Somebody's Baby

This enticing tale revolves around a kidnapping, which occurred three decades before the action commences; it is resolved when a mother's deathbed confession leads her daughter, Snow, on a search for her natural mother. Snow, snatched in a New York City grocery store by the woman who raised her in a small Rhode Island town, faces a dual mystery--the identity of her natural mother and the real nature and name of the woman who raised her. The first mystery is readily solved via library research and police files. Naturally, her birth mother turns out to be an acclaimed artist, her mirror image, and a loving, fascinating person. Together they dodge reporters, give a single news conference, and shun potential moneymaking options--TV movies, talk shows, etc. After all, Snow is now a millionaire thanks to her late mother's confession. The second mystery is left unsatisfyingly open. Snow's about-face nonchalance, her "I may never know" attitude, does not suit the character Vale has so carefully scripted and is a letdown for the readers. Still, the story is well contrived, peopled with characters the reader could know, and breathtakingly paced. Denise Perry Donavin