I enjoyed reading Heart of Stone, so I very much looked forward to reading the next book in Jill Marie Landis’ trilogy about sisters separated in childhood finding love and possibly reuniting. However, as I read Heart of Lies, it just didn’t grab me. Stylistically, the writing was strong as ever, but something about this story lacked a certain spark and, though it had an unsual setup, the story just seemed to meander a little aimlessly.

Following the deaths of her parents, Maddie Grande was raised in a tribe of street urchins in New Orleans. She does not know where she came from or who her family was. Her only clues to an identity outside the tribe come from nightmares about a dark man taking her away and a blonde-haired girl left behind. However, as far as she’s concerned, “family” consisted of the other children and of Dexter Grande, the man who made them work the streets of New Orleans as thieves and petty criminals. Dexter is now dead and Maddie lives in the swamps of Louisiana where she subsists by trading pelts. While Maddie has no desire to return to criminal life, her twin brothers bring it to her in the form of a kidnapped little girl.

Maddie’s heart goes out to the girl and she longs to help her, but her brothers force her to hide the girl. In the midst of this mess, in ventures Pinkerton agent Tom Abbott. Initially hired by Laura Foster (heroine of Heart of Stone) to find her long-lost sister, Tom gets pulled into the kidnapping investigation once he arrives in New Orleans. As he investigates, Tom figures out pretty quickly that all is not as is seems with Maddie and this intrigues him. However, he also fears that she is involved somehow in the kidnapping of a wealthy family’s little girl and though he wants badly for her not to be guilty, he believes he will need to turn her in.

The book definitely has its positive points. Tom is likable and Maddie is an interesting, complex character. She is by turns smart and prickly, but also achingly vulnerable. She can be difficult to like at times but I had no trouble admiring her strength. The author also excels at showing readers what life in post-Reconstruction Louisiana could look like. Readers don’t get history lectures, but they do get telling details like mentions of the rather overextended state of the local police or the fact that the kidnapped little girl’s father was a wealthy Yankee who came to Louisiana and purchased a plantation home sold for back taxes after the war. These details worked into the text give the story a sense of time and place.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I felt intrigued by the characters, I just couldn’t get into the plot. The intersection of the kidnapping and the search for Maddie’s past and true identity could have made for riveting reading. However, the plot simply meandered and felt like a pointless slog through the bayous. It wasn’t bad reading; it just lacked a certain focus and, while I figured that Tom and Maddie would end up together, things just didn’t seem organized beyond that as the kidnapping plot and the rest of the story never really melded together smoothly.

Even with the meandering plot, Heart of Lies does have its engaging moments and I found the main characters quite interesting. However, these do not entirely rescue the book from being only a slightly above average read. I enjoyed the previous book in the trilogy and I normally enjoy Landis’ writing, so I plan to read the third book in the trilogy, but those who do not feel the need to read every book in the series may want to skip over Heart of Lies and enjoy some of this author’s backlist until her new release comes out.