Kim Aldrich #3 The Deep Six and #4 The Long Shot

In Kim Aldrich #3, The Deep Six, Kim witnesses the theft of a Cadillac from the street outside her apartment.  She and a reporter, Colin Ryan, speak to the owner of the vehicle, learning that he left his briefcase inside the vehicle.  The briefcase contained the only copy of the newest will of his wealthy client.

Hours later, the client is killed in automobile accident, and his wife is near death in the hospital.  The couple's daughter is disabled, and the new will makes arrangements for her.  The old will makes no provisions for the girl, so Kim and Colin work on finding the stolen car so that the girl will not be sent to an institution by her other relatives.  It soon becomes apparent that the vehicle was stolen for the will and that certain people will stop at nothing to keep the new will from coming to light.

The child is said to be "severely retarded" according to the author.  At the end of the book, the reader learns that the little girl just needs glasses, which is why she always had what was perceived to be a dumb look on her face and never responded to anything.  This makes no sense.  Even if she couldn't see, she should have been able to respond to sound.

The fatal accident that kills the girl's father was caused by a heavy oil slick on the highway.  The next day, Kim and Andy nearly get into a fatal crash from the same oil slick.  I find it strange that nobody had cleaned up the excessive oil.

This is another outstanding book.

In Kim Aldrich #4, The Long Shot, wealthy Mr. Van Alstyne plans to send his daughter, Robin, to summer camp, but he is afraid that she will be kidnapped and held for ransom.  Kim is hired to be a counselor at the summer camp, and her sole duty is to keep Robin safe.  Unfortunately, Robin doesn't want to be kept safe and constantly causes trouble and runs away from camp.  Soon, the worst happens, and Robin is abducted.  Kim and her new friend, Kevin Clark, who is a counselor for a boys' camp, search for Robin.

On pages 159 and 160, Kim thinks of a girl who was buried alive in Florida.  I assumed that this was a real story, but it would have been before my time.  A quick Internet search revealed the horrifying ordeal of Barbara Mackle, who was buried alive in a fiberglass box.

This book takes a lot longer to get deeply suspenseful, and at first, I expected it not to be as good as the other three stories.  Around halfway through the story, the book hits the same level of suspense as the previous three books in the series, and at times, it is even more suspenseful.  The later part of the story reminds me of the tone of modern young adult horror novels.

After I finished the last book, I was disappointed that I had reached the end of the series.  As of that time, I had read 224 books this year, and the Kim Aldrich books were in the top 10 best books read this year along with three of the Roy Stover books, and a few of the books by Capwell Wyckoff.  In the top 10 best out of 224 books is a rather high ranking.

All four books in this series are outstanding.  I highly recommend them.