Book Review: Echo Road by Kendra Elliot & Melinda Leigh

Echo Road
Author: Kendra Elliot & Melinda Leigh
Publication: Montlake (July 2, 2024)

Description: When two cross-country cases collide, Bree Taggert and Mercy Kilpatrick join forces to catch a serial killer in an addictive novel of suspense by bestselling authors Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.

During a vicious heat wave, a county maintenance worker stumbles upon two suspicious suitcases abandoned by the side of the road. Sheriff Bree Taggert responds to find two bodies stuffed inside the luggage. The press demands action. The community is on edge. Suddenly, Bree is at the center of a media firestorm.

In Oregon, a senator’s daughter goes missing. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick agrees to keep the politically sensitive case on the down-low. When she finds a link between the disappearance and a double homicide three thousand miles away, Mercy takes the next plane out—and lands right in the middle of Bree’s double homicide investigation.

To save the missing girl, Bree and Mercy must work together to stop a killer who’s playing deadly games with the press and stirring up public rage. Hungry for notoriety, he dares Bree and Mercy to catch him before he kills again.

My Thoughts: Out West, FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick is called when a Senator's seventeen-year-old daughter Paige goes missing. Meanwhile in New York State, Sheriff Bree Taggert is called to a scene when two suitcases are found in the ditch of a rural road. The contain the dead bodies of two women bound with ball gags in their mouths. 

Mercy's case leads her to New York State when it is determined that Paige had met a man online at a BDSM site and likely left to go with him. Evidence shows that she had been texting with a burner phone located in Bree's jurisdiction. 

Mercy and Bree team up to find the missing girl and discover who killed the other two women. They discover that they have a lot in common and soon learn to trust each other. Their investigation is complicated by Bree's City Manager deciding to call public meeting and generally make the investigation more difficult. There is also a local reporter who seems to know more than he should who is letting out information Bree and Mercy had planned to keep quiet. 

The story is told from multiple viewpoints. The villain has chapters labeled Him, Bree has her chapters, and so does Mercy. There are even a few chapters from Paige's point of view. 

The story was exciting and packed with danger. Since I've read all the Mercy Kilpatirck stories and all the Bree Taggert stories, I would be glad to read more stories where they find reasons to work together. 

Favorite Quote:

"The case is politically sensitive?" Bree asked.

Agent Kirpatrick's poker face didn't budge, nor did she comment.

So Bree guessded the answer was yes.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.