Have you ever thought of something as a little bit bad and a little bit good? I think of Kiss Her Goodbye as a whole lot good with a bit of questionably bad.
Frankie Elkin is a cross between Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and Jeffrey Deaver’s Colter Shaw characters. Like Reacher, Frankie has no home, no family, few belongings and travels on buses. Unlike Reacher, whose tendency is to drift, she always knows where she is headed next. Like Shaw, Frankie takes on missing persons cases and travels to them. Unlike Shaw, Frankie neither asks for or receives compensation for her efforts while Shaw collects monetary “rewards” for his successful cases. Now I realize that Frankie has no license or credentials but Shaw doesn’t have any either. Shaw earns enough finding missing persons to own an Airstream trailer that he tows behind his truck. Reacher has an army pension. Everyone needs to eat and be clothed. Why doesn’t Frankie receive remuneration for her services? At least for her expenses. Frankie is a good, kind hearted soul with lots of baggage. She is likable, even lovable, determined, brave and hardworking. I would like to see a strong, female character earn what she is worth.
Kiss Her Goodbye is the fourth in the Frankie Elkin series. This title was my introduction to Frankie and she is quite the character.
Frankie is a middle-aged woman and recovered alcoholic with an aversion to staying put in one place. She has many regrets including a love she left behind. Frankie looks for those missing persons who have been given up on. The police, the public, and government agencies are no longer involved in the search for them. Frankie chooses the cases she would like to be involved in and there are always many missing persons with relatives and friends in need of her assistance.
Refugee settlement volunteer Aliah needs help with finding her friend Sabera Ahmadi, an Afghan refugee, missing three weeks. Sabera has a four year old daughter, Zahra, who is now alone with her father, Isaac, also an Afghan refugee. Aliah knows Sabera would never abandon her child. Frankie agrees to take on the case which quickly becomes complicated when Isaad receives a package and, leaving Zahra with a neighbor, he also disappears. Then two Afghan men are found dead in a warehouse near Sabera’s apartment. Now there are intelligence agencies as well as Frankie and Aliah searching for Sabera.
There is plenty of action with lots of twists and a story that absolutely pulls at the heartstrings of its readers. It delves in to the horrors of refugee camps and the plight, hardships and trauma of immigrants, a very timely topic. Isaad, much older than Sabera and a gruff and domineering husband, is a genius mathematician and Sabera is a skilled linguist with astonishing gifts including being able to translate any language. Their daughter has the gift of being able to remember everything she sees and hears. This is not your common refugee family. Does their special abilities detract from their tale of persecution and loss of homeland? Would the reader be as interested in their tribulations if they did not have exceptional aptitudes?
The plot, set in Tucson, Arizona, is serious, indeed, with its recounting of the events in the refugee camps that Sabera and Isaad were sent to and the retelling of the day the Taliban took over Aghanistan. The psychological toll on Sabera, after witnessing the death of her father, brother and lover is profound and devastating. Her involvement with tending to those sick and wounded in the camp is heartbreaking.
It is a strange shift in the perspective when the story breaks away from the moment when Frankie agrees to help find Sabera to the part of the narrative where she takes on a job in order to have free lodging while on the Ahmadi case. The demands of that one month position is the stuff of a totally different novel but is made important to the plot which lends itself to a scheme to ferret out the bad guys who are after Sabera. Suffice it to say that it involves an iguana, a boa constrictor and baby ball pythons. It’s fun and engaging and grand comic relief from the tension and emotional angst of the story but it pulled me away from my involvement with the drama of a woman in grave danger and a missing child with a dead father who might never see her mother again. Too much of a change in tone and setting.
I do recommend Kiss Her Goodbye despite the plot fluctuations. It is an informative read with a strong dose of historical fiction. The characters are all loyal, caring and courageous. Some characters are quirky but they are all people we would feel lucky to have as friends. The storyline is engaging with elements of mystery and suspense and a strong, satisfying conclusion. I plan on catching up with the other books in the series.
I want to thank Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of Kiss Her Goodbye. This is my honest review of Lisa Gardner’s book.

