One of my favorite authors takes on a new genre in this mystery. Amanda Jackson is a brilliant teenager who runs an online role playing game called "Ripper" (after Jack). Her mother, Indiana, is a massage therapist/Reiki master/aromatherapist. Amanda's father/Indiana's ex-husband Bob, is Deputy Chief of Homicide for the San Francisco PD. A series of strange murders in the city intrigues Amanda and the Ripper players begin their own investigation to see if the murders are connected. Meanwhile Indiana is focused on her patients and her love-life with heir to a fortune, Adam Keller and an amputee ex-Marine with PTSD. Then Indiana disappears and the Ripper players begin playing for real. As murder mysteries go, this one is nothing special. There are red herrings and a nice twist at the end. But Allende does a masterful job of character development. Every character has a backstory which brings each of them to life. They become people you care about in spite of their faults and foibles. There were a few odd and random repetitions in the story but I suspect that happened in the translation process. It's not my favorite of Allende's novels but I enjoyed it.
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