When the Stars Go Dark

 When the Stars Go Dark / Paula McLain, 370 pp.

Anna Hart is a San Francisco detective who specializes in missing persons cases, particularly those of young women.  She has an extremely complex past herself, including both childhood and recent trauma.  The plot revolves around three separate cases of young missing girls in northern California in the area around Mendocino.  (a locale which, thanks to McLain, I now want to add to my travel bucket list).  I was less impressed by the plot than I was by the astute psychological perspective McLain brought to the stories of these young women, and how past trauma may amplify vulnerability to predators.  Compassionate and smart, and very fast moving.