One thing I appreciate most about Lisa Gardner’s books is how thoroughly she weaves a story each time she writes a new one. This latest addition for Frankie Elkin further solidifies that. It is apparent that it has been deeply researched in ways different from her previous books, which she addresses in her author’s note, and it was time and effort well spent. The human experience is shared on a different level in the refugee experience, and it is clear to me that Lisa Gardner took great care to gain understanding from the sources who were opening to sharing with her.

I had both the ebook and audiobook for ‘Kiss Her Goodbye’. The audiobook narration is performed by Hillary Huber, who I feel did a great job with the material and the various accents that were needed. There is a large, diverse cast of characters in this particular installment, and I think the challenge is well met in the narrator’s performance.

Frankie is such a complicated character — one who is easy to root for in my opinion because of her complexities. She has had a hard life but has find a path in her recovery to tackle even tougher times for families and loved ones looking for answers that no one else is helping them find. This time around she has been asked to help find a woman who has been missing for weeks and is thought to be in danger. Sabera, the woman in question, is a refugee from Afghanistan with her own harrowing past that has drawn the danger to her new doorstep in Tucson for her, her husband, and her four-year-old daughter Zahra. What unfolds is an intricately detailed trail for Frankie to follow with an eclectic cast of side characters who added so much life to the story. With Frankie’s penchant for moving on, these are people I hope to see she somehow keeps in contact with if/when we get more of her story. The mystery surrounding Sabera’s disappearance feels slightly repetitive at times as Frankie and her crew work to make sense of the bread crumbs clues they’ve been left with, but the layers upon layers of deception and misdirection they face mean having to go over the same pieces from multiple different angles. It all comes to a tense conclusion with a worthy pay off.

I don’t know what is to come for Frankie — she seems to reach a bit of a breaking point in her work during this particular case, and I hope that if there is more to come for her that it comes with her finding a solid home base that she can look forward to returning to if or when she takes on her next case. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the eARC and Hachette Audio for the ALC, both via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Kiss Her Goodbye is book number four in the Frankie Elkin series. While I have not read the previous three, this book can be read as a standalone.

Set in Tucson, Arizona, Frankie is called on to help track down Sabera Ahmadi, an Afghan refugee who has vanished without a trace, leaving her husband and three-year-old daughter behind. A few days later, her husband is found dead, and the pressure is on for Franking to protect the Ahmadi’s daughter Zahra while tracking Sabera down. As Frankie investigates, she begins to uncover dark secrets about Sabera and the Ahmadi family. Will Frankie be able to keep Zahra safe and find Sabera before it is too late?

The book moves back and forth from present day to Kabul back when Sabera was young. I found this story to be fascinating as it gives insight into the life of a refugee and some of the experiences they go through and are forced to endure, while mixing in elements of suspense, mystery, intrigue and even some espionage.

I would like to thank Grand Central Publishing for the ARC of this book. It was an intense and captivating story that I very much enjoyed.

ARC read for me on this book. I was not aware that this was booked for in a series. I have gone back and added book one to my TBR list. It was a good storyline with lots of twists and turns. It was very difficult to try to determine how it would end. The ending was a nice surprise and nothing that I expected.

This is the second Frankie Elkins novel I've read by Gardner. I really enjoy her as a main character and am looking forward to reading more of her. The plot of this book was a little far fetched on comparison to the other one I rest but I still enjoyed the read and will continue to buy Gardner's books!

Frankie Elkin is a finder. Not a member of law enforcement, but a compassionate private citizen, she goes where people need help and this time she is called to Tucson to help locate recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi. When Sabera's husband also goes missing and her daughter is the subject of a kidnapping attempt, Frankie realizes there is more to this case than meets the eye. Can she and her new acquaintances make it through the case unharmed?

Author Lisa Gardener paints a horrifying portrait of a woman caught up in the fall of Kabul, hoping for safe passage to America and finding that even in the US, danger is everywhere for immigrants. This story is fast moving and action packed while exposing the very real struggles those in the immigrant community deal with. I found myself immediately sucked into the Arizona desert where the search for Sabera goes through multiple twists and turns and ends with a jaw dropping finale. 5 stars for this excellent thriller.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the early release ebook. All opinions are my own.

This book was part of a series that I haven't read. I did not realize this beforehand but it didn't diminish the enjoyment of the story. The plot is very tight and keeps you engaged. The plot is amazingly layered with twists, emotional moments, and shocking reveals.

