One could never accuse Hank Phillippi Ryan of shortchanging her readers. Ryan has earned mantels full of awards for her mystery writing and more than 30 Emmys (among others) for her investigative television journalism. One gets an idea of why she is frequently heralded by reading WHAT YOU SEE, the fourth installment in her Jane Ryland series.

There is a fatal stabbing at practically high noon in front of God and everyone at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, turning the historic into the hysteric. Jane Ryland, who has left her newspaper reporting job under a cloud, is interviewing for a spot as a television reporter (interestingly enough, with a former employer’s competitor) when the news reaches the station. She is offered a job as a freelancer on the spot and hurries to the scene of the crime. Upon arrival, she attracts the notice of an amateur photographer who bills himself as Bobby Riaz cum Land (those of us of a certain age will recognize the significance of that name).

"[Ryan] navigates her readers so adroitly through these various disparate plotlines that one cannot help but be simultaneously enchanted by the way she does it and mesmerized by what occurs."

Meanwhile, Detective Jake Brogan, who is also Jane’s love interest, has the potential doer in custody and an extremely obnoxious bystander who may or may not have caught him. A young woman named Tenley Siskel, on her lunch break from her job as a City Hall traffic surveillance monitor, may have seen something, though her boss may have erased the evidence. Or not. All of these plotlines collide and/or brush up against each other gently.

Jane’s sister, Melissa, is in Boston as well. Melissa is getting married to Daniel Fasullo, a hotshot CEO who is flying into Boston from Switzerland for the nuptials. There’s a problem, though. Gracie, Daniel’s nine-year-old daughter, is missing. Or is she? She was last seen with Lewis, her stepfather, who is married to Daniel’s ex. No one but Melissa seems to be especially concerned.

Does all of this sound complicated? It is, and there is more to literally everything that Ryan tosses at us. She navigates her readers so adroitly through these various disparate plotlines that one cannot help but be simultaneously enchanted by the way she does it and mesmerized by what occurs. I found much of it particularly fascinating for the ring of truth that sounded frequently in the situations. My guess would be that if one were to play the audiobook of WHAT YOU SEE, ears would be burning in Boston and beyond.

There is something for everyone in WHAT YOU SEE: mystery, suspense, romance and, yes, quite a bit of technology. As had been said elsewhere, in a much different context, the camera never blinks. It, however, can lie. Be forewarned.