ARC Review: A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado

A Forgotten Kill
Author: Isabella Maldonado
Series: Daniela Vega (Book 2)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (March 26, 2024)

Description: An FBI agent tracks a brilliant serial killer in New York―right back to her own cold-blooded past in a riveting thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

FBI Special Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega was seventeen when her mother murdered her father. Ten years after Dani’s own damning eyewitness testimony sealed her mother’s fate, she’s starting to have doubts. What if she got it all wrong?

A veteran NYPD homicide detective agrees to reopen the closed case on one condition―Dani must help him find a serial killer who’s been operating throughout New York City for the past decade. If anyone can decipher his patterns, and his riddles, it’s a trained codebreaker like Dani. The killer knows this too. And his next riddle―and victim―is meant just for her.

For Dani, stopping a killer―and learning what really happened to her father―becomes more personal and more dangerous with each new twist. As secrets of the past are unearthed, the truth could forever change Dani’s life…and the lives of everyone she loves.

My Thoughts: FBI Agent Dani Vega is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into her previous case when she gets a call from the doctors at Bellevue: her mother is showing signs of lucidity. Catatonic since the gruesome murder of her husband and Dani's father when Dani was seventeen, she is believed to be the one who killed him. Dani walked in on the murder and was instrumental in the case that led to her mother's incarceration.

When her mother says that she didn't murder her husband, Dani decides to look into the case again. She goes to the NYC Police Detective who investigated. He agrees to give her the files on her father's case if she will look at some of his open cases to see if he has a serial killer. Dani is a former Army Ranger who was trained to analyze patterns. She determines, rather quickly, that not only are the cases related, but that they are only part of a long string of murders all perpetrated by the same serial killer. 

This discovery leads to the formation of a task force between the FBI and the various police forces of the places in NYC where the killer has operated. The investigation is tense and uses lots of new tools to link the 31 murders. But the killer has caught wind of the investigation and doesn't want Dani and the task force to succeed in stopping him. 

This was an excellent and fast-paced thriller. Depending on how you feel about characters who are ultra-competent, the characters are interesting. Dani, herself, is a former Army Ranger with well-honed physical skills and with an almost preternatural ability to solve puzzles. But she is also a grieving daughter who lost her father to murder and was taken in by an aunt who was emotionally abusive to her because of her resemblance to her mother whom the aunt feels stole her baby brother from her. She feels guilt that her eyewitness testimony resulted in her mother's commitment to Bellevue. 

I enjoyed this story and couldn't put it down until I reached the conclusion. 

Favorite Quote:

"You're saying he's compulsive." Flint's expression darkened. "Something drives him."

She gave voice to the unspoken implication hanging in the air between them. "Which means he'll never stop."

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