It was so nice to read a well put together mystery with great characters. The emotional depth was a nice change from recent novels I have read. I will be going back to read the rest of the series.

Recent Afghan refugee and young mother Sabera Ahmadi is missing, and Frankie Elkin is hired to find her. Along the way Frankie meets an eclectic cast of human characters, a bunch of baby ball pythons, an iguana named Petunia and a five-foot-long albino Burmese python named Marge. This complex thriller is a labyrinth of secrets, lies, government agencies and heinously vicious killers. Through Lisa Gardner's intense research, we learn more about the plight of the Afghan refugees who have been torn away from their home country with only the clothes on their backs and placed in a foreign country, where they must learn the language, laws, and daily tasks that we take for granted. An eye-opening, thought-provoking mystery about a family in crisis that kept me gripped in its clutches until the very end!

"Kiss Her Goodbye” by Lisa Gardner is an engaging 4-star read! Frankie Elkin is back, this time in Tucson, AZ, searching for a missing Afghan refugee. She finds herself in a rather unusual lodging situation, tasked with caring for pets she's not exactly thrilled about. But in classic Frankie fashion, she does what needs to be done so she can focus on the search.

Most of the chapters are told from Frankie’s perspective, but others take the form of letters written by the missing refugee, detailing her harrowing experience navigating the refugee process and eventually making it to the U.S. Along the way, Frankie encounters a unique cast of characters, each playing a part in the unfolding investigation.

If you enjoyed any of the first three books in the series, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up!

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, Lisa Gardner, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel for an honest opinion. My first foray into the world of Frankie Elkin takes me to Tucson, Arizona where she is searching for a missing Afghani mother and fefugee, Sabera Ahmedi. While this is the fourth in the series, it is a stand alone novel as each book in the series is in a new location and has a different cast of characters. I found this book to be filled with mystery and suspense as Frankie embarks on the search for Sabera, while keeping her daughter, Zahra safe. The surrounding cast of characters added humor as well as drama to the story and kept me turning the pages well in to the night.

This is the third book in the Frankie Elkin series. It has the mystery and suspense that Lisa Gardner always delivers. This time investigating the disappearance of an Afghan refugee. Gardner keeps readers in their toes, guessing the who and the what throughout the story.
I found myself a bit irritated with the MC at times when she expects law enforcement to divulge information about the case to her when she holds no credentials. Maybe it’s the sense of entitlement the character conveys that bugs me. I don’t find her as likable as DD Warren or other characters in previous series by this author.
That said, it’s a solid read that draws the reader in.

I received an arc from NetGalley and Grand Central
publishing and leave my review voluntarily.

4.25 Stars
Frankie Elkin looks for missing people. She lives a nomadic life and once she finds the person she is looking for, she moves on to the next one who needs her. These are cold cases, that she finds on her own, that call to her. Ones she seeks out, until now. She is asked to come to Tucson to look for a recent Afghan refugee, Sabera, who has disappeared. The request comes from Sabera's resettlement advisor. Frankie is drawn into the mystery surrounding Sabera's life and disappearance, as well as the journey that many refugees have taken.

This is the 4th Frankie Elkin book, and I have really enjoyed this series. This one was much harder as I knew nothing about the refugee life and resettlement process. It is such a harsh life. I realize this is fiction, but the author gives notes at the end of the story regarding her research. No one wants to believe this is how some people have to live.

If you have not read any of the Frankie Elkin's books, I recommend starting with the first, as her personal journey is important. And when you get to this one, definitely read it, but know it's hard..

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Frankie Elkin finds people. She will take on missing person cases that the regular authorities have given up on or aren’t looking for. This story focuses on a legal Afghan refugee, who is a wife and a mother of a young daughter. When Sabera Ahmadi disappears her husband seems unconcerned and does not report her missing. Sabera’s friend is convinced she’d never leave her daughter behind and asks Frankie to investigate.

The book can be read as a stand alone mystery. I didn’t realize it was the fourth in an ongoing series until I came to review it. That being said I didn’t feel I got to know Frankie very well at all. I learned she is a recovering alcoholic with many years of sobriety. She looks for missing people as a hobby or calling, but has to find work and a place to live while she investigates. In this book her living situation adds some comic relief to an otherwise serious story. She does ask questions and observes people and how they interact.

