The sixth Monkeewrench book by Patricia and Traci Lambrecht, writing as P.J. Tracy, has the software geniuses at Monkeewrench still separated as they were at the end of Shoot to Kill, and Minneapolis detective Leo Magozzi marking time until Monkeewrench leader Grace McBride returns. He and his partner, Gino Rolseth, catch the case of a young woman murdered in a field. She is one of five girls missing from a nearby Indian reservation, but the other four can't be found. The discovery of two men shot in a nearby home gives some clues in the kidnappings, but the murders themselves make no sense. Nor do three more committed the next day.

Grace, meanwhile, finds it necessary to flee when terrorists try to kill retired FBI agent John Smith, the man she is traveling with. Before she, Magozzi and Rolseth and the rest of the Monkeewrench crew can figure out if these are all connected and how, they'll need to enlist some new allies and go further "off the grid."

The Lambrechts have maintained their smooth narrative flow and wry wit over the entire series, and the characterization skill that flagged a little in Shoot returns here. Ensnaring the cast in a worldwide terrorist plot seems a little far-fetched considering the more stay-at-home kinds of work that they've been doing, and the ending act is a lot shakier and sketchier than it could be, feeling a little rushed. But the Monkeewrench series is still a lively, peppy read and the Lambrechts have yet to slow down.

Original available here.