ARC Review: The Devil You Know by P. J. Tracy

The Devil You Know
Author: P. J. Tracy
Series: The Detective Margaret Nolan Series (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books (January 17, 2023)

Description: Darkness is nothing new to LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, but in P.J. Tracy’s The Devil You Know, even she isn’t prepared for the scandalous deception of deadly proportions that shakes the very foundation of Hollywood and its untouchables…and leaves her entangled in its rotten core.

Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarefied world of wealth, power, and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege, and gives her a glimpse of the decay behind the glitter.

Beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide, a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’s agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss, and a woman he’s scorned.

My Thoughts: Margaret Nolan and her partner Al Crawford find themselves investigating a possible murder that takes them into the tangled rarified air of celebrity in Hollywood. Actor and heartthrob Evan Hobbes had his career and his life ruined when videos surface showing him taking part in child porn. When his body is found at the bottom of a mudslide on the Pacific Coast Highway, it could be suicide. But Margaret and Al need to investigate.

The more they learn, the more tangled the case becomes. And Evan's isn't the only death. He was attending a party at Essie Baum's. She's the wife of David Baum who's the head of Disney, the studio Evan works for. Then David's body and that of a young actress are found dead at one of his other homes.

Essie's brother and Evan's agent Seth Lehman is also murdered which ruins one of Margaret and Al's theories about what happened to Evan.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints including Seth's and was an intriguing and twisty thriller where we really got to learn a lot about what each of the characters was thinking and doing, Once I got into the style of the writing, I really enjoyed it. 

Favorite Quote:

"Hey, you're a cop, right? A homicide detective."

She nodded. "Have you killed anyone recently?"

He barked out an abrupt laugh that sounded borderline manic. "Yeah, yeah, Margaret Nolan! You were on the Monster of Miracle Mile case and that crazy shit up in Death Valley a couple of months ago. You got tons of screen time, more than some of my clients. You have a sense of humor, too."

"I do, but that was sarcasm."

"Hardly a difference."

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