Reviewed by Caitlyn Lynch for Readers' Favorite

Do Not Ask is Elaine Williams Crockett’s second book about former FBI agent turned federal judge Warren Alexander. Now the Supreme Court’s newest judge, Justice Alexander is drawn into the investigation when the President’s twin daughters go missing after visiting Alexander’s playboy son-in-law’s estate. A scandal threatens when it emerges that the twins may have been blackmailing prominent married men with sex tapes, and Alexander must team up with his former FBI partner to find out what happened. The twins aren’t the only missing women in DC, though, and when one of Alexander’s law clerks is the next to disappear, he finds himself under suspicion and must race against time to clear his name and discover the true culprit… before his own daughter becomes the killer’s next victim.

This is a brilliantly written and researched whodunit with so many twists and turns I never knew what was coming next. The author has done her research superbly, with knowledge of the inner workings of DC’s political system as well as a thorough understanding of the law and its procedures. There is a small section (during a murder trial in which Alexander is defending the accused) where the descriptions of how exactly DNA analysis and comparisons work where things got a little esoteric for the layperson to understand, but it was detail that was actually pivotal to the plot and the author took the time to break it down carefully for the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed the explanations, and the expert ‘court testimony’ in which they were presented. I must also congratulate the author on the quality of editing and proofreading which has been applied to this novel.

Elaine Williams Crockett has a deep understanding of the culture in which she chooses to set her stories, and this shows through in that no part of the narrative ever feels far-fetched or unlikely. Even the most unexpected twists are still completely logical within the wider context of the story, though nothing was so predictable that I lost interest. As a political/crime thriller, this was one of the most intriguing and well-written I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. If you love a good whodunit full of salacious details and clever twists, you really shouldn’t miss this one. Thoroughly enjoyable.