Grady Sloan wasn’t used to murders. Sure, he had been with the police department for 12 years and was currently interim chief, but homicides just didn’t happen in his small Texas town of Fargate. When Angela Petersen is murdered, the only witness is a woman with amnesia. Is she responsible for the grizzly death or is she merely an innocent bystander? Grady needs to find out and needs to solve the case, not only for the victim but so that he will be made permanent police chief. He needs to prove to the town and most of all, to himself that he has what it takes to protect the people of Fargate.

Grady’s witness, Melinda Amery, doesn’t suffer so much from amnesia as dissociative disorder. Certain events can trigger it, putting her into an hypnotic state and causing memory lapses. When Melinda fights Grady and other officers, he has no choice but to bring her in. Grady is afraid to trust his instincts, because they have been called into question in the past. Unfortunately the incident involved Melinda’s father Ely. Grady agreed to testify on behalf of a woman charged with murder. The woman had seduced him into believing her story, at the instigation of her lawyer, Ely. When it turned out that the woman was indeed guilty, Grady not only felt used; his confidence in his abilities was completely shattered. While Grady wants to trust that Melinda had nothing to do with the murder, he finds it difficult. Everyone knows she was there, and her memory is something of a black hole.

For her part, Melinda resists Grady at first but as she becomes more attracted to him, she begins to see that the holes in her memory are doing her more harm than good. She wants to help herself and help Grady catch the killer. For Melinda, the focal point has to do with her mother and how she died. Melinda believes her mother was murdered even though she’s been told her mother died in a fire. Remembering what happened is the key to unlocking Melinda’s memories and freeing her from a lifetime of fear. As these two wounded people begin to fall in love, a killer starts stalking Melinda. Grady has to learn to trust himself and Melinda enough to protect the both of them. These two truly begin to understand each other and seem to know what makes the other tick.

I have to say that the way Ms. Kurtz blended Melinda’s story and the murder together towards the end was very clever, and subtle too. While I guessed a certain portion of the story early on, other parts surprised me. I also really enjoyed Grady and Melinda’s relationship. The two have an immediate attraction but take a while to come around to trusting each other. When they finally do, the bond they form is a strong one.

During one conversation between Melinda and Grady, she tells him he needs to learn to see shades of gray, that not everything in life is black and white. This book does a good job of proving her point. Ms. Kurtz shows how when you dig deeply into people, things aren’t always what they seem to be. For instance, Ely, Melinda’s father, is a slick lawyer who seems a little callous but when you dig deeper, he too has demons. Yet, Ms. Kurtz doesn’t excuse or justify his behavior so much as explain it.

My only complaint with the book was there was a very quick jump between Melinda having no memory and then remembering who she was. Most likely, it’s part of her disorder. But not knowing a lot about her disorder may have been the stumbling block there for me. Still, the interestin characterization and heartwarming relationshoip between the main characters provide an interesting read. If you’re looking for a book that’s warm but bittersweet, One Texas Night will do it for you.