The Janes: brings Alice Vega and Cap back together for a tragic case

What is this about?

Alice is hired to investigate the deaths of two young girls from Mexico in San Diego. One of the girls was clutching a note with Alice’s name in it, so it makes sense that the cops ask her to come in on the case to find out who killed the girls, and if there are more girls out there — because it becomes quickly apparent these girls are part of a sex trafficking ring. Alice calls in Cap to help.

What else is this about?

This is another intense instalment in the Alice and Cap series, and gives us more insight into how they work — even months after the first book, and their first case. Cap hasn’t let go of Vega, but Vega doesn’t know how to hold on to Cap in a way — people are meant to come and go in her life, but here she is coming back to him. I found their characters, how opposite they are a great mix in the first book and it’s better in this one.

Blurb

The electric follow-up to Louisa Luna’s acclaimed thriller Two Girls Down, featuring private investigators Alice Vega and Max Caplan.

On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They have no names, no IDs, and no family looking for them. Fearing the possibility of a human trafficking ring, the police and FBI reach out to Alice Vega, a private investigator known for finding the missing, for help in finding out who the Janes were–and finding the others who are missing.

Alice Vega is a powerful woman whose determination is matched only by her intellect, and, along with her partner Cap, she will stop at nothing to find the Janes before it is too late.

Louisa Luna is writing new classics of crime fiction, and her partnership of Vega and Cap is rightfully joining the pantheon of the most memorable in crime fiction.

I thought Louisa Luna successfully blew my mind with her intense debut Two Girls Down.

And then I read The Janes.

Alice is called in to investigate the death of two girls, one of whom was found clutching a note with her name in it. Working in conjunction with the cops in San Diego — but off the books — Alice calls in Cap to partner with her on this case.

Alice and Cap

Cap has settled back into his life after Two Girls Down, and thanks to that case has found steady work, if boring work, as a PI. Nell, however, seems to be still dealing with the after-effects of being held hostage in Two Girls Down, and there’s a simmering conflict between her and her father, that is a vast difference from where they were in the first book.

It’s not all bad though, their closeness is still there, and Cap still needs her input and values it as always despite their conflicts. And she is the one who tells him to go to Vega when she emails.

So, Cap is perhaps finding a steadiness in his life when Vega calls, while Vega is still Vega.

Vega is still one step removed from behaving like you would expect anyone else to — and Cap is still the only one that gets her. We learn that as much as she likes being removed from her cases, she’s still affected by the case of the Brandt girls, and that is what is fuelling her desire to see this case through to the bitter end, even when she finds out just how dangerous a conspiracy this case has pulled her in to.

We learn that she has been seeing someone, but doesn’t count it as a relationship, even though he does, much to Cap’s amusement.

Luna compares and contrasts their differences, and while it brings up some interesting potential for their personal relationship, it also highlights that when it comes to their professional relationship that even thought they might work well together, there are some thing they will always disagree (vehemently) on — particularly Cap, particularly when it comes to the cop, McT, helping them out on the case. They know how to push each other’s buttons and neither is afraid of doing so.

Which yes, there is a tragic case at the core of this

I’m genuinely impressed with Luna’s skill at weaving such a broad case, with tendrils that bring in police corruption, cartels and sex trafficking. She doesn’t pull any punches, taking Vega and Cap into a brutal case to save girls involved in a trafficking ring.

Vega and Cap are profoundly affected by the case, with Cap thinking of Nell as he tries to find out where these girls are, and Vega — with Vega, this makes me want to know her backstory even more, to how she became this Vega.

There are parts of this book that are hard to read, but at the same time, that’s what I admire about Luna’s writing — she draws you in as a reader, giving you a case that will affect you as much as it will Vega and Cap. And leave you utterly drained by the end.

The ending to this book is not clear-cut by any means, and is more tragic than I ever thought possible. It also gives us just a little bit more insight into Vega, into who she is, and we are finally introduced to The Bastard, Vegas partner in technological crime.

I’m completely besotted by this series, but the intense cases and by utter opposites that are Cap and Vega, yet they somehow work. I can’t wait to see what’s next!