Eve Duncan’s mother comes to her with a strange request. Sandra wants Eve to find a woman named Beth Avery who is missing from a mental hospital in California. Beth is supposedly the daughter of one of Sandra’s friends. Eve’s life partner, Joe Quinn, is an Atlanta police detective and has no jurisdiction in California. However, he has an acquaintance, Dr. Kendra Martin, in that area that could probably help find the Avery woman. Sandra confessed that Beth is a child that she gave up for adoption the day she was born. The child’s politically prominent and wealthy grandparents took the baby even though their son, Rick, wanted to marry Sandra. When Beth was about seventeen she had a skiing accident that left her with brain damage, and she has been in the posh Seahaven Behavioral Health Center in Santa Barbara until her disappearance.

Beth Avery had help getting out of Seahaven, and she had the same person help her find a safe place to stay. She’s having strange dreams, and sometimes doubts her sanity, but she knows that since she quit taking the drugs forced on her, she is very lucid. In Atlanta Eve is also having dreams about rain, sand dunes, and running. Elsewhere, the director of Seahaven is being harshly berated by Beth’s grandmother, Nelda Avery, to find Beth before she can embarrass the Avery name. Rick Avery is being groomed for a high political post, and the public does not know about his illegitimate daughter.

SLEEP NO MORE is a chilling tale of greed, dark ugly secrets, and unconscionable killings. The characters are fleshed out beautifully, and they are truly the good guys versus the evil ones. The sensuous romance threads are sewn in at the right time and place to keep the pacing of this story balanced. Iris Johansen never disappoints her fans, and it is truly doubtful she ever will.