Kate Reilly is back in AVOIDABLE CONTACT, her third thrilling adventure featuring auto racing and murder written by Tammy Kaehler. The author started this series with DEAD MAN’S SWITCH, and while intriguing, it was unpolished, a bit rough. The text greatly improved with the riveting BRAKING POINTS, and now we can see Kaehler and her characters in full bloom, in this powerful and gripping book.

Reilly is a sports car racer at the top level. And the author’s genius move here is to have the entire book revolve around one race, the granddaddy on the schedule, the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. That construct, much like mysteries set on a moving train or in a house cut off from civilization by the storm, focuses the action, narrows the detective capabilities, and tends to sharpen the storyline.

Here, before the race even starts, Reilly faces a conflict. Her tentative boyfriend, a series official, has been the victim of a hit-and-run accident and is in critical condition at a local hospital. It makes no sense that he was leaving the track at the time, he would never do that during a race. Reilly decides to race anyway, since she would be barred from seeing him at the hospital.

In the 24 hour endurance race, each car has multiple drivers. The drivers rotate through stints, sometimes going 30, 60 or 90 minutes at a time. When not driving, they refresh themselves in the pits, preparing for the next stint. During one of these times, someone texts Reilly that the hit-and-run was not an accident, but out-and-out murder.

Even worse, one of Reilly’s teammates in a different car, is run off the road by some rich-boy amateur driver and the news is not good. This 24 Hours of Daytona is turning into a nightmare for Kate Reilly.

But not for the reader! Every chapter, headed with the time of day and how much time is left in the race, moves the story along at racing speed (sorry), and presents a mix of detective action and how Kate tries to put together the pieces of what has happened to her boyfriend and her teammate, and pure racing action which is phenomenally well-described.
I really enjoy this series. If you love auto racing, you will too. That about sums it up. —Mark Rose

Get it at Amazon.