Swift Edge: A Mystery by Laura DiSilverio

Charlie Swift is skeptical when a young figure skater shows up at her office. The girl, Dara Peterson, is desperate - her partner Dmitri Fane has gone missing and the Olympics are only weeks away; the US National Champions are even sooner. Lots of people think that Dmitri has just gone away to clear his head (or is hidden away with a new boyfriend), but Dara knows that something is wrong. Charlie accepts the case and soon finds herself immersed in the strange world of figure skating. There are a lot of people who are happier with Dmitri gone, including Peterson and Fane's biggest rivals. But Dmitri might have been up to more that just triple jumps, and as the bodies start piling up Charlie Swift could be in mortal danger. Good thing she had an extra-large Pepsi to start the day.

I picked this book up for the figure skating aspect of it rather than being attracted to the mystery part, so that's the lens that I'm viewing it with. There were parts that made a lot of sense (such as being set in Colorado Springs, home to one of the biggest US training centres and some top-level coaches) and then details that didn't (such as the focus on the National Competition being incredibly important when the US would almost definitely have two entries to the Olympic Games, so it wouldn't matter who won Nationals, or the idea of a pairs team doing side-by-side triple axels), but I think only a big skating fan would make a note of these issues. The mystery gets a bit convoluted as more characters are introduced, but plots and suspects dovetail and tie-in nicely, building to a big finish. Charlie maintains her sarcastic tone but also displays the characteristics that make her good at her job. Gigi, her partner, often plays for comic relief, but she's given enough of a back-story to make me root for her and want her to succeed. Many reviewers have written that this is a good pick for fans of Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich, so if you like those writers be sure to give Laura DiSilverio a try.

See more at Laura DiSilverio's website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Swift Justice by Laura DiSilverio
Swift Run by Laura DiSilverio
Murder She Wrote: Skating on Thin Ice by Donald Bain