Crime Thriller-The Last Time She Died-Available Now

I’m always excited to read a new crime thriller series because it can become something long-lasting, a comforting serial that I can return to check in on the characters. Done right, they remind me of a good crime procedural on television.

I have also mentioned in past reviews that I think authors have difficulty starting a new series. There is the desire and need to establish the characters and their connections to each other. But they also need to create an interesting case as a stand-alone. That’s a tough line to walk.

In this first book in the new Blake & Byron crime thriller series, we get a little bit of all I mentioned above. There’s the establishment of the two detectives and their coworkers, as well as the case at hand. Some parts are more successful than others.

I liked Byron. Even though the chapters were told from differing points of view, his seemed to be the predominant one. Maybe that’s why I liked him the most? He appeared to be a competent detective who knew when to pivot in the investigation.

I mention that because nothing annoys me more in a crime thriller than a detective or investigator written by someone who has no knowledge of law enforcement and acts simply as the author assumes a detective would.

And I can spot it a mile away.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case here.

I did feel that there were times that the author tried to do too much. But, as I mentioned before, a new crime thriller series can require a lot more detail as a foundation for what is to come later.

There were a lot of characters, and it was sