Crime & Detective Archives – Page 2 of 5

Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs [Book Review]

Posted on December 31, 2022December 28, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Cold, Cold Bones

Author: Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Scribner

Publish Date: July 5, 2022

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Temperance Brennan #21

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night, they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.

GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.

There seems to be no pattern to the subsequent killings uncovered, except that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze. Who or what is targeting her, and why?

Helping Tempe search for answers is detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, retired but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit—and still displaying his gallows humor. Also pulled into the mystery: Andrew Ryan, Tempe’s Montreal-based beau, now working as a private detective.

Could this elaborately staged skein of mayhem be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for what is going on…and then her daughter disappears.

MY REVIEW

Cold, Cold Bones is the twenty-first book in the Temperance Brennan series. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist who consults with law enforcement on a variety of cases. In this book, someone seems to be targeting Tempe. The cases she is working on are similar to previous cases in her career.

In addition to the crime solving, Tempe’s adult daughter, Katy, has returned home. Tempe is excited to have her daughter back in town, but then Katy disappears.

Cold, Cold Bones is an enjoyable addition to the series. A compelling mystery about gruesome crimes. Recommended to fans of this series and medical thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Temperance Brennan series:

Déjà Dead
Death du Jour
Deadly Decisions
Fatal Voyage
Grave Secrets
Bare Bones
Monday Mourning
Cross Bones
Break No Bones
Bones to Ashes
Devil Bones
206 Bones
Spider Bones
Flash and Bones
Bones Are Forever
Bones of the Lost
Bones Never Lie
Speaking in Bones
A Conspiracy of Bones
The Bone Code
Cold, Cold Bones
The Bone Hacker
Fire and Bones

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton [Book Review]

Posted on December 31, 2022December 28, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Local Gone Missing

Author: Fiona Barton

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publish Date: June 14, 2022

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Elise King #1

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she’d ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a weekend music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it’s full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

MY REVIEW

Elise is a detective on medical leave. She misses her work, but is uncertain of when she will return to her job. In the meantime, she spends her time watching the changes in her small town of Ebbing. One of Ebbing’s new residents wants to host a music festival in town. On the first night of the festival, a local man goes missing. Elise can’t resist investigating the disappearance.

Local Gone Missing is a slow-building story. The seaside town, atmosphere, and characters were all well developed. Elise’s detective skills were the highlight. This was a complex and clever mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Elise King series:

Local Gone Missing
Talking to Strangers

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge [Book Review]

Posted on December 30, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Little Sister

Author: Gytha Lodge

Publisher: Random House

Publish Date: June 28, 2022

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: DCI Jonah Sheens #4

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace in a pub garden on his day off when a teenage girl wanders out of the woods. She’s striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She’s also covered in blood.

When Jonah races to help, the girl insists she’s fine. Then she smiles. It’s her sister he needs to worry about. Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children’s home a week ago. Now Keely is here—but Nina’s still missing. Jonah is sure Keely knows where her sister is—but before she tells him anything, she insists, he has to listen to her story from the beginning.

Is she witness, victim, or killer? And if Jonah follows the trail of clues in her story, will they lead him to the missing girl—or distract him until it’s too late?

MY REVIEW

A teenage girl wanders out of the woods, covered in blood. The girl, Keely, and her sister Nina have been missing for a week. Keely tells DCI Jonah Sheens that she will tell him everything, but he must listen to her whole story, starting at the beginning. Jonah agrees, but he and his team are also trying to find Nina.

Little Sister is told using alternating points of view – Jonah, Juliette (an officer on Jonah’s team), and Keely. Jonah and Juliette are trying to find Nina, and Keely is telling a tragic story of abuse in the foster system.

Little Sister is the fourth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series, but it can be read as a standalone. This series has some gripping mysteries, and I suggest reading the other books.

Little Sister is dark, twisted, and tragic. Recommended for fans of British police procedurals.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the DCI Jonah Sheens series:

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen [ Book Review]

Posted on December 30, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Pay Dirt Road

Author: Samantha Jayne Allen

Publisher: Minotaur

Publish Date: April 19, 2022

Genre: Private Detective

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas.

Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.

When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this homecoming.

MY REVIEW

Annie McIntyre returns to her small hometown after college. She’s working as a waitress while figuring out what she wants to do with her life. One of the other waitresses goes missing, and Annie decides to investigate. She and her grandfather, a private investigator, work together to uncover what happened.

Pay Dirt Road is a slow-burning, atmospheric mystery. With strong character development and a haunting setting, this debut novel was an entertaining read. I look forward to more from this author.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sea Storm by Andrew Mayne [Book Review]

Posted on December 29, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Sea Storm

Author: Andrew Mayne

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: March 29, 2022

Genre: Crime Fiction

Series: Underwater Investigation Unit #3

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

A distress call draws rescuers Sloan McPherson and the Underwater Investigation Unit to a cruise ship off the coast of Fort Lauderdale that’s sinking from a mysterious explosion. When it appears to be the work of an ecoterrorist and other ships are threatened, it becomes a race against time. More clues are discovered, and evidence is in danger of being washed away by a coming tropical storm. Sloan grows concerned that key details are being ignored, and a strange lack of urgency by authorities sets off alarms.

As the troubling questions compound, Sloan is determined to chase down every lead she has. Her persistence is getting her closer to the truth: that there’s something far more troubling at play than the official explanation. It’s also putting Sloan on a collision course with an enemy more powerful than she realizes, in a case so complex and deadly it may be impossible to prove. Now cracking the case is a matter of staying one step ahead of someone with every resource imaginable to bury Sloan and everything she knows.

MY REVIEW

Sea Storm is the third book in the Underwater Investigation Unit mystery series. In this installment, the Underwater Investigation Unit is called in when a cruise ship starts sinking after a mysterious explosion.

With an “underwater” unit, there are plenty of water related crimes to keep the team busy. The characters are likable, and this book furthers the development of these memorable characters. While Sea Storm can be read as a standalone novel, I recommend starting with the first book in the series.

Sea Storm is an exciting and intriguing mystery. Recommended for readers who enjoy a good police procedural with a twist.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Underwater Investigation Unit series:

The Girl Beneath the Sea
Black Coral
Sea Storm

Damaged Intentions by Mike Omer [Book Review]

Posted on December 29, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Damaged Intentions

Author: Mike Omer

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: March 20, 2022

Genre: Crime Fiction

Series: Abby Mullen #2

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

As a child, Abby Mullen escaped the insidious Wilcox cult when it literally went down in flames. Years later, she’s the NYPD’s best hostage negotiator and a mother. She thought the worst part of her life was behind her. Until now. Armed conspiracy theorists called the Watchers have attacked the local high school—and taken her daughter hostage.

With the delusional Watchers holding her child at gunpoint, the unflappable Abby might be at her breaking point. But the clock is ticking on her daughter’s life, and she has no choice but to negotiate with the paranoid group and discover their leader’s secret before it’s too late.

As Abby peels back the layers of mystery surrounding the Watchers, there’s always another puzzle underneath. And it seems to be leading back to the dark past she’s spent her whole life trying to forget.

MY REVIEW

Abby Mullen is a NYPD hostage negotiator. She’s also the mother of a teen daughter. Abby’s work and personal lives collide when a group of conspiracy theorists attack the high school, and Abby’s daughter is a hostage.

Damaged Intentions is the second book in the Abby Mullen thriller series. Abby has a dark past. She escaped a cult when she was younger, and she’s trying to keep that part of her life in the past. With Abby’s job, her daughter, and her past, a lot is happening in this novel, and it makes for a suspenseful story.

Damaged Intentions is a gripping read with complex characters. Recommended for fans of crime thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Abby Mullen series:

A Deadly Influence
Damaged Intentions

The Fields by Erin Young [Book Review]

Posted on May 31, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Fields

Author: Erin Young

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publish Date: January 25, 2022

Genre: Police Procedural

Series: Riley Fisher #1

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Some things don’t stay buried.

It starts with a body—a young woman found dead in an Iowa cornfield, on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture.

When Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, arrives on the scene, an already horrific crime becomes personal when she discovers the victim was a childhood friend, connected to a dark past she thought she’d left behind.

The investigation grows complicated as more victims are found. Drawn deeper in, Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.

