Nora Watts is faced with the challenge of tracking down the daughter she had put up for adoption 15 years earlier—finds Vancouver, B. C., resident Nora traveling to Detroit to look into the death of her father ... Meanwhile, back home in British Columbia, a private investigator digs into the death of his client’s mistress, only to find an apparent link to Nora ... this psychological thriller is even more sure-footed than its predecessor; the writing is more compelling, the characters deeper and richer, as though Kamal has come to know Nora better since The Lost Ones. Familiarity with that novel is not essential to read this one, which works just fine as a stand-alone, but, at the same time, readers who know where Nora came from will better appreciate where she is going here. Crime-fiction fans should hope for another Nora Watts novel very soon.

Canadian author Sheena Kamal continues to show how cultural touchstones reverberate into adulthood in her intriguing look at Vancouver research assistant Nora Watts, whose major investigations are uncovering her past. Nora technically isn't a detective, though she's worked for one, and her skills at finding people are unmatched. But Kamal's second novel delves deeper into Nora's prickly personality, shaped by her biracial background and the series of foster homes in which she was raised ... Kamal's affinity for the unusual, character-driven mystery excels in It All Falls Down. While Kamal supplies plenty of action and close calls, she concentrates on the characters' motivations. Nora's background has given her a mistrust of people and made her wary of emotions. Jon, who also was her AA sponsor, has never been able to break through her wall. Her closest relationship is with Whisper ... A sense of sadness permeates the novel, from Kamal's gritty look at Detroit and unflinching look at Vancouver's neighborhoods to the flawed characters. Yet Kamal also injects a sense of hope and closure for Nora, and Whisper, and makes readers root for their future.

Nora has a knack for finding missing people, but after a case involving her 16-year-old daughter, Bonnie, nearly killed her, she’s taken on something more low key: helping her former employer, Sebastian Crow, who is dying of cancer, write his memoirs while taking much needed comfort in her dog, Whisper. When a man approaches her claiming to have served with her father, Samuel, in Lebanon ... Although not as bloody as the first book, this installment is no less compelling or gritty, and Nora, who remains as prickly and conflicted as ever, finds danger everywhere she goes. Kamal laces her narrative with a palpable melancholy, effectively capturing the urban decay of Detroit while emphasizing the vibrancy and hope of the people who inhabit it. An explosive finale, which takes place during Detroit’s yearly Angel’s Night, sets the stage for more to come from this heroine.

In Canadian author Kamal’s disappointing sequel to The Lost Ones, danger looms when a mysterious stranger approaches Vancouver research assistant Nora Watts—who barely survived her last case, involving the kidnapping of the now-teenage daughter she gave up for adoption at birth ... Kamal demonstrates a knack for putting her kick-ass heroine in harm’s way, repeatedly, but unfortunately shows considerably less skill at crafting a coherent plot.