THE HERO POSE

A former MP who generally keeps to herself is thrust into, then away from, investigating the disappearance of a town’s beloved doctor.

Alison Randall doesn’t make it a practice to get involved in the lives of the students at her yoga studio. When Lauren Malcolm beseeches Ali for help after a class, however, she can’t say no. Lauren’s boyfriend, Dr. Jim Schianno, has gone missing, and Lauren thinks that Ali’s past as a military MP in Iraq might qualify her to search for Lauren’s beau. The situation is complicated by the fact that Dr. Jim had gotten romantically involved with Lauren before divorcing his wife. As Ali digs into Dr. Jim’s past, she finds that Lauren is only the latest in the good doctor’s string of affairs. He has a long history of taking the hero’s role with patients in trouble, and Ali is concerned that someone might have taken advantage of this vulnerability. Though she’s willing to delve deeper into Dr. Jim’s life, Lauren abruptly halts the investigation, insisting that Ali forget everything she has learned. But Ali’s military career has taught her the value of perseverance, and she’s not the type to be dissuaded. So, like it or not, she’s determined to see her amateur investigation through.

Ebisch has done better with comedy (Breaking the Rules, 2012, etc.) than with this melodrama, especially since Ali’s a little brusque to be a sympathetic protagonist.