I learned about refugees. These are people that have lived in United Nations camps for years waiting for their chance to come to the USA. Organizations help them get set up in towns or communities but they only have assistance for a few months before they are expected to provide for themselves. The mystery comes from people wanting information that Sabera may know. Her husband is a brilliant mathematician and she is highly educated and has her own talents. The book contains violence, fighting and death.

I liked the story overall. But some parts felt like an information dump. I liked Frankie but this book didn’t inspire me to seek out the previous books in the series. I may have increased my rating if I was already familiar with the character and series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Frankie Elkin is back looking for another missing person, this time in Tuscon, AZ, where Sabera, a young Afghan refugee and mother, has gone missing. Frankie is summoned by the woman that helped Sabera and her family leave a refugee camp and come to the US, who tells Frankie that Sabera has been missing for 3 weeks and no one, not even her husband seems too concerned.

These Frankie Elkin books seem to be just a little better than okay for me and this was probably the best of the four. I really like Lisa Gardner and have read all of her books. For whatever reason, I seem to prefer the detective books more than these. I like the Frankie character well enough and she definitely was surrounded by an entertaining bunch in this one, but somehow the mysteries she solves aren't as entertaining as I would hope for. This one started out strong and I was interested in what happened to this woman and then someone interested in the Afghan situation, but then I felt myself lose interest in the middle. Eventually I recovered and regained interest, but again this series is just a little better than okay for me.

I am a big fan of Lisa Gardner and love her writing. I thought this book was excellent, but for me the subject matter was difficult.

I absolutely love this series and cannot get enough of Frankie and her adventures. Spending time wandering from place to place searching for missing people is a life few would pick, but that’s exactly why Frankie does what she does. This time she’s headed to Tuscan for her most unique case yet…her missing person isn’t a cold case and has in fact only been missing 3 weeks. Through crazy capers with her new snake and lizard roommates to uncovering layers of family secrets while trying to make heads and tails of all the clues - Frankie is more determined than ever. With the help of new friends she is once again resilient in her search not only for the missing but for the truth…

I had no idea this was a series, but it is in fact the fourth book in the Frankie Elkin series and now I need to read the others.

Frankie helps find those who go missing, those who no one else seems to be looking for. her job is dangerous, thrilling, and rewarding.

I found this book to be so out of my “comfort zone” i really enjoyed the history lesson i got from reading this book.

We follow Frankie on her journey to find Sabera, a missing Afghan refugee who was living in Tucson with her husband and daughter. we learn that there is a lot more to meets the eye when it comes to Sabera and why she went “missing”. i loved all the characters in this book, they were all unique in their own way.

For those who are looking for a more slower character driven mystery this book is definitely for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my
honest review!

Kiss Her Goodbye is another great story by Lisa Gardner. Loved the premise and plot, loved the diverse and eclectic characters, loved the cultural aspects and information about Afghanistan, and loved the unusual pets! An interesting, engaging read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Wow what a book!! I really loved Kiss her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner which is the forth in the series starring Frankie Elkin.

A really interesting, unputdownable and thought provoking rollercoaster of a ride.

Frankie's job is to search for missing people when no-one else can find them and you never know where her job is going to take her. all three in the series have been very different but all equally as good, if not better than the last.

This time she's in Tucson, USA looking for a missing Afghan refugee who's gone missing not long after being in the country. Its so interesting learning about the life of this refugee and everything she's gone through to get here, but this refugee is holding onto a secret!!

Lots of background amazing characters who help out Frankie and I really hope to see this as a tv series as would be brilliant as long as they stick to the author's work. I cant wait to find out where Frankie will turn up next!!

This is the fifth book I've read by Lisa Gardner and will definitely be on the look out for more and catch up on previous books, which although are part of a series can easily be read as standalone.

A really clever plot and very well written and researched.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

"Kiss Her Goodbye" is a gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Lisa Gardner masterfully weaves together suspense and mystery, creating a truly unforgettable read. Frankie and the other characters are well-developed and show growth. The plot twists and turns will leave you guessing until the very end. While part of a series, this fourth Frankie Elkin book can easily be enjoyed as a standalone read. If you're looking for a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller, "Kiss Her Goodbye" is definitely worth checking out.