Author: Kristi Rose
Series: A New Orleans Novel (Book 3)
Publication: Berkley (August 13, 2024)
Description: From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose comes another explosive novel in the New Orleans series, where some secrets are worth dying for—or killing to keep.
Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.
Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his army service while still utilizing his military skills. But when a violent break-in occurs at the office, the accusatory eyes of the NOPD are on Phin, and he resolves to track down the intruder and clear his name.
Phin’s only lead is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers. The body of her father, murdered twenty-three years ago, has just been discovered under a recently demolished building. So who has been sending her handwritten letters—written and signed by her father—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her.
As Cora’s self-appointed bodyguard, Phin is surprised by his growing fondness for the woman and her fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.
My Thoughts: The third romantic suspense title in the New Orleans series gives Phin Bishop a chance for his own romance. He suffers from PTSD and tends to disappear when he is overstressed. He's been gone from Brussard Investigations for five months this time. He returns just in time to go into the office and see a gunman running from the scene after shooting their receptionist Joy. Phin and his friend Stone manage to do CPR on Joy until the ambulance arrives but miss out on the chance to chase the shooter.
Phin's only clue to who might have shot Joy is that Cora Winslow had come in to consult with Broussards about the fact that the body of her father has been discovered in the demolition of a building. He was murdered 23 years earlier which is hard to understand since she's been receiving letters from him ever since he disappeared.
The people at Broussards want to know who shot Joy and believe it is related to Cora's problem. They decide to work with Cora to try to solve her case. As they are working together, Cora and Phin become close.
Meanwhile, we are also seeing the story from the viewpoint of Alan Beauchamp who is the pastor at a megachurch and a murderer. However, macular degeneration means that he has to depend on his grandson Sage when there are things to clean up, but Sage is tired of being his grandfather's flunky and tool.
This was both an entertaining thriller and an entertaining romance. I liked both Cora and Phin very much and liked their circle of friends. It was nice to catch up with characters who starred in earlier books in the series.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
I like the New Orleans setting, a city in my mind imbued with lots of charm (maybe completely wrong). Series new to me.
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