MY REVIEW

The Fields is a debut crime thriller. Riley Fisher heads the investigation in the murder of one of her childhood friends.

The Fields is a dark and gritty police procedural. Riley Fisher is an intriguing character. The mystery is complex and compelling. This is the first book in a new series, and I look forward to reading more.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Riley Fisher series:

The Fields

The Appeal by Janice Hallett [Book Review]

Posted on January 28, 2022January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Appeal

Author: Janice Hallett

Publisher: Atria

Publish Date: January 25, 2022

Genre: Crime Fiction

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that a killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

MY REVIEW

The Appeal is an epistolary novel told through emails, texts, and other written communications. I’ve read several books with this format, and usually end up enjoying them. A mystery written in this format allows the reader to attempt solving the crime as the story unfolds.

A local theater group rallies around a sick child in one of their families. Along with preparing for their next production, the group helps raise money for an experimental treatment for the child. Tensions and doubts arise, and then one of the theater group is found dead. As two lawyers sort through the correspondence between the players involved, they start to suspect a killer is on the loose.

The Appeal is a compelling and uniquely told murder mystery. A good read for fans of epistolary novels and armchair sleuths.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Books in The Appeal series:

The Appeal
The Christmas Appeal

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones [Book Review]

Posted on September 16, 2021January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay

Author: Darynda Jones

Publisher: St, Martin’s Press

Publish Date: July 27, 2021

Genre: Crime Fiction

Series: Sunshine Vicram #2

My Rating: 5/5

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

BOOK BLURB

Running a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff—and even fuller-time coffee guzzler—Sunshine Vicram, didn’t get that memo.

All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that’s about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)

Before she can say iced mocha latte, Sunny’s got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. All evidence points to a local distiller, a dangerous bad boy named Levi Ravinder, but Sun knows he’s not the villain of her story. Still, perhaps beneath it all, he possesses the keys to her disappearance. At the very least, beneath it all, he possesses a serious set of abs. She’s seen it. Once. Accidentally.

Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn’t know when to quit, Sunny’s life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.

Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.

MY REVIEW

A Good Day for Chardonnay is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram series. Sunshine is the sheriff in a small New Mexico town. Sunshine has her hands full in this one. For one, her daughter, Auri, is hunting a serial killer. Also, there is new evidence in the mystery of Sunshine’s kidnapping when she was younger.

This is the second book in the series, and I definitely recommend starting with the first book, A Bad Day for Sunshine. Both books are clever and exciting reads.

A Good Day for Chardonnay has a great cast of quirky characters, a desert town setting, a little romance, and a gripping mystery. A fantastic novel for fans of mystery thrillers with strong female protagonists and sarcastic humor.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Sunshine Vicram series:

A Bad Day for Sunshine
A Good Day for Chardonnay
A Hard Day for a Hangover

The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs [Book Review]

Posted on September 14, 2021December 28, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Bone Code

Author: Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Scribner

Publish Date: July 6, 2021

Genre: Police Procedural

Series: Temperance Brennan #20

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

On the way to hurricane-ravaged Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, Tempe receives a call from the Charleston coroner. The storm has tossed ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Tempe recognizes many of the details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she travels to Montreal to gather evidence.

Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. So focused is Tempe on identifying the container victims that, initially, she doesn’t register how their murders and the pestilence may be related. But she does recognize one unsettling fact. Someone is protecting a dark secret—and willing to do anything to keep it hidden.

An absorbing look at the sinister uses to which genetics can be put, and featuring a cascade of ever-more-shocking revelations, The Bone Code is Temperance Brennan’s most astonishing case yet—one that gives new meaning to today’s headlines.

MY REVIEW

The Bone Code is the twentieth book in the Temperance Brennan series. Temperance is a forensic anthropologist who has worked on a variety of cases. While this could be read as a standalone novel, I recommend reading some of the earlier books first.

In The Bone Code, Temperance gets involved with a case in Charleston that reminds her of a cold case she worked years earlier in Quebec. Meanwhile, a virus outbreak in Charleston is causing panic. Temperance works to connect the two cases and uncover more than just a murderer.

This is a series that I’ve enjoyed over the years. There are a few books in this series that I haven’t read, but I plan to go back and read them soon. Temperance is intelligent and driven in her work. She makes for a strong and interesting protagonist.

