Sleeping Dogs

Gina Cross #1

by Fay Cunningham

Gina Cross has a special gift. Show her a skull and she can draw a face. Working for the police as a forensic artist, she sketches the faces of the dead. Now the bones of a child are about to put her life in danger. A child died 20 years ago and Nathan Fox, a caretaker at an exclusive boys' school, found something that incriminated three of the students. When Fox disappeared the boys thought they were safe. But Fox is back, and no one is safe. The boys are now grown up. One is a renowned plastic surgeon; one a politician, tipped as the next prime minister; the third is a lawyer, the son of a High Court judge. Against her better judgement, Gina teams up with Adam Shaw, an investigative journalist, to find Fox and solve the mystery of the child's death. But she is not the only one hunting Fox. When Gina's friend is kidnapped and held hostage, she realizes that anything including murder is on the cards.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2009

Reviews

[Johnny G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure the author is a nice person and really believes she's writing quality stories. The problem is, this one is not one of them. The reason why I read this book quickly, in two nights, is because I needed a book that would fit into the pocket of my sport coat when I was on the train last night. I had nothing else to read. There isn't a whole lot of meat on this bone - a limited cast of characters, a female lead who likes shopping and getting her love life back on track (shocking!) and a thin plot with such BORING action as: car gets run off road. Break in at house. Girlfriend is beat up. Snooping around looking for clues. It's really, really...weak and thin. So the next time you're looking for a book that will fit in your pocket, go with something else!
Now on to my 20th Lee Child book...

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars - loopholes and unresolved story lines prevent this from getting four stars. Forensic artist Gina Cross puts a face to a skull found in a pond in the English countryside - a little girl about 8 years old, Asian, dead for about 20 years. But no one had reported her missing, and locals do not remember a little Asian girl in town at that time. Gina is intrigued by it all and decides to investigate, including burglarizing a house, stealing valuable evidence, and withholding it from the police. Meanwhile she has to contend with an investigative reporter - handsome, rugged and ex-military who apparently falls in love with her and is willing to do anything to help her. They uncover a pedophile ring made up of local power brokers who committed sex crimes while they were in high school 20 years earlier. However, the fate of these pedophiles is not clearly stated, and most disappointing is that the little girl is never identified and her death is not resolved. Gina seems to lose interest in this at the end.

[Krysteff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fast paced, a lot going on. Everything summed up very quickly in the end. Overall decent story.

[Debbie Heaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Cunningham’s mystery novel, forensic sketch artist Gina Cross is haunted by the picture of a child she drew from twenty-year-old skull found in a pound. The child was never reported missing but a witness, Jessica Fox, has come forward claiming to have information, but is killed in a suspicious car accident. Before long, Jessica’s long missing father claims he knows the identify and the backstory of the child but refuses to speak to anyone but Gina. With his clues and assistance from a reporter, Gina identifies three possible assailants but to solve the case, Gina must place herself in the path of killer.

Fast-paced, well told mystery.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins when a little girls bones from 20 years ago are found in a pond. The setting is England. The police continue to call on a freelance forensic sketch artist (considered psychic by some) that has an amazing ability to draw perfect images from the bones. A copy of the sketch is placed on the internet, and someone comes forth with a picture of the girl. But before she could get it to the forensic artist she dies in a car accident. Are the two linked? Evidence of the dead woman's missing father and a secret from three prominent members of society who were still in school at the times, sets her on a dangerous mission. The book is very good for anyone wishing to read it.

[Martin Perks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was crime fiction of the highest order. I’m probably biased as I’m an avid reader of the genre. The story follows forensic artist Gina Cross, who teams up with Adam Shaw, a journalist to look into the death of a child. Delving into the case, they discover that the caretaker of an exclusive boys school had discovered something that could incriminate three former pupils of the school. But he has disappeared.
The book is fast paced, has many twists and turns, and is quite scary too. The author obviously has done her homework on forensics, and this I found very interesting. I’m not surprised this was shortlisted for the debut dagger award. Highly recommended.

[Fenella Jane Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fay is a fellow Hale writer and I loved her fist crime novel. Small wonder she was shortlisted for Debut Dagger awards 3 times!!