Sara Gran has published two previous novels featuring “the world’s best private detective” Claire DeWitt, and The Infinite Blacktop is the third in the series. Not having read the first two, I was concerned I might be lost when I read it, having received an advance copy from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I felt like I wasn’t missing any backstory when the story opened with Clare waking up in an ambulance in Oakland. She was in a car crash (her car was T-boned – yikes) and rather than it being an accident, someone has apparently tried to murder her.  This leads her on a journey to Las Vegas and the surrounding desert, and along the way she has to explore previous times in her life, looking at friends she has lost, childhood obsessions, other detectives she has known, etc.

There are three intertwining stories, in three different time periods. These explore Claire’s early career in Brooklyn, her time in Los Angeles in the late 1990s where she fled following the death of her mentor in New Orleans, and her current exploration of the clues to find the current would-be assassin.

The stories start to come into focus, and the truth starts to become clear. At this point, I was hoping to really care about Claire and her current dilemma, but TBH, I never really did. I think possibly I’m just not part of the target audience, and I am sure many people will love this…but it just didn’t work for me. Three stars.