Double Take: A Madison Kelly Mystery

by Elizabeth Breck

Overview

A 2022 SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD Nominee

When a young journalist goes missing in sunny San Diego , P.I. Madison Kelly learns the true price of knowing too much.

It's a perfect San Diego fall—cool and crisp with bright blue skies. But not everything is right in the sunny idyll dubbed "America's Finest City." Young journalist Barrett Brown has been missing for a week, and her boyfriend hires private investigator Madison Kelly to find her. Right away, Barrett reminds Madison of a younger version of herself: smart, ambitious, and a loner.

As she launches her investigation, Madison realizes that Barrett's disappearance is connected to a big story she was chasing—and she sets out to walk in Barrett's footsteps to trace her whereabouts. As the trail grows colder, things begin to heat up between Madison and Barrett's boyfriend. But he doesn't seem to be telling everything he knows, and Madison gets the feeling that her every move is being watched. What dirty secrets lie at the heart of Barrett's big lead?

If Madison can't get to the bottom of the case in time, she could be in line to become the next victim.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643857664
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	A Madison Kelly Mystery , #2
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.73(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.12(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Breck is a state of California licensed private investigator. A native Californian, she had read Harriet the Spy twenty times by the time she was nine, so it was no surprise when she grew up to become a PI. She has worked mainly in the field of insurance investigations, making her the real-life version of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone. In 2013 she went back to school, earning a bachelor’s degree in Writing, summa cum laude, from the University of California San Diego. She writes the Madison Kelly Mystery Series, thrilling mysteries set against the coffee houses and surfer culture of San Diego. The first book in the series, Anonymous, came out to critical acclaim in 2020, and Double Take is being released on October 12, 2021. She lives with a black Labrador named Hubert who is her best friend. She can be found at twitter.com/TheBlondePI.

Editorial Reviews

08/23/2021

In Breck’s intricately plotted sequel to 2020’s Anonymous, La Jolla, Calif., PI Madison Kelly, who has earned a reputation for locating missing people when others have failed, takes on a desperate new client, Travis Moore. Travis tells Madison that his girlfriend, Barrett Brown, who works for a local newspaper, has been missing for five days and the police are doing nothing to help. Madison accepts his retainer, vowing to find Barrett and bring her home. As she digs deeper into the Barrett’s life, Madison begins to identify strongly with her: both are fiercely independent introverts who won’t shy away from danger. The tension rises when Madison realizes a surveillance team is following her every move. Meanwhile, she worries about the possible return of her breast cancer, which resulted in a double mastectomy three years earlier, and how this news will affect her relationship with her neighbor Dave, “the surfer who was her on-again, off-again boyfriend and all-the-time love of her life.” Breck, herself a licensed private investigator, makes Madison a convincing heroine. Readers will look forward to seeing more of her. Agent: Abby Saul, Lark Group. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Double Take:
"In [this] intricately plotted sequel…Breck, herself a licensed private investigator, makes Madison a convincing heroine. Readers will look forward to seeing more of her."
—Publishers Weekly

“[A] likable mystery [with a] sly clue buried in its title.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Lots of twists and turns to keep the story interesting.”
—Red Carpet Crash

“In the deftly crafted Double Take, Elizabeth Breck creates not only a gripping, layered mystery that pulls you in from page one, but also an endlessly fascinating character in Madison Kelly. The gutsy, resourceful investigator’s toughness is matched only by the vulnerabilities that make her all the more compelling.The authenticity that comes from Breck’s experience as a PI herself rings true in every twist and turn as the case races to its heart-pounding finale. And the cherry on the top is a gorgeous setting that makes you want to read this book on a La Jolla beach as surfers catch waves in the distance. Readers will be eager to see more of Madison in the future.” 
—Brianna Labuskes, Washington Post bestselling writer of Girls of Glass

“Breck’s tough-but-caring private gumshoe has it all together on the job, even if not at home. She gets the job done with style in this fun and satisfying missing-girl mystery.”
—Kristin Wright, author of The Darkest Flower

