Book Description

From critically acclaimed author Steph Cha-Los Angeles-based P.I. Juniper Song is back in a thrillingly written, masterfully plotted story of how far a mother will go for her child Finally a licensed private detective, Steph Cha's "compelling and original" (LA Times) crime heroine Juniper Song is managing her own cases as the junior investigator of Lindley & Flores. When a woman named Rubina Gasparian approaches Song, she knows she's in for her most unusual case yet. The daughter of Armenian immigrants, Rubina and her husband Van recently learned that she cannot get pregnant-so they hired Rubina's younger cousin, Lusig, to act as a surrogate. However, Lusig's best friend Nora has been missing for a month, and Rubina is concerned that her cousin is dealing with her stress in a way that could harm the baby. Rubina hires Song to shadow her and report all that she finds. Of course, Lusig is frantically searching for her friend, and Song's case soon turns into a hunt for the missing woman, whom she finds was deeply embroiled in a public and ugly battle to erect an Armenian genocide memorial. As Song probes the depths of both this tight-knit immigrant community and the groups who antagonize it, she realizes that someone was willing to stop at nothing to ensure Nora's silence. But can she find the killer before it's too late for Rubina and Van's child-or for Song herself? A gorgeously written, tightly plotted, and emotionally charged read, The Surrogate is an unforgettable story of love, parenthood, and the things we do for our children, perfect for fans of Lisa Unger and Tana French.