DOUBLEBLIND, Libby Fischer Hellmann’s latest Georgia Davis thriller, finds the Chicago PI with less work than normal due to the pandemic. When a friend comes to her about a relative who died suddenly after receiving the COVID booster, she agrees to look into it. She doesn’t realize that she will be solving several cases involving not only vaccines, but also drugs, guns, a missing person and a hostage crisis with her own family.

A trip to Wisconsin to track the shipment of the vaccine that seemed to have killed three people ends with threats to Georgia. Then her old friend, FBI Agent Nick LeJeune, lets her know that they're concerned about the situation. They include her in the case, expanding her resources as she ties in a missing doctor and more threads to the sinister plot to hurt people through the vaccine.

"Hellmann deftly balances her protagonist's life, the history of the Mormon Church in Illinois, and the multiple threads of the investigation for a page-turning thriller."

Georgia is nearly run down and isn’t sure if that is related to the vaccine or something else. She learns more by chance when her estranged mother offers to spend a weekend with Georgia, her sister and her nephew in Nauvoo, Illinois (the one-time Mormon heartland) to try and mend family fences. Several people think they recognize Georgia, and she realizes she may have a doppelgänger.

The point of view then shifts to Eden, who decides to leave her abusive Fundamentalist husband and their children and travel to Chicago. She finds shelter and a job, and is surprised when someone at the bar where she works thinks her name is Georgia. She fears that her husband, who she suspects is involved in dealing guns, has found her, so she prepares to run again.

Eden’s husband is indeed on the trail of what he believes is his missing wife but is really Georgia. He decides to kidnap members of Georgia’s family to try to get Eden back. Jimmy, Georgia’s boyfriend and the chief of police, helps her come up with a plan to save her loved ones and find Eden.

The vaccine thread is all too plausible and, when juxtaposed with Eden’s story, moves swiftly. Terrific scenes with Georgia’s family and boyfriend add depth and layers to a memorable cast of characters. DOUBLEBLIND is an exciting stand-alone, but fans of the series will enjoy Georgia’s progression. Hellmann deftly balances her protagonist's life, the history of the Mormon Church in Illinois, and the multiple threads of the investigation for a page-turning thriller.