Tag: murder mystery

Book Review and Blog Tour: This is How I Lied, by Heather Gudenkauf

this is how i lied
Image belongs to Harlequin/Park Row.

Title:  This is How I Lied
Author:  Heather Gudenkauf
Genre:  Thriller
Rating:  4 out of 5

Tough as nails and seven months pregnant, Detective Maggie Kennedy-O’Keefe of Grotto PD, is dreading going on desk duty before having the baby her and her husband so badly want. But when new evidence is found in the 25-year-old cold case of her best friend’s murder that requires the work of a desk jockey, Maggie jumps at the opportunity to be the one who finally puts Eve Knox’s case to rest.

Maggie has her work cut out for her. Everyone close to Eve is a suspect. There’s Nola, Eve’s little sister who’s always been a little… off; Nick, Eve’s ex-boyfriend with a vicious temper; a Schwinn riding drifter who blew in and out of Grotto; even Maggie’s husband Sean, who may have known more about Eve’s last day than he’s letting on. As Maggie continues to investigate, the case comes closer and closer to home, forcing her to confront her own demons before she can find justice for Eve. 

I didn’t really feel a connection with any of these characters. Not even pregnant and struggling Maggie. Especially not Nora, who was vicious and crazy. And, it seems, everyone in the book was a liar, so there’s that. Unreliable narrator, anyone?

I actually didn’t figure out what had happened 25 years ago—how is 1995 twenty years ago!—and the action and tensions kept increasing, making this quick to read, but my dislike of the characters killed a lot of my enjoyment of the read.

Heather Gudenkauf is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. This is how I Lied is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Park Row in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Secrets They Left Behind, by Lissa Marie Redmond

the secrets they left behind
Image belongs to Crooked Lane Books.

Title: The Secrets They Left Behind
Author:  Lissa Marie Redmond
Genre:  Thriller
Rating:  4.2 out of 5

Three college freshmen go missing from their rural hometown of Kelly’s Falls while on Christmas break. Their cell phones, coats, and purses are left behind, but the girls have disappeared without a trace. As the days turn into weeks and the investigation grows cold, twenty-three year old Buffalo police officer Shea O’Connor is called on to dig up leads undercover.

Still bearing the emotional and physical scars of a previous case, O’Connor infiltrates as eighteen-year-old Shea Anderson, a college freshman and the “niece” of the town’s police chief. As she begins to immerse herself in the missing girls’ world, befriending their friends and family, and doing whatever it takes to maintain her cover, O’Connor realizes the track is far colder than she initially thought. But whoever was behind the girls’ disappearance was only warming up, and they have set their crosshairs directly on her.

The heat is on for O’Connor as she closes in on the shocking truth about what really happened the night the girls vanished.

I enjoyed this thriller/murder mystery. I like reading police procedurals, and with Shea going undercover as a teenager, that just made this even more interesting. I might have figured out who did it, but that’s mainly because I usually pick the least likely suspect and go with that while reading mysteries or watching stuff like NCIS. But there were a lot of red herrings in this one.

Shea herself was an interesting character. I can’t imagine doing undercover work and how hard that would be, and Shae experiences the struggles as she comes to care about people who think she’s someone she’s not. And excellent pick to distract yourself from everything going on around you!

Lissa Marie Redmond is a retired detective. The Secrets They Left Behind is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Darkness We Hide, by Debra Webb

the darkness we hid
Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title:  The Darkness We Hide
Author: Debra Webb
Genre:  Suspense, thriller
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

For months, Doctor Rowan Dupont has been staring death in the face. It followed her back to her hometown of Winchester, Tennessee, ten months ago, cloaking the walls of her family’s Victorian funeral home like a shroud. In investigating the mysterious deaths of her loved ones, Rowan has unearthed enough family secrets to bury everything she’d previously thought true. But each shocking discovery has only led to more bodies and more questions; the rabbit hole is deeper than she ever imagined.

Despite settling into a comfortable life with Police Chief Billy Brannigan, Rowan knows dangerous serial killer Julian Addington is still out there. She can’t let her guard down now. Not when she’s this close to ending it once and for all. But with a storm brewing on the horizon, she’ll get only one shot before the impending darkness takes hold, threatening to wipe away every truth she’s uncovered—and everything she holds dear.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the story of Rowan and the secrets she’s discovered about her life—and her family. In this novel, some of those secrets are finally revealed giving faithful readers a resolution. Rowan’s sometimes-blind loyalty drives her to take risks, but it’s for the right reasons, making her motivations understandable.

As always, I was drawn into the story from the very first page, and the action kept me reading straight through the entire novel, eager to find out how thing would play out. This book did not disappoint!

