh, and Cordelia has picked up a stalker!
Uncle Claude tells Micky that he has information about her mother but collapses and dies before he can give her the details.
Solid P.I. work sets her on the trail of two of her cases, leaving just the murders and finding her mother to be resolved.
For perhaps the first time in the series Micky is mostly calm due to living with Cordelia. She's still on a hair-trigger when she is provoked or insulted but she's trying her damnedest yo keep her temper under control.
The double finale is the best, and most emotional, so far.
4 Stars.
68 reviews
April 17, 2019
I checked this book out of the library after hearing the author speak at a Mystery Readers and Writers Conference, and I liked it very much. The description of the fight between Micky and her lover, Cordelia, over vacuuming the house sounded so much like some fights between my boyfriend and me that was as if J.M. Redmann had been inside my head. As a resident of the New Orleans area, the setting and its residents seemed very authentic.
My favorite line: "The woman from the house next door decided, like all good New Orleanians, that her input was required." So typical!
Profile Image for Jason.
2,318 reviews11 followers
November 22, 2019
I love the way that Redmann can write a whole handful of characters and kept them individual and easily identifiable and memorable. I pick dup this book and within two pages I was brought back two years to when I was given another book in this series. All the characters came flooding back to me and it was like I read the other book yesterday-that is serious writing! In Lost Daughters here are 4 main mysteries and they all are intertwined and are all brilliantly laid out and satisfyingly resolved. This series is spectacular!!
Profile Image for Ive Sansko.
23 reviews
January 4, 2022
Fan total de Micky Knight. Estos libros no tienen desperdicio alguno. Por favor, vayan a leer esta serie. En este la policía va detrás de un asesino serial y nuestra detective acepta 2 casos de búsqueda de personas, y en el medio puede que algunas cosas se mezclen. En el plano personal de Micky pasan muchas cosas que cambiaran su vida para siempre.
Excelente libro, excelente saga, amada Micky Knight y todo su clan de mujeres empoderadas en una época donde la sociedad es todavía más oscura en la que vivimos actualmente.
Súper recomendado!!
Profile Image for Nancy Lochmann.
392 reviews8 followers
June 1, 2021
Como siempre! Brillante

Micky Knight engancha. El 4 libro de la serie afecta también micky sobre su pasado. La relación con cordelia es estable, y hasta micky parece más madura. Pero como siempre micky se mete en un lío ya final es ella que resuelta los casos y no la policía.
Con ganas de seguir leyendo me he quedado. Menos mal que todavía quedan más libros de la serie para leerlo
Profile Image for Ive Sansko.
8 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2022
Excelente libro. Ágil, con mucha intriga, con mujeres gays super empoderadas y su infaltable toque de humor. Es un libro que además está constantemente mostrándote la realidad y el conflicto social en relación a la homosexualidad y otros rasgos socialmente reprochados, con lo cual se pone siempre algún tema sobre la mesa para debatir y reflexionar en torno al comportamiento del ser humano con sus pares. Amo esta saga. Amo a Micky Knight.
¡Super recomendado!
572 reviews
May 6, 2022
Really intense mystery

Micky is a very interesting and .likable character. The mysterious are well written and kept me reading from beginning to end. Lucky and Cordelia are good together the make s very interesting couple. Thanks for another winner.
Profile Image for Jo.
480 reviews10 followers
October 10, 2022
Less detecting and more a human interest story. Regardless, it was well written and moving. We also get more exposition on Micky's relationship with Cordelia, on their community of found friends and how Micky slowly heals from her traumatic childhood. I loved it.
Profile Image for Jay.
97 reviews8 followers
November 13, 2022
I am a Micky Knight fan. So yeah, I liked it. The fact that MK found her someone she was looking for all her life is really heartening. CJ did help MK to soothe a little. They must go strong. All in all, it was an edge of the seat read.
Profile Image for Shirleynature.
255 reviews80 followers
March 5, 2024
This fourth in the realistically gritty New Orleans based lesbian private eye Micky Knight mystery series is true to form with a vivid sense of place and character-driven raw emotions. Mickey is someone I would be honored to claim as a personal friend!
Profile Image for Virginia.
127 reviews24 followers
October 25, 2020
4/5 for the obviousness of (one of) the criminal(s) and 5/5 for the emotional payoff. I may or may not had to take a walk at the end in order to parse through my thoughts and feelings.
242 reviews2 followers
October 10, 2024
Si tuviera que poner de verdad una calificación sería menos 20 mala malísima es larga interminable y el libro se resuelve el los 3 últimos capítulos bufff que mala ha sido malaaaaaaaa🤬
Profile Image for Spencer Greene.
Author 2 books17 followers
May 19, 2021
This series is perfect. It is a queer classic. It lingers long after <3.
Profile Image for Katy.
1,293 reviews304 followers
May 26, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Detective/Lesbian Noir Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I received a free copy of book 7 in this series in exchange for an honest review. I purchased the rest of the books in the series myself, so am under no particular obligation, but am happy to provide an honest review.

Synopsis: Micky takes on the cases of a widowed mother looking for her daughter and a tough gay boy hunting for his biological mother. Together they stir in Micky a desire to search for her own mother, who abandoned her when she was a young girl.

When a young woman patient is murdered at her lover's clinic it seems to be just a bizarre coincidence. But when another woman, also a patient, is murdered, these events reveal the frightening possibility that they are more than just random chances. Even more alarming, the killer seems to know too much about the victims. As the killer circles ever closer to Micky -- and the lost daughter she is trying to reconnect to her mother -- the coincidences become a grisly reality: the one characteristic all the victims share is that they dare to love other women.

My Thoughts: This seems on the surface to share certain plot elements with book 2 – the murders occurring at the clinic being frighteningly similar to those made to look at botched abortions. However, the books are very different. The focus in the books is very much on reuniting mothers and daughters – Lorraine and her mother, Bourban St. Ann (a drag queen) with his/hers, and finally, Micky’s search for her own mother. It was rather poignant, as I’m adopted myself and have considered many times whether I should try to find my birth mother or not.

Micky’s friends were very much on the periphery again in this book, which takes place 3 years after the previous book – unlike the first three, which all take place within about a year. We don’t even see very much of Cordelia, who is very busy being a doctor. However, the book was riveting and I read it through as quickly as I could, only stopping for a brief nap when I got too tired to see straight. Highly recommended.
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