A Pale Reflection

Adam Kaminski #5

by Jane Gorman

Hurt by betrayal and reeling with doubts about his own judgment, Detective Adam Kaminski seeks a safe harbor on a pleasure cruise to Bermuda. But he's not the only passenger using the cruise to hide from his past. The calm of his vacation is shattered when crew discover the brutally murdered body of a wealthy passenger. Adam and his partner are convinced by the ship’s captain to help with the investigation, leaving Adam’s sister Julia to focus on further developing her skills in photography. The victim was a powerful patriarch on a family vacation, but Adam soon learns he had more enemies than friends. While every move the detectives make unearths more motives and more suspects, Julia knows the truth is often revealed in candid shots and captured glances. Exposing the bonds that connect the victim and his family to his homeland of Russia reveals darker connections and shadier activities—activities that challenge Adam’s sense of justice and place his sister squarely in the killer’s frame. Now Adam must catch the killer before the boat docks, without compromising himself or becoming a pale reflection of the man he thought he was.

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2018

About the author

Jane Gorman is the author of the Adam Kaminski mystery series and the Cape May Cozy Mysteries with a Twist. Formerly an anthropologist, a diplomat and a park ranger (not all at the same time!) Gorman draws on her life experiences in each of her books. Gorman is a member of the Sisters in Crime and a former president of the Delaware Valley Chapter. She loves writing almost as much as she loves reading, and is always interested in hearing about a good book!

Reviews

[Amber Foxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to engage me with complex, original plots and a protagonist I care about. (I wish Adam would learn to handle his emotions better, especially anger, but he’s making progress.) It was good see his detective partner, Pete, playing a major role. So does Adam’s sister Julia, who is also Pete’s girlfriend. Aside from an opening scene in the point of view of the killer, the book stays within the point of view of those trying to solve the crime. For my enjoyment, that’s the best structure for a mystery.
Julia’s involvement as an amateur among the professionals adds a new twist for the series, as she, Pete, and Adam find themselves looking into a murder on a cruise ship during their vacation.
The setting was fascinating, for a reader who’s never been on a cruise. It worked very much like a classic country house mystery, with the wealthy victim’s relatives on the cruise as well as some crew members providing a number of plausible suspects.
I have one more Kaminski mystery waiting in my Nook. I hope there will be many more.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simple. The best description of this book and all of its parts – Simple.

Simple characters, simple dialog, simple plot and a bucketful of simple Red Herrings thrown in for who knows why. The book was no credit to the Detectives of the Philadelphia Police Department; the Keystone Cops without the humor comes to mind. The book also takes a swipe at cruise line personnel, whew, not much to like or admire from the author’s descriptions – remember those red herrings.

Predictable and quick and did I mention SIMPLE?! 2-1/2 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Blue Eagle Press for an ARC.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. Great characters, plus I know them from reading previous books in this series. Great story. I always learn something from Jane Gorman's books.