Face Down in the Gene Pool

<p>Brooke Roberts can think of lots of things she'd like to do on the first day of spring. Going to a genealogy conference and finding a body in a fishpond isn't one of them.</p><p></p><p>The good news is that the police have a suspect. On Saturday morning the stunningly beautiful Jenna Henley left the conference with her ex-lover who's known to be a self-absorbed control freak. Three hours later Jenna's dead. Clearly her ex-lover's the culprit.</p><p></p><p>Or is he? </p><p></p><p>The news media doesn't think so. Instead they're asking probing questions about Jenna's relationship with Dr. Prescott Tillman world-famous geneticist and spokesperson for the transhumanist movement. Jenna's body was found in his pond so surely he must have a connection to her death.</p><p></p><p>And what about Jenna's business partner who recently accused Jenna of hitting on her boyfriend? </p><p></p><p>And what about the fact that just a few days before she was murdered Jenna learned the identity of her birthmother? She and her birthmom were planning a reunion at Easter and the detectives assigned to the case need to notify her of Jenna's passing. But there's a hitch. No one knows who Jenna's birthmother is nor do they know the identity of the agency Jenna used to locate her. </p><p></p><p>The situation raises other troubling questions. Was it merely a coincidence that Jenna died before the reunion could take place or were there forces at work behind the scenes to make sure the reunion never happened? </p><p></p><p>From the start the detectives make it clear that they want Brooke to stay out of their way. She's only too happy to comply-she has no desire to repeat the experience of last fall that brought her face-to-face with a ruthless killer. But in spite of her efforts at keeping her distance she inadvertently uncovers evidence that draws her into the investigation. When the lead detective scoffs at her discoveries she's left to fend for herself in a gene pool that's deeper and murkier than she'd dared to imagine.</p>