Author: Lissa Marie Redmond
Series: A Cold Case Investigation (Book 1)
Publication: Midnight Ink (February 8, 2018)
Description: Lauren's job as a cold case homicide detective is her life. And life just got complicated.
Lauren Riley is an accomplished detective who has always been on the opposite side of the courtroom from slick defense attorney Frank Violanti. But now he's begging to hire her as a private investigator to help clear his client of murder. At first Lauren refuses, wanting nothing to do with the media circus surrounding the case―until she meets the eighteen-year-old suspect.
To keep an innocent teen from life in prison, Lauren must unravel the conflicting evidence and changing stories to get at the buried facts. But the more she digs, the more she discovers that nothing is what it first appears to be. As Lauren puts her career and life in danger, doubt lurks on every corner . . . and so does her stalker.
My Thoughts: Lauren Riley is a police detective who works cold cases with her partner Reese. She is also a private investigator. When Frank Violanti, a defense attorney who has always been her opponent in the courtroom, wants to hire her to investigate a crime his client is accused of, she doesn't want to work with him. However, when she meets David Spencer she sees a clean-cut, good-looking eighteen-year-old who arouses her sympathy. He has been accused of murdering Katherine Vine who was last seen with him.
Katherine is the wife of Anthony Vine who is famous in Buffalo for the series of gyms he owns and the ads he makes for them. In the course of the investigation we learn that Vine is having an affair with a tennis pro and is a controlling husband who placed a tracker on Katherine's car and calls or texts her more than 20 times a day. He looks like a more likely suspect than a kid who only knew Katherine because she frequently shopped at the toy store where he worked. However, as she continues her investigation, questions arise about what David is really like too.
Riley is also working on some cold cases while investigating for Violanti. She is approached by the daughter of a woman who was murdered in 1993 and begins to look into that case. She is also reopens another murder case when the current abused wife comes in and tells her that her husband confessed that he killed his first wife to clear the way for her. Each of those cases has a different but realistic resolution.
Meanwhile, in her personal life, an abusive ex-boyfriend who also happens to be the investigator in David Spencer's case has put Riley back on his radar and is stalking her. And she has resumed an affair with her latest ex-husband who has remarried and had a child. Riley is a complex character who has bad taste in men. She seems to always pick cheaters or losers in one way or another. Her personal life is a stark contrast to professional life where she is frequently successful and well-respected.
I enjoyed watching this police procedural develop and was somewhat surprised by the twist at the end though it was foreshadowed. Fans of police procedurals with complex female main characters will enjoy this book.
Favorite Quote:
He smiled, slyly, "I have to impress potential new clients. The only one I don't have is a newspaper article saying I beat you."I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
"I'd get a nice print of dogs playing poker to fill that spot if I were you."
"Someday, Riley, someday your luck will run out and I'll be there."
I like both police and detective procedures too. Patricia Cornwell does it really well.
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