Title:	Kiss Her Goodbye: A Frankie Elkin Novel
	Author:	Lisa Gardner
	Published:	August 12, 2025, Grand Central Publishing
	No. of Pages:	416
	Cover Price:	$28.00 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle

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Frankie Elkin finds missing persons, and has problems of her own. She travels to Tucson, Arizona to find an Afghan refugee in the fourth installment of the Frankie Elkin series, Kiss Her Goodbye: A Frankie Elkin Novel. by bestselling author, Lisa Gardner. Frankie meets with the missing woman, Sabara Ahmadi’s best friend, Aliah, and feels like she must take the case. First she has to find a place to stay, since she is a wanderer. Luckily she finds a place with free room and board, and although she is essentially a pet sitter (a giant Iguana named Petunia and a huge Albino Boa Constrictor named Marge as well as a dozen babies), the offer is too good to turn down. Her employer is a billionaire gamer who made it big in software; the other live-in employees, a huge ex-con named Daryl, who is a chauffeur, and Genni, who is a transgender cook all get involved in finding Sabara.

Gardner is an excellent storyteller, and even though Frankie’s missing person investigation makes some sense, it isn’t particularly believable. This is fiction, after all, and Gardner has used her imagination to add twists and turns to the story. There are even some political undertones in this novel emphasizing Obama and Biden’s failures in Afghanistan, and what those lucky enough to come to America have gone through. One thing that also stands out is that there are food references to Afghan food, which will make foodie readers look up and try some of the Afghan dishes at home.

Gardner does an excellent job of developing her characters. Frankie is a great protagonist and is likeable. The supporting characters (including Petunia and Marge) are likewise well-developed and are fun. Even though this is a serious thriller with plenty of murder and violence (not graphic however), there is some humor that gives comic relief during stressful times.

All told, this is an excellent novel that is difficult to put down.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.