Praise for Anonymous:
"An emotionally-wrought, angst-riddled, drop-dead terrific tale cut squarely from the cloth of Lisa Gardner and Harlan Coben...This is mystery/thriller writing of the highest order, as riveting as it is relentless."
—Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of the Caitlin Strong series

"Anonymous has suspense, action, and investigation that's believable, carried out by an appealing and very human female investigator in one of the most beautiful towns in the country. This will be the start of a terrific series.”
—Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of the Jane Whitefield series

“A smart, tough female protagonist, a unique plot, fast-moving prose written with a steady hand and a startling conclusion make this superb debut novel from real-life PI Elizabeth Breck a must read.” 
—David Housewright, Edgar Award-winning author of From the Grave

“Elizabeth Breck’s praiseworthy debut novel is unrelenting, like her dogged, smart protagonist, Madison Kelly.”
—David Swinson, bestselling author of Trigger

“A brave heart that deserves a sequel.”
—Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will look forward to seeing more of this tough, competent detective."
—Publishers Weekly

"A strong mystery and plot...[For] fan[s] of Sue Grafton's mysteries."
—Manhattan Book Review

“A solid start to the series...I hope for more of Madison in the future.”
—Red Carpet Crash

"An intensely drawn mystery with a hard-edged but beautifully realized lead character."
—Jay Roberts, Mystery Scene, Favorites of 2020

From the Publisher

10/15/2021

The sequel to Anonymous, by licensed private eye Breck. Travis Moore begs San Diego—based PI Madison Kelly for help: his girlfriend, a reporter named Barrett Brown, has been missing for five days, and the police don't seem to be looking for her. While Madison tracks Barrett's last steps, someone is tracking Madison. She quickly picks up her tails, but it takes another PI to tell her how they're finding her time after time. It's only when she gets to the small newspaper where Barrett works that she finds a story that might have led to the woman's disappearance. Barrett was looking at death certificates in three cases of couples dying in accidents, three months in a row. The death certificates were all signed by the same person. When Madison finally finds the missing woman, she leads a killer right to Barrett. Now, both women are impediments to a killer's plans for millions. Madison's concerns about a cancer recurrence may bother some readers, and Madison's emotional handwringing and tears become repetitive Madison's emotional handwringing and tears as she insists she has to look for Barrett become repetitive. VERDICT Recommended for libraries where the first book circulated well or for die-hard PI fans.

Library Journal

2021-06-29
A second case for San Diego shamus Madison Kelly finds her suddenly awash in job offers. The one she picks is a doozy.

Pharmaceutical sales rep Travis Moore’s girlfriend, Hillcrest Holler reporter Barrett Anna Brown, disappeared five days ago. The police have limited interest in something that happens all the time, and Travis is willing to advance Madison $5,000 to spend a week looking for her. Within hours, Madison has a lead: half a dozen death certificates Barrett requested copies of. Greg and Isabel Thomas, Jason and Rebecca Brady, and Rex and Tammy Hacks all died in accidents that claimed the lives of both members of each couple. The same person, Crystal Ladessa, is listed as handling the paperwork on all three of their estates, and Joseph L. Viceroy, the lawyer Crystal works for, has set up charitable trusts as secondary legatees for each of the childless couples. Holler editor Cornell Jones says he knew Barrett only professionally even though a telltale photo shows the two of them together in a restaurant in Mexico. Madison, who notices early on that she’s being followed everywhere she goes, clearly thinks she’d be a superhero if she had more upper-body strength. But she’s too busy itemizing dates, addresses, architectural details, and the brand names of her boots and flak jacket to consider why her client might be lying to her over apparently innocent details or, once the case heats up, to return calls and texts from surfer Dave Rich, her maybe boyfriend, and married SDPD Detective Thomas Clark, who’d like to be more than her buddy. The upshot is as predictable as the solution.

The single best thing about this flawed, likable mystery is the sly clue buried in its title.

Kirkus Reviews