The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out - Honest Review

The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out

By Gayleen Froese

Published June 14, 2022

★★★★☆

When a girl’s habits change and she mysteriously disappears, a private investigator is contracted to locate her. As an ex-cop, Ben Ames understands the statistics of disappearances and the likelihood that she’ll be found.

When Jesse, Ben’s celebrity ex, walks back into his life, he tries to figure out how to navigate his investigation while coming to terms with old feelings and past hurts. Can the two of them reconcile long enough to follow the leads? Or will their history and Jesse’s fame get in the way?

This is a quick and gripping crime investigation novel based in Calgary, Alberta. As we follow Ben’s investigations, we are lead to the back country of the Rocky Mountains and deep into tourist territory. It was quite refreshing to read a Canadian story that is written incredibly well.

Gayleen weaves an in depth narrative and her writing is descriptive, immersive, and well done. This book was easy to read, easy to understand, and the use of words drew me into the story, making it quite enjoyable.

I do like the way that she orchestrates the relationships in the novel. They are extremely believable in the way the characters interact with each other. The relationship between Jesse and Ben is highlighted the most, but you can tell when they are fighting with inner conflicts, or when they are just trying to coexist in their new reality.

The crime aspect of the book was very well done. A fun fact about me is that I used to work in Canadian criminal law for 5 years as a legal assistant, so much of the portrayal of Canadian law was pretty accurate. I can't speak to the dealings of the RCMP or city police in Alberta, but I know that the conduct, motivations and discussions with agencies are very similar to my experience here in BC. That being said, with Ben being on the outside of the police department as a private investigator, that lends to some creative storytelling as you can really bend it in a way that works for the story.

The setting of this book was well done, between the urban sprawl of Calgary (I've only passed through once, but it definitely reminded me of it!) and the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains. The ruggedness of the outdoors, as well as the scarcity of people was well reflected.

Some of the more difficult topics were handled tactfully. If you've read any of my reviews up to this point, you know that I appreciate gentle handling of mental health in characters, and this book met my expectations for dealing with tough subjects like drug abuse, homophobia, and isolation.

Overall, I felt that this was an engaging and enjoyable read. It's a mix of crime and romance, with a dollop of entertainment and mental health awareness. Most aspects of the book were tasteful, which would make it a good pick for a broad audience.