Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2013
416 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
The Ludlows are a hard-charging family, and patriarch Carl Ludlow treats his offspring like employees - which they are. But his daughter, Fina, is a bit of a black sheep. A law school dropout, her father keeps her in the fold as the firm's private investigator, working alongside her brothers.
Juggling her family of high-powered (and highly dysfunctional) attorneys, the cops and Boston's criminal element is usually something Fina does without breaking a sweat. But when her sister-in-law disappears, she's caught up in a case unlike any she's encountered before.
Carl wants things resolved without police interference, but the deeper Fina digs, the more impossible that seems. The Ludlows close ranks, and her brother Rand and his unruly teenage daughter Haley grow mysteriously distant from the family. As Fina unearths more dirt, the demands of family loyalty intensify. But Fina is after the truth - no matter the cost.
"Starred Review. Although Thoft tips her big bombshell too soon, readers will be eager to see more of smash-mouth Fina, a hard-boiled throwback equally comfortable shooting from the hip or the lip." - Publishers Weekly
"Thoft's first effort provides a competent storyline that, while it fails to break new ground, promises to improve over time. " - Kirkus
"Fans of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries will enjoy this engaging, if a bit predictable, debut." - Booklist
"Thoft's promising debut introduces a significantly flawed but tough new PI and offers up compelling suspense, while the smooth prose keeps things moving right along. Some readers may question some of Fina's decisions and methods, but this mystery wrapped in family drama should please fans of contemporary suspense of the more hard-boiled sort." - Library Journal
This information about Loyalty was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ingrid Thoft was born in Boston and is a graduate of Wellesley College. Her interest in the PI life and her desire to create a believable PI character led her to the certificate program in private investigation at the University of Washington. She lives in Seattle with her husband. Loyalty is her first novel.
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