Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld

 

Larry Palmer is retired and at loose ends.  When he left the police force, he moved to the coast to please his wife who had always wanted to live there.  They ended up in a small town in Oregon and then unexpectedly, she died.  Now Palmer is left in a place where he has no real friends and nothing much to do. 

One day on the beach he meets a young woman.  Her name is Amanda and she has come there to try to find out about her brother.  The children had been separated and she didn't know about him until recently.  Amanda had been adopted but her brother had been turned over to the state and ended up in a home for troubled youths in the town where Palmer now lives.  The home had been closed for many years and Amanda's brother had died in the waves twenty years ago.  The ocean there is dangerous with rocks and rip tides and when he went in for the first time, he was swept away. 

Amanda is crushed to learn this and she and Palmer do what they can to learn about his life.  They learn that the boys there were mistreated and that the director retired and is still living in another state. The only friend Dennis the brother had was a maintenance worker and no one knows what happened to him.  It seems like a dead end.  

Rene Denfeld is a foster mother herself and has adopted three children she fostered.  Her work was as an investigator for the Public Defender's office and since she started writing she has used her knowledge to form the background of her work.  She has won numerous awards for her writing and her hope is that it makes the way of children left without parents easier.  There is suspense in the book and readers will be on Amanda and Palmer's side as they investigate.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.