Month: December 2020

The third book in the Detective Casey White series picks up where The Innocent Girls left off. She’s been reunited with her daughter and her relationship has progressed with Jericho. In fact, it’s progressed quite a bit.

This is both a blessing and curse for Casey. While it’s a happy event, not only does she have the usual rigors of policework to deal with, but her emotions have gone haywire.

All of gets compounded when a dead body is found. Casey undertakes the investigation, but soon learns that this case may be more personal, as there are similarities to an older case involving the death of Jericho’s wife.

I don’t want to share too much more about the plot (there are several other reviews with spoilers if that’s your thing). But I do want to talk about Casey.

I thought the author did a good job illustrating the pressures that members of law enforcement are under on a daily basis. That’s been standard across all three books in the series.

This time, however, we also get the added insight into what happens when an investigation hits close to home and gets personal.

Many authors have used this twist in other series. It certainly adds tension and the sense that there is a more immediate need for resolution, while often making for more pulse-pounding action.

It’s a “Can the detective stop the killer before he attacks one of her own” type of thing.

In this case, however, someone close to Casey becomes a suspect. Well, that’s sort of true. There’s being an actual suspect due to proof and there’s being a suspect in the public eye. Those are two very different things.

The latter is one that is highlighted in this book, and it hit close to home. The outside pressures from gossip and innuendo can derail even the sturdiest of detectives – and Casey isn’t that in this book.

I thought the emotion of the characters was what made this story stand out from others that use this type of plot point. Casey has been an emotional character across the three books – with a history like hers, how could she not be – so it seemed natural that those took center stage in this one.

That being said, I did reach a point when I started to wonder how much a person could take. I’m not going to say any more about that. I will also say that I am now even more curious to see where this series goes next.

I don’t think it’s over.

Author Bio:

B.R. Spangler here. I’m a resident of Virginia along with my family, five cats, two birds, a hamster, and a lizard. During the day, I work as an engineer and spend my off hours writing, editing, and thinking up the next great story.

I split my time across pen names, writing crime thrillers, science fiction, horrors, paranormal and contemporary fiction.

Author Website: https://brspangler.com/sign-up/  

I really enjoyed One Left Alive and was looking forward to what Detective Morgan Brookes would do next. I wasn’t disappointed.

The Killer’s Girl starts with a flashback that sets the scene for…something. There’s an act of violence but it is difficult to tell what is most important about the event. Is it the suspicions of the victim? The brutal suddenness of the perpetrator?

Or that a child witnessed the entire thing?

The action then switches to the present and another act of violence. (It’s a crime thriller – of course there are going to be multiple crimes).

The answers to the above questions become apparent over the course of the investigation, as Morgan tries to track down the killer.

This is pretty much a straightforward crime procedural. Morgan has grown into the job a bit, although there is still a bit of a “rookie” feel to her.

That was one thing that jumped out at me. As I mentioned in my review of the previous book Morgan being a rookie led to some of her behaviors being unusual. It was difficult to tell if those were actual characteristics or rookie maneuvers.

In this book, we get the idea that it was actually a little bit of both.

Morgan still asks a lot of questions which is good and bad. On the one hand, it feels like she should know the answers to some of them, because they would be things covered in basic police training.

On the other hand, she doesn’t have a lot of experience, so it’s possible that she either didn’t get that training, or she forgot it in the face of trying to ask the right questions to solve the crime(s).

What it does do, however, is give the reader detailed information about the forensics in the investigation, and that’s always a welcome addition.

As usual, I’m not going to give away the plot points of the crime, but it’s another good one. I find that in crime procedurals, it’s more about the investigation itself – at least, that’s how I look at it.

I do hope that Morgan continues to grow into her position, and I look forward to reading more of her exploits as she continues to solve crimes.

Author Bio:

Helen Phifer lives in a small town called Barrow-in-Furness with her husband and five children.Helen has always loved writing and reading. Her love of horror films and novels is legendary. Helen adores reading books which make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Unable to find enough scary stories to read she decided to write her own. 

Website:     https://www.helenphifer.com