Debra Webb is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of more than 130 novels, including reader favorites the Faces of Evil, the Colby Agency, and the Shades of Death series. With more than four million books sold in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood on a farm in Alabama.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Ten Days Gone, by Beverly Long

ten days gone
Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title:  Ten Days Gone
Author:  Beverly Long
Genre:  Suspense
Rating:  4 out of 5

Detectives A.L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan have their fourth dead body in forty days:  four women, each killed ten days apart, with no sign of a struggle, and nothing connecting them. The clock is already ticking down to the next victim’s death, and they have nothing to go on. When a hail-Mary interview leads them to a list with all the victims’ names on it—exactly 10 spaces apart—they know they’ve found the connection. But they still don’t have any idea who the killer is.

Trying to track down the next name on the list—Tess Lyons—is almost as difficult as finding the killer. Still recovering from tragedy, she’s withdrawn from everyone and everything to nurse her wounds in silence. But when the detectives track her down, she agrees to help them find the killer—even if it puts her own life at stake.

Ten Days Gone is the start of a new series for Beverly Long. I don’t think I’ve read any of her work before, but I enjoyed this suspense tale. The dynamics between the two detectives were entertaining and realistic, without falling into clichés or tropes. Tess was the most enjoyable character, though. Wounded and recovering from something horrifying and unexpected, she’s shut out the entire world to nurse her grief and bitterness, but the connections she makes open the door to getting her life back.

Beverly Long grew up in Illinois and co-authored her first book in the fourth grade. Ten Days Gone is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Southern Double Cross, by Caroline Fardig

southern double cross
Image belongs to Random House/Alibi.

Title:  Southern Double Cross
Author:  Caroline Fardig
Genre:  Mystery
Rating:  4 out of 5

Quinn Bellandini is minding her own business, living life and wishing she were back at the B & B she runs with her sister, Delilah, and her grandfather, instead of trying to pull off a fundraising gala—and keep the high society guests from sniping at each other and causing a ruckus. Then Quinn gets a call from her friend Pepper, working for the event’s caterer. Pepper tells her the hostess—and owner of the mansion hosting the gala—has been found dead.

Soon enough, Pepper’s brother has been charged with murder and Pepper insists the Bellandini sisters clear his name. Quinn’s questions only lead to more questions. The victim had more frenemies than you can shake a stick at. The catering company’s employees are shady at best. And then there are the rumors about the victim and her ex-husband’s rekindled relationship. Quinn isn’t sure where to start, but with her boyfriend Tucker’s help and the irrepressible Delilah on the case, she gives it her best shot.

I enjoyed this entry into the Southern B & B Mystery series (it looks to be the last, too). The writing is solid. Savannah, Georgia comes to life—as does the high society crowd that populates the pages. I’ve enjoyed watching Quinn and Tucker’s relationship grow, and the sisters are fun to read as well.

Caroline Fardig is a bestselling author. Southern Double Cross is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Alibi in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Janes, by Louisa Luna

the janes
Image belongs to Doubleday.

Title:  The Janes
Author:  Louisa Luna
Genre:  Thriller
Rating:  4 out of 5

There are two bodies, two young girls dead. They have no names, no IDs—and no one is looking for them. The only possibility is a human trafficking ring, so San Diego police and the FBI call in Alice Vega, a private investigator who has a way of getting things done. She’s their only hope of finding out who the Janes are and finding out if more girls are missing.

Even more than her determination, Vega relies on her intellect, which is formidable. She and her partner, Cap, start asking questions—and the answers they find lead them into a situation filled with danger, murder, and enemies they never suspected.

I haven’t read the first book in the Alice Vega series, but that didn’t hamper me at all. There are a lot of layers in the book and figuring out just what was going on was an exciting and intriguing process. Vega is an interesting character—her mind works differently than anyone else—and Cap is both funny and intelligent, a perfect foil for Vega. This was a solid thriller read!

Louisa Luna was born and raised in San Francisco and now lives in Brooklyn. The Janes is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Prized Girl, by Amy K. Green

the prized girl
Image belongs to Penguin/Dutton.

Title:  The Prized Girl
Author:  Amy K. Green
Genre:  Thriller
Rating:  4 out of 5

Virginia lives on sarcasm and depression, with a side helping of torture in the form of weekly dinners with her distant father, overly controlling and needy stepmother, and her annoying younger half-sister, Jenny.

But when pageant queen Jenny is found murdered, Virginia decides the cut-and-dried answer of who killed her—the cops say it’s the most obvious suspect, an obsessive fan—might not be the truth, and decides to investigate herself. So Virginia starts asking questions. And the answers she finds lead her both back to her own path and down a path that is far more twisted than she imagined.

