Hilary Davidson’s Don’t Look Down – No Outrunning Your Past

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Charlene Giannetti in Reading Around

Jo Greaver had a horrific beginning. Raised in a foreign country by a mother who was an addict and made bad choices in men, Jo leaves for New York, hoping to live with her sister, Lori. Yet when she arrives in the city, she discovers her sister is not a successful model, but a prostitute. Left with few choices, Jo gets pulled into the life, while also trying to take classes and earn a college degree.

Flash forward and Jo is now a successful entrepreneur, heading up a cosmetics company that is going international. Aware that her history might come back to bite her, Jo keeps a low profile, not even having her name and photo on the company website. Despite these precautions, Jo receives threatening emails from someone, attaching nude photos of her as a teenager, as well as a video. After several more emails, Jo is told to bring $50,000 to an address in a rundown apartment building on West 49th Street. Fearful that she might be in danger, Jo brings a gun. When the blackmailer draws a gun and shoots her in the arm, Jo retaliates, the bullets hitting him in the stomach. Escaping down a fire escape, Jo tosses the gun in the river and makes a plan to disappear. 

NYPD Detective Sherlyn Sterling and her partner, Rafael Mendoza, are tasked with investigating the murder. It doesn’t take long for the two detectives to zero in on Jo. But when Jo is shown a photo of the dead man, Andray Baxter, who is black, she tells Sterling the man she shot and left to die was white. Other possible suspects soon come into view, including Elliott Westergard, who owns the decrepit building where the murder took place and was being sued by Baxter. 

Jo’s boyfriend, Cal, upset that Jo has hidden so much from him, refuses to post her bail. Annabelle Davies, her major investor does. But is Annabelle an angel rescuing Jo, but someone who is setting her up for murder?

There are so many twists and turns in Hilary Davidson’s latest that you will need a scorecard. But this is a terrific mystery, adding to Davidson’s growing reputation as one of he best out there today,. Don’t miss this one.

Don’t Look Down
Hilary Davidson

Top photo: Bigstock

About Charlene Giannetti (691 Articles)
Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, is the recipient of seven awards from the New York Press Club for articles that have appeared on the website. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Charlene began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania, then wrote for several publications in Washington covering environment and energy policy. In New York, she was an editor at Business Week magazine and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. She is the author of 13 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including "The Roller-Coaster Years," "Cliques," and "Boy Crazy." She and Margaret have been keynote speakers at many events and have appeared on the Today Show, CBS Morning, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and many others. Her last book, "The Plantations of Virginia," written with Jai Williams, was published by Globe Pequot Press in February, 2017. Her podcast, WAT-CAST, interviewing men and women making news, is available on Soundcloud and on iTunes. She is one of the producers for the film "Life After You," focusing on the opioid/heroin crisis that had its premiere at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won two awards. The film is now available to view on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other services. Charlene and her husband live in Manhattan.

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