Looking For Trouble 3 - The End (Pages 97 - end)

 RATING: GOOD BUT CONFUSING END

SPOILERS!!!

I liked the first book in this series, but I found the end a bit far-fetched and confusing.

Sal discovers the reason why Janice Brooks pretended to be Mrs Hobbs when she finds her mother and sister at the inquest. Her mother tells her that Martin was actually Janice's son, who she had at a young age and had to give up in adoption. Janice always regretted giving her baby away, so she hired a detective and found out where he was. So for years she kept an eye on him, and when he went missing, she went berserk. 

The police conclude that the person who killed Janice is a homeless boy called Derek, who was found dead in the river. Leanne tells Sal that Derek didn't kill Janice. In her investigations Sal comes across the men she saw Martin with, who turn out to be rich businessmen. When Sal calls on the man who drove the Aston Martin, he slams the door before her very nose. Sal is threatened if she doesn't stop the investigation, and she even beaten up, so she decides to stop her enquiries.

Despite her decision, Sal can't turn her back when Max, Martin's friend, phones to tell her that Martin has called to meet him, so she agrees to go with him, and Leanne, who is there, tags along. The three of them meet Martin, who is scared and tells them about the men, the porn videos and the children. Then Smiley appears, and the surprise comes when one of the men involved is Miller, the policeman. The encounter ends up with Leanne producing a gun and shooting Smiley dead. She shoots Miller too, and he faints.

The end of the book tells us that Miller and some of the other men are arrested, and Sal, Martin and Max had to talk to the police, and Harry, Sal's journalist friend, got them a good lawyer. Leanne escaped and nobody has heard of her yet. 

Sal tells us that her crush on her friend Harry is gone once she has learnt that his wife, Bev, is pregnant. And their pain-in-the-neck lodger, Wayne has finally gone, owing her and Ray a lot of money. Yet, Sal is glad to have him gone.