Book Talk: Lisa Jackson, ‘Born to Die’

Coincidence.

Usually, I don’t care for mystery novels that are based on coincidence. Lisa Jackson’s third book in her Regan Pescoli/Selena Alvarez series has more coincidences than can be imagined, especially in the small Montana town of Grizzly Falls that seems to be in perpetual winter, usually marked by severe blizzards that make one wonder why anybody lives there.

What are the chances of finding your doppelganger? That’s what happens when Dr. Acacia “Kasey” Lambert arrives at her clinic one morning. Heather, the clinic’s receptionist, tells Kasey, “Brace yourself… Your twin sister just died.” Kasey, an only child, finds that to be highly unlikely. But Heather showed her the photo in the gossip column that she’d been reading. Sally Bonaventure, a B-movie star, had committed suicide in Los Angeles, and Sally had been the mirror image of Kasey.