Bleeding Heart (edition 2000)

This well-plotted thriller is set in the quiet town of Delbrook, Wisconsin. When Maggie's father-in-law is suddenly murdered and a Chicago lawyer shows up looking for his missing nephew, Maggie is forced to confront the possibility that one of her close friends is a kidnapper and murderer.
I thought I had an idea of who the killer was early on, but even though the suspect pool is pretty small, I was absolutely wrong, which actually makes me quite happy. I love when books surprise me. Maggie is a very genuine character with believable reactions to events and an admirable streak of courage in the face of dark events. The romance between her and Grant Holbrook, the Chicago lawyer, was given a chance to develop in an authentic manner; they didn't just fall into bed because they happened to be the two main characters in a romantic suspense novel. In fact, no sex at all in this one, which led me to re-categorize it as mystery/thriller after I had read it.
I'm going to have my husband read it next, so I'll let you know if it stands up to a hardcore mystery-reader's standards of excellence. I thought it was great, though. ( )