The Bone Code is sure to be enjoyed by fans of this series. For readers unfamiliar with Temperance, I recommend checking out this series if you like crime fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Temperance Brennan series:

Déjà Dead
Death du Jour
Deadly Decisions
Fatal Voyage
Grave Secrets
Bare Bones
Monday Mourning
Cross Bones
Break No Bones
Bones to Ashes
Devil Bones
206 Bones
Spider Bones
Flash and Bones
Bones Are Forever
Bones of the Lost
Bones Never Lie
Speaking in Bones
A Conspiracy of Bones
The Bone Code
Cold, Cold Bones
The Bone Hacker
Fire and Bones

Lie Beside Me by Gytha Lodge [Book Review]

Posted on September 13, 2021January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Lie Beside Me

Author: Gytha Lodge

Publisher: Random House

Publish Date: June 22, 2021

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: DCI Jonah Sheens #3

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Louise wakes up. Her head aches, her mouth is dry, her memory is fuzzy—but she suspects she’s done something bad.

She rolls over toward her husband, Niall. The man who, until recently, made her feel loved.

But it’s not Niall lying beside her. In fact, she’s never seen this man before.

And he’s not breathing. . . .

As Louise desperately struggles to piece her memories back together, it’s clear to Jonah Sheens and his team that she is their prime suspect—though they soon find she’s not the only one with something to hide.

Did she do it? And, if not, can they catch the real killer before they strike again?

In this gripping novel, a young woman finds that trying to make sense of her life’s bad choices might prove the most dangerous reckoning there is.

MY REVIEW

A woman awakens to discover that the man beside her is not only not her husband, but he’s dead. Though she doesn’t remember what happened, she can’t believe she killed this man. When the police arrive, they find the body in the front yard. The woman is clearly keeping secrets and is a prime suspect.

Lie Beside Me is told using alternating points of view – the suspect, Louise, and the detective, Jonah. Louise is insecure and a struggling alcoholic. Jonah is trying to find a killer. The mystery is well paced and complex.

Lie Beside Me is the third book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series, but it can be read as a standalone. I’ve read the previous two books (She Lies in Wait and Watching from the Dark), and think this series is getting better with each book.

Twisty and intriguing. Lie Beside Me is a straightforward police procedural. A great series for fans of British police procedurals.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the DCI Jonah Sheens series:

Black Coral by Andrew Mayne [Book Review]

Posted on May 30, 2021January 16, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Black Coral

Author: Andrew Mayne

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: February 16, 2021

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Underwater Investigation Unit #2

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

For a police diver in Florida, solving a cold-case mystery brings a serial killer out of hiding in a deep, dark thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.

Sloan McPherson and the Underwater Investigation Unit have discovered a van at the bottom of a murky Florida pond. Sealed inside the watery tomb are the bodies of four teenagers who disappeared thirty years ago after leaving a rock concert. To authorities, it looks like a tragic accident. To Sloan, it looks like murder. Every piece of evidence is starting to connect to a string of cold case vanishings throughout Florida. Clue by clue, Sloan navigates the warm, dark waters where natural predators feed, knowing that the most dangerous one is still above the surface—nesting and dormant.

But when a fresh young kill is found in the Everglades, Sloan fears that her investigation has reawakened a monster. How can she catch someone who’s a genius at hiding in plain sight? By acting as prey. The dangerous gambit is working—only too well. She’s being lured into a deception of the madman’s own design. Has Sloan set a trap for a serial killer? Or has he set one for her?

MY REVIEW

Black Coral is the second book in the mystery series Underwater Investigation Unit. I enjoyed the first book, The Girl Beneath the Sea, so I was looking forward to reading the latest addition to the series. This continues to be a great series. Black Coral can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with the first book.

In Black Coral, the Underwater Investigation Unit is called to the scene of a van at the bottom of a pond. This discovery leads to a suspenseful hunt for a serial killer. A well written story with interesting characters. I especially enjoy Sloan, as she continues to be a strong and complex character.

Exciting and intriguing mystery. A great read for fans of crime thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Underwater Investigation Unit series:

The Girl Beneath the Sea
Black Coral
Sea Storm