The End Game

Moriah Dru and Richard Lake Mysteries #1

by Gerrie Ferris Finger

Moriah Dru’s weekend off with her lover, Lieutenant Richard Lake, is interrupted when Atlanta juvenile court judge Portia Devon hires Dru to find two sisters who’ve gone missing after their foster parents’ house burns down. 

An ex-cop, Dru established Child Trace, Inc., after leaving the force. Judge Devon sees to it that Lake is assigned to head the police investigation, because Dru and Lake together have a habit of solving cases. 

After questioning the neighbors, the couple decide that the abduction of the girls looks like more than an ordinary kidnapping. Dru learns that in the past eight years two other foster children from the area have gone missing. The investigation turns up a snitch who tells Dru he’s heard that a secret sex organization, with members named after chess pieces, is bound for Costa Rica with two girls. The chase is on to stop the kidnappers before they escape the country.  

  

The latest winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, The End Game features a strong new heroine in a vivid Southern setting. Gerrie Ferris Finger puts a new spin on the classic mystery novel.

Genres: Mystery

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2010

About the author

Former journalist and novelist, Gerrie, won the St. Martin's Minotaur award for the Best First Traditional Novel of 2009 THE END GAME.
THE GHOST SHIP and WHISPERING were released in late 2011.
MERCILESS, a novella, 2012.
HEARTLESS, a novella, 2012.
Read all three books in the Laura Kate Plantation Series: LOOK AWAY FROM EVIL, WHEN SERPENTS DIE, HONORED DAUGHTERS, WAGON DOGS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION sequel to THE END GAME released 2012
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013
MURMURS OF INSANITY 2014
RUNNING WITH WILD BLOOD 2015
AMERICAN NIGHTS 2016
WOLF'S CLOTHING 2018
COLORS OF BLOOD 2019

Reviews

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate my local library putting out books when you walk in that may pique someone’s interest. This one did and glad I picked it up. Action-packed full of twists and turns. The subject matter prudent today. A house burned down, the parents dead, and two young girls missing. Dru and Lake are two investigators picked to find these girls quickly, but who took them. There were many suspects and those who knew the answers are dead.

The author did a good job keeping the suspense high. This book isn’t a new release and was published a long time ago. I liked this book and already have a couple more books from this author to read. I am hoping these books are just as good.

[Susan Pola Staples · Rating 4 out of 5]

review later. very good

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked that this was set in Cabbagetown; I could picture exactly where they were. It was nice to read something set in Atlanta. The writing itself wasn't all that impressive, but it's a quick and easy read. I figured out the who (which NEVER happens) so that was weird for me. I'm not sure if that means it was written better or worse than other mysteries I've read.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moriah Dru is an ex-cop from the Atlanta PD who left and founded Child Trace, Inc., at the urging of juvenile court judge Portia Devon, a childhood friend. With her police background and romantic relationship with Lt. Richard Lake of the force, Ms. Dru has been in the forefront of many missing-child cases, but none, perhaps, as urgent as the one with which this book opens.

Her planned weekend off with Lt. Lake is interrupted by a call from the judge: a house fire has claimed the lives of two foster parents in the system, but the two little girls are missing. So, Dru and Lake set off in a desperate bid to uncover what happened and find the girls.

The book’s cover carries the notice that it is the winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery award, but one should not suppose that means ‘cozy,’ or that it is lacking in thrills. By Patricia Highsmith’s definition of suspense fiction, THE END GAME is chock-full of suspense. All the action is packed into a single twenty-four hour period, the fate of two innocent little girls hanging fire the whole time. But it does fit the traditional mystery category in that there is a puzzle, with clues and fair play with the reader, and a mostly satisfactory resolution. If no book is perfect, it might be said that this one, in spite of its time frame, is a bit slow in getting started, and might require a bit of patience on the reader’s part before it gets up to speed, much like the freight trains that play a role in the story, but that aside, Ms. Finger has written a book that will fill some pleasant hours.

[Tina Whittle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first outing with Gerrie Ferris Finger and her protagonist, Moriah Dru, but I'll certainly be back for more. Not a cozy by any means -- it centers its action on a child abduction and reveals horrific details about the real-life child slavery market -- the book is nonetheless very traditional. There are multiple clues to follow for readers who like to test themselves, and while the gore quotient is low, the tension is high. Tautly structured, with a plot firmly rooted in its characters' motives, strengths, and hot-button issues, is a fine choice for a lover of traditional mysteries, especially those with a strong capable female protagonist.

A bonus for history buffs: the setting of the novel, contemporary Atlanta, delivers not only a gritty backdrop for the story, it also provides well-crafted nuggets of info about the forces that forged this fascinating city.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the winner of the Malice Domestic Best Traditional First Mystery Novel and is well deserving of this award.

Moriah Dru (Dru to her friends) is a former cop who now runs an investigation firm to find missing children. Her lover is Lt. Richard Lake, an Atlanta Police Detective. Together, they are assigned by Atlanta Juvenile Court Judge Portia Dawson to find 2 missing sisters after their foster parents home burns down.

Things are not what they seem (at first) and after a tip from a snitch, Dru learns of a secret sex trade organization that is bound for Costa Rica. The chase is on. Will Dru and Lake save the day?

Check-out this book and find out!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific debut, winner of the St. Martin's Malice Domestic contest. Despite the win, this book isn't really a cozy, though it's structure is very traditional. The main character works with the police to find missing children - in this one she's working with her cop boyfriend in the aftermath of a fire to find two missing sisters. While that set up isn't cozy, Finger still structures this as a locked room mystery (someone is murdered) and her detective visits each suspect in turn in an almost traditional manner, though Finger doesn't make it feel labored. There's also a dandy bit involving train whistles as a clue. This book was a delight, I look forward to many more.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

* I received this book through a first reads giveaway*
This book was great! I probably should have slowed down reading it, and maybe I would have figured it out before the characters did :) IT really keeps you guessing!

[Richard Bradley]

The End Game features a strong new heroine in a vivid Southern setting. That's enough for me to know I want to read it.

[Sherry Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good mystery about a small town where foster children are disappearing. The culprit is not who you think it is.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful first book. Great setting, good twists in plot. I recommend it!