CRASH & BURN is not so much a departure from Lisa Gardner’s immensely popular D.D. Warren series as it is an interlude. It is set firmly in Warren’s universe and arguably within the Tessa Leoni series. Warren is certainly a part of the book in spirit, making a brief but momentous appearance near the beginning. The scene serves a dual purpose: it demonstrates that Warren is cantankerous as ever, medical leave or otherwise, and hints at the possibility of at least two major storyline changes to come in future volumes. Warren fans will want to read this latest novel for those revelations alone.

However, the focus of the appropriately named CRASH & BURN is on Sergeant Wyatt Foster, the somewhat newly minted love interest of private investigator Tessa Leoni, who has crossed paths and purposes with Warren in the past. It is Warren, though, who is called to the site of a pre-dawn single vehicle auto accident that will spin off into a chaotic investigation. The driver is a woman named Nicole “Nicky” Frank, who appears to have dumped her high-profile luxury automobile into a deep ravine. Despite the weather, her injuries, and the after-effects of some very expensive Scotch, Nicky managed to climb out of the ravine and flag down a passing motorist. She is emphatic about locating a little girl named Vero. A search team is sent out immediately, but a child --- Vero or otherwise --- cannot be found.

"CRASH & BURN is not so much a departure from Lisa Gardner’s immensely popular D.D. Warren series as it is an interlude.... [H]er stalwart long-time audience will find it a very satisfying read for its long look at Wyatt Foster and the hint of what is to come."

Nicky’s husband, Thomas, is called to the scene, and reveals to Wyatt and the search team that his wife has experienced a number of concussions in a relatively short time and is not a reliable historian, to say the least, given that they don't have a child named Vero. There is quite a bit about the situation that doesn’t sit right with Wyatt --- from the condition of the automobile to Thomas’ reassurances to Nicky’s explanation as to why she was out driving in poor weather while drinking in the early morning. Things become even more interesting when it develops that shortly before Nicky left home, she received a telephone call from Tessa’s investigative agency. He believes that Tessa knows something, but asking her to reveal that knowledge would interfere with client confidentiality.

Meanwhile, the reader is given intermittent glimpses into Nicky’s memories and thought processes, which are internally inconsistent and often at odds with what Thomas reports. What emerges is a picture of a very disturbed woman who is feeling the effects of a horrific childhood...but that picture may not be entirely accurate. It seems everyone is lying to Wyatt, or at least concealing the truth. That would include Tessa as well, who is hiding a secret of her own that will have momentous consequences for Wyatt and herself. A string of surprises at the end of the book makes for an unsettling conclusion, one that resonates far beyond the last page.

CRASH & BURN applies not only to the vignette that gets things rolling in the story’s present day, but also to Nicky, whose grip on reality is assuredly a shaky one. Gardner’s peek into Nicky’s consciousness is almost too much at times, though it certainly makes the character all the more convincing for it. While it is doubtful that the book will be of much interest to readers who are totally unfamiliar with Gardner’s work, her stalwart long-time audience will find it a very satisfying read for its long look at Wyatt Foster and the hint of what is to come.