When All the Girls Have Gone

By: Jayne Krentz
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 2016
ISBN: 978-0698193673
Reviewed by: Jennifer Rearick
Review Date: November 23, 2016

The love of money is the root of all evil and the proof is shown perfectly in When All the Girls Have Gone.

Charlotte Sawyer has a great job that she loves and is living in the city near her stepsister Jocelyn. Charlotte is a woman who is dealing with a failed engagement and trying to go about her life as normal as possible. When Jocelyn decides to go on a technology-free retreat for a month, she puts Charlotte in charge of collecting her mail. While Charlotte is collecting Jocelyn's mail, she receives a chilling package from her stepsister's best friend Louise. Since she was told to open anything that may be important, she decides to open the package. Inside the package, Louise leaves keys for Jocelyn and tells her about important documents that Jocelyn will need if anything happened to her. Deciding that she needs to know more, Charlotte tries calling Louise, only to find out that she has died. Charlotte, not believing the details surrounding Louise’s death, decides to head to Louise’s apartment to look for the documents. Instead of finding the documents, she finds PI Max Cutler investigating her death.

After talking with Max and finding the information left for Jocelyn, it is clear that something is going on and she needs to get in touch with her sister. Since Max feels Jocelyn is involved in what happened to Louise he looks into her and finds that she isn't where she said she would be. Knowing her sister can't be involved, Charlotte teams up with Max to figure out what really happened. As they race to find answers, and her sister, Charlotte finds out that there is a whole other side of Jocelyn that she never knew, and it all ties back to Jocelyn’s past. Throughout the web of lies, mystery and blackmail, Charlotte finds herself not only getting closer to her sister, and what really happened all those years ago, but closer to Max as well.

When All the Girls Have Gone isn't a typical who-done-it mystery where you wait to find out who the killer is, but more of a why did it happen story. For someone who loves to try to solve the case and figure out who did it, it is a nice change trying to figure out why something happened instead. Although you find out early on who the suspect is, you are left on the outside looking in with numerous possibilities as to what happened. Each chapter is a constant cliffhanger. The story is well written and while each chapter gives out some information, you won't know until the next chapter how that ties into the story. Although the story was a little bit slow to start out, once you get into the details it is hard to put down.

Quill says: Definitely a good read for mystery-loving case solvers.