I know all private investigators in crime fiction have some baggage. But, Elizabeth Breck’s second Madison Kelly mystery, Double Take, piles it on for the PI. Not only does she identify with the woman she’s searching for, but she’s a cancer survivor facing a possible recurrence. With her fears, she’s a basket case at times, and tends to cry. Those may be triggers for some readers.

Madison Kelly is just trying to make a difference in the world. She tends to take cases that involve missing people, ones she hopes to bring home to their families. She just returned to La Jolla after finding a missing girl, when a desperate man asks for help. Travis Moore says his girlfriend, a reporter named Barrett Brown, has been missing for five days, and the police don’t seem to be looking for her. He doesn’t know what story she might have been investigating for her job, but he’s worried. Madison is worried, too, when she hears a tall blond that resembles Madison hasn’t been heard from in five days.

Madison investigates by tracking Barrett’s recent steps. The missing woman’s apartment has been trashed, and it’s obvious someone was searching for something. It’s only when she asks at the small newspaper, The HIllcrest Holler, that she finds something she can use. Barrett was asking questions at the county administration building, and she was looking at death certificates. How did three couples die in accidents one month after another with death certificates signed by the same person and the same lawyer involved?

As she follows Barrett’s trail, Madison uncovers a scheme making millions for someone. She suspects Barrett might be dead, but she’s determined to find answers. It’s too bad everyone is lying to her.

While the case itself is fascinating, I had a hard time with Madison. I know some of her tears and over-the-top emotions come from her worry about the recurrence of her cancer. Double Take could have used a little tighter editing. There was too much emotional handwringing as Madison insists she has to look for Barrett. Over and over, she says she has to find Barrett. I get it. She’s searching for Barrett.

The author also uses one of my least favorite tropes that usually occurs in cozy mysteries, not in PI novels. Here’s a PI with a friend on the police force who wants his help, but won’t tell him what she’s working on because she’s afraid the police will take over her case. That always irritates me.

Then there’s Dave, the surfer Madison loves although she refuses to call him her boyfriend. What’s with that? I also had a hard time with the scene when she’s apologizing to a tree.

I understand the author herself is a licensed PI in California, so I”m sure the investigating parts are right, from the stakeouts to the document searches. But, I still had problems with the writing of the book.

In other words, Double Take has an intriguing story, but I felt it could have been handled better.

Elizabeth Breck’s website is https://elizabethbreck.com/

Double Take by Elizabeth Breck. Crooked Lane Books, 2021. ISBN 9781643857664 (hardcover0, 336p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a ..PDF to review for a journal.