I finished reading this just to find out who killed Jenny. But…I didn’t like any of these characters. Virginia has issues-with-a-capital-I, and these issues get in the way of life for her, much less seeing the truth of any situation involving a figure from her past. Her Dad is a jerk, and his secret doesn’t make his treatment of his family okay. Her stepmother was horrible. Even the scenes from Jenny’s viewpoint didn’t make me like her. Did I figure out who the killer was? No. Did I have any liking for any of these characters, also no. The writing was solid, but the characters made me dislike the whole story.

Amy K. Green lives in California. The Prized Girl is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin/Dutton in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Smoke Screen, by Terri Blackstock

smoke screen
Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title:  Smoke Screen
Author:  Terri Blackstock
Genre:  Suspense
Rating:  4 out of 5

Nate Beckett is a smoke jumper. He’s always busy fighting wildfires, and he certainly doesn’t have time to come home to the town that believed the worst of him. Fourteen years before, Nate’s father and the preacher got in a very loud, very public argument, and when the preacher was murdered that night, everyone believed Nate’s dad killed him. When the church burned to the ground, everyone believed Nate did it—and rather than stay and fight, he just left.

Fourteen years ago, Nate and the preacher’s daughter, Brenna Strickland were in love—until the night his father was accused of killing her father. After that night, Brenna thought things couldn’t get worse, but now she’s fighting an ugly custody battle with her ex-husband and his younger trophy wife—and his daddy’s money and influence. Brenna turns to alcohol to cope, but when the custody battle grows heated and new information about the murder years before comes to light, Brenna and Nate must work together to find out the truth.

I thoroughly enjoyed Smoke Screen. The things Brenna struggles with are enough to drive anyone to drink—even the preacher’s daughter. Her ex-husband and his daddy were enough to make me want a drink sometimes. The growth of her character through this novel was inspiring. Nate, too, grows a lot in this book. Being the son of a convicted murderer cannot be easy, but he handles himself with class and strength through it all.

Terri Blackstock is a USA Today– and New York Times-bestselling author. Smoke Screen is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Shamus Dust, by Janet Roger

 

shamus dust
Image belongs to author and publisher.

Title:  Shamus Dust
Author:  Janet Roger
Genre:  Mystery
Rating:  4 out of 5

Newman is an American PI living in London just after World War II. The city is still a bombed-out wreck—and the people are worse. Early on Christmas morning, Newman receives a call from City Councilor Drake, who tells him to meet an investigator at the murder scene of Raymond Jarrett. The investigator isn’t there, so Newman stars asking questions. Jarrett was a blackmailer and a pimp, so there are a lot of people who might have wanted him dead—but who went through with it?

With the bodies piling up and his own life in danger, Newman is determined to find the killer. But as the suspects keep turning up dead and more questions keep stacking up, Newman realizes the truth has links all over the financial district—and the wealthy have more money and less scruples than he thought.

I’ll say straight away that detective noir stories are not my usual fair. They don’t normally hold my interest. This one did. The setting is incredibly well-realized and realistic—not to mention depressing—and the characters are…quite the character(s). I prefer more connection with the main characters I read, so the distance from Newman was a problem for me, but I realize that’s personal preference. This was well-written and very gritty, and I didn’t figure out who the killer was.

Janet Roger is an award-winning author. Shamus Dust is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: All That’s Bright and Gone, by Eliza Nellums

all that's bright and gone
Image belongs to Crooked Lane Books.

Title:  All That’s Bright and Gone
Author:  Eliza Nellums
Genre:  Fiction
Rating:  4 out of 5

There’s a lot that six-year-old Aoife doesn’t know. She doesn’t know why it’s not okay to talk to her friend Teddy around other people—Mama says he’s imaginary, but he’s not. She doesn’t know why Momma stopped the car in the middle of an intersection crying and screaming and talking to Aoife’s brother Theo—he’s dead, even Aoife knows that. She doesn’t know if Momma will be home from the hospital in time for the Fourth of July fireworks. But Aoife does know that if she can figure out who killed Theo, Momma will come home.

Uncle Donny takes Aoife home and says he’ll stay with her until Momma comes home, but she’s not sure she believes him. She has to figure out who killed Theo, but no one will even talk to her about him, so the only help she has is her eight-year-old neighbor. And Teddy—but sometimes he’s more interested in getting Aoife in trouble than anything. Finding out who killed Theo will bring Momma home, so Aoife is determined—even if she has to do it all by herself.

All That’s Bright and Gone was an interesting read. I’m not sure I’ve read anything from a six-year-old’s point-of-view, so that was novel. And Aoife is definitely special. The way she sees the world is both charming and terrifying, but her determination to save her family is inspiring. I actually saw things as Aoife saw them—not an adult looking through a child’s eyes—and the writing brought her world to life.

Eliza Nellums Lives in Washington D.C. All That’s Bright and Gone is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Crooked Lane Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)