Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
Evan Delaney, novelist and legal go-fer, is dressed as Diana Ross in order to crash a fancy-dress party and serve a summons, when she hears that Franklin Brand is back in town. Brand is the hit-and-run driver who sentenced Evan's lover Jesse to life in a wheelchair, and killed his best friend.

Since the accident, Brand has been avoiding justice overseas; but if he's back Evan and Jesse are determined to get him, helped by the dead boy's brother, Adam. Brand has been a high-flyer in Mako Technologies, a cyber-security firm, and this is where Evan starts looking.

She quickly uncovers evidence that Brand was embezzling funds, and that Adam's brother knew all about it. So maybe the hit-and-run wasn't an accident at all? The policeman investigating is killed, and Adam and Jesse both come under suspicion.

Matters are further complicated by the confused emotions of Jesse who feels a survivor's guilt, and Adam who resents the fact that Jesse is alive while his brother died.

But there are more corpses to come - including a near miss for Evan herself - before the bad guys are finally brought to book.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon. Hit. Run. Die. An Evan Delaney Thriller. Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 9781848943919 (September, 2009), eBook, 0.47 MB (ca. 300 p.), £7.99.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
After a hit-and-run accident leaves a friend dead, Evan Delaney wants justice. But she underestimates the power of the person responsible. When the witnesses begin dying one by one, Evan is unprepared for the dark places retribution will take her.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon. An Evan Delaney Novel. Obsidian / New American Library, ISBN: 9780451224729 (July, 2008), 341 p., $8.99.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
Evan Delaney, novelist and legal go-fer, is dressed as Diana Ross in order to crash a fancy-dress party and serve a summons, when she hears that Franklin Brand is back in town. Brand is the hit-and-run driver who sentenced Evan's lover Jesse to life in a wheelchair, and killed his best friend. Since the accident, Brand has been avoiding justice overseas; but if he's back, Evan and Jesse are determined to get him, helped by the dead boy's brother Adam. Brand had been a high-flier in Mako Technologies, a cyber-security firm, and this is where Evan starts looking. She quickly uncovers evidence that Brand was embezzling funds, and that Adam's brother knew all about it. So maybe that hit-and-run wasn't an accident at all?Then the policeman investigating is killed, and Adam and Jesse both come under suspicion. The plot has more twists, thrills and spills than a white-knuckle ride, and is complicated by the confused emotions of the main parties involved: Jesse feels a survivor's guilt; Adam resents the fact that Jesse is alive while his brother died. But there are more corpses - including a near miss for Evan herself - to come before the bad guys are finally brought to book.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon. The New Evan Delaney Novel. Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 034082252X (February, 2004), 426 p., £6.99.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Meg Gardner's debut novel, China Lake, sold 25,000 in hardback - a stunning figure that accurately reflects her instant appeal.
This, her second, sees sassy heroine Evan Delaney - the braveheart legal journalist from China Lake return. This time she is determined to bring to justice the man who was blamed for running down her partner and killing his friend in a bizarre road accident. But, having fled the country, why was Franklin Brand back in town when he knew the law was after him? And what dirty tricks are his ex- employer Mako Technologies up to?

In this beautifully constructed thriller, Meg Gardiner throws up smoke screen after smoke screen while cementing the relationship between her heroine, hero and the reader.

Jesse, paraplegic since the accident, and Evan are on the count-down to their wedding when Brand is spotted by Jesse in Santa Barbara. The sighting opens all the barely healed wounds of the accident which put him in a wheelchair. As he and Evan investigate, the stress puts an almost intolerable strain on their relationship. Old truths and friendships come under the microscope and while the macabre facts of the accident come slowly into focus, Evan finds she is literally running for her life in the hills around Mission Canyon, and the stretch of road where Jesse faced death.

Meg Gardiner: Mission Canyon. Where Revenge Becomes Personal. Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 0340822503 (July, 2003), 326 p., £14.99.