ARC Review: What Doesn't Kill You by Aimee Hix

What Doesn't Kill You
Author: Aimee Hix
Series: A Willa Pennington, PI Mystery
Publication: Midnight Ink (January 8, 2018)

Description: A favor for a friend turns into a murder investigation, drawing apprentice PI Willa Pennington into a labyrinth of lies and deception in the shadows of Washington, D.C.

Willa Pennington thought that becoming a PI would be better than being a cop. She thought she’d never have to make another death notification or don a bulletproof vest again. She thought she could move past the pain of losing her best friend. She thought she’d be safe.

But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Now, agreeing to do a simple favor has brought her to a dead body, a missing person, and a battle of wits with an old friend who has dangerous secrets. If Willa can keep her focus, she could solve the murder, find the missing girl, and figure out if the person she’s trusted with her life is the one trying to end it.

My Thoughts: Willa Pennington has quit the police force and is apprenticing with her father to become a private investigator when a neighbor asks her to do a favor. The Horowitz's granddaughter Violet has gotten involved with an abusive boyfriend and the grandparents have asked Willa to go help her move out. However, Violet is missing and the abusive boyfriend Joe is there but dead after being shot twice in the chest.

Willa's first goal is to prove that Violet had nothing to do with the death. But the case quickly spirals into far more dangerous territory as she investigates Joe who had some really creepy friends. One friend surprises her. Willa's childhood friend Seth seems to know Joe too.

Willa and Seth have a complicated relationship. Willa and Seth's brother Michael were best friends until Michael's recent death in an IED attack. Michael had long since made Willa promise not to have anything to do with Seth when he realized that she had a crush on him. Willa is still regretting  hooking up with Seth after Michael's memorial service and now, after years of seeing him only at family gatherings, Seth is back and acting in a very suspicious way.

Willa and Seth need to work together to solve Willa's case and Seth's since he is an undercover ATF agent dealing with locating some stolen guns. The danger keeps building as Willa gets closer to the case. There are at least two attempts on her life.

I loved Willa. She is strong and smart and dealing with losing her best friend. She is in need of therapy and can't sleep. She has a very smart mouth that helps cover some of her grief. I loved her relationship with Seth. She wasn't going to stand to be the little woman who was put somewhere safe while the menfolk dealt with all the danger.

This was an excellent first novel. I can't wait to read more about Willa in future novels.

Favorite Quote:

"I can't believe Joe's dead. He wasn't the best boyfriend but he really loved Violet."

I wasn't the best judge of it but I assumed abuse was an automatic disqualifier from the title. As for love, the bruises negated that too. Sure, that was a matter of opinion but it was a pretty widely shared one.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.