Dead Weight (The Lizzy Gardner Series #2) [Kindle Edition]

T.R. Ragan (Author)

Book Description

Private investigator Lizzy Gardner knows a thing or two about living in the past. As a teenager, she was terrorized by a serial killer, an ordeal that haunted her for more than a decade before the maniac was finally stopped. So when terminally ill Ruth Fullerton begs Lizzy to reopen the cold case into her daughter’s disappearance, it’s hard to say no. More than twenty years have passed since Carol Fullerton vanished, abandoning her car by the side of a California freeway. The police wrote her off as a runaway, yet something tells Lizzy the truth isn’t so simple…

Carol’s cold case has barely begun to thaw when Andrea Kramer shows up at Lizzy’s door. Andrea’s sister, Diane, has been missing for months, and she’s convinced a charismatic weight-loss guru—part Tony Robbins and part Richard Simmons—is responsible. Diane was obese, but could her obsession with losing weight have led to her disappearance?

As if two active missing persons cases weren’t enough, Lizzy is also trying to manage her two teenage assistants, including one as wounded and haunted by her past as Lizzy.

Fast-paced and deftly plotted, this impressive follow-up to the best-selling Abducted finds Sacramento PI Lizzy Gardner in over her head—but more determined than ever to help those no one else will.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Theresa Ragan has been writing for nineteen years and has garnered six Golden Heart nominations in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Competition for her work. She lives with her husband, Joe, and the youngest of her four children in Sacramento, California.

Books by Theresa Ragan include: Return of the Rose, A Knight in Central Park, Taming Mad Max, Finding Kate Huntley. Also look for Abducted and Dead Weight, romantic thrillers under the name T.R. Ragan.

About the Author

T. R. Ragan grew up in a family of five girls in Lafayette, California. An avid traveler, her wanderings have carried her to Ireland, the Netherlands, China, Thailand, and Nepal, where she narrowly survived being chased by a killer elephant. Before devoting herself to writing fiction, she worked as a legal secretary for a large corporation. She is the author of Abducted, the first Lizzy Gardner book. Writing under the name Theresa Ragan, she is also the author of Return of the Rose, A Knight in Central Park, Taming Mad Max, Finding Kate Huntley,and Having My Baby.She and her family live in Sacramento.

Product Details

• File Size: 1206 KB
• Print Length: 312 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 161218510X
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 17, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007ZDKDS4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,581 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Series
  • #83 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Women Sleuths

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the next one! January 12, 2012

By L. W. Myers

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I downloaded Abducted on my Kindle this fall, and absolutely could not put it down. I finished it in about a day. I was thrilled when I was browsing Amazon the other day and saw that the author is making a series out of these characters and that there was now a second book. I downloaded it immediately and again finished it within 24 hours. The plot is engrossing and completely sucks you in. The only criticism I have is that I wish the author had explored and explained the killer's motivations in greater detail... it seemed kind of rushed and it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Haley Hansen reminds me a lot of a young Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy, one of my favorite literary characters of all time. I can't wait to see more of her!

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre... May 23, 2012

By Rhonda Irving

Format:Kindle Edition

The book is readable. Hayley's storyline was too unbelievable for me and hard to bear so I dreaded that. There were possibly too many characters and it was sometimes difficult to remember who was who, but that may have just been me having a hard time keeping everyone straight because the story just didn't grab me. I really could've lived without the sex scene. It was contrived and very cliche, even using the phrase "in all his glory." Sheesh...made me think of those old Harlequin romances....gross! She used that phrase in the sex scene in Abducted as well, which even added to the cliche (and the nausea) in the sequel. I finished it, won't read it again, and will forget it, probably sooner rather than later. The first in the series had a better plot and was easier to read with the plot pulling you through.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent series February 25, 2012

By E. Elliot

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a great follow-up to the first in the Lizzy Gardner series. Lizzy is still damaged from all she's been through, but is determined to keep her business and her life somewhat together. Hayley and Jessica are still very much a part of Lizzy's life and we get to learn even more about what makes Hayley tick. Just as in the first, no one moves on too easily from the scars they've had to bear in their lives and in my opinion, that makes all of the characters feel more realistic. There were a few points in the story where I thought it was getting too predictable, only to find out my predictions were completely wrong! I ended up happily surprised at every plot twist and turn. The two main mysteries that Lizzy is working on, along with the smaller side cases, are interesting and the cold case in particular, reads like something I'd watch on Dateline or some such show. It held my interest and I was shocked at its conclusion. The weight-loss mystery is a bit more contrived, but entertaining nonetheless. I am really looking forward to seeing more of these characters in future books!

More About the Author

Theresa didn't know she wanted to be a writer until she read Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor in 1992. She spent the next five years researching medieval times and writing Return of the Rose. She was also working full time and raising four children, but she knew she was a writer when nothing could stop her from getting the words to the page.

She has garnered six Golden Heart nominations in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Competition for her work. After writing for 20 years, Theresa decided to self-publish and she is so glad she did! Since 2011, Theresa has sold over 550,000 books and signed her first publishing contract with Thomas & Mercer. On April 10, 2013, Theresa Ragan became a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author.

Theresa writes medieval time travels, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and thrillers under the name T.R. Ragan.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#73 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#100 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#73 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#100 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery