Book Review: The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan

The Missing Witness
Author: Allison Brennan
Series: Quinn & Costa (Book 5)
Publication: Mira (January 23, 2024)

Description: When a key witness goes missing, Quinn & Costa must find her before a killer silences her for good…

Detective Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles to testify against a notorious human trafficker, finally moving past the case that upended her life. But when the accused is shot in broad daylight, the chaotic scene of the crime turns up few reliable bystanders. And one witness—a whistleblower who might be the key to everything—has disappeared.

After another person close to the case is killed, it’s clear that anyone who knows too much is in danger, and tracking down the witness becomes a matter of life-and-death. But as explosive secrets surface within the LAPD and FBI, Kara questions everything she thought she knew about the case, her colleagues and the life she left behind months ago.

Now with FBI special agent Matt Costa’s help, she must race to find the missing witness and get to the bottom of the avalanche of conspiracies that has rocked LA to its core…before it's too late.

My Thoughts: Detective Kara Quinn in back in Los Angeles to testify in the case that caused her to leave LA and join Matt Costa's Mobile Response Team. But before she can testify, David Chen and his bodyguard are murdered and so is the ADA who was set to prosecute him.

With the FBI in the form of her nemesis Bryce Thornton wanting to investigate her for the crimes, she needs to depend on her new team to prove that she is innocent and to find out just what is going on in LA.

This episode has graft and fraud centered around the homelessness crisis. One of the viewpoint characters in Violet who is a computer nerd working in city government and who has a mother who is part of that population. She's been working with a man named Will who has founded his own group to try to end homelessness. 

All of the deaths, which keep piling up, are related to the central issue of homelessness including that of David Chen. 

This was a fast-paced and engaging thriller about a woman who had her world rocked when she needed to leave LA and has it rocked again when she returns. I like Kara Quinn a lot. She's a great cop though a little reckless. She's also a woman who was hurt badly by her parents and doesn't trust or like very many people. She is learning that there are good people that she can trust and maybe even love, but changing is a slow process.

I bought this one February 1, 2025. You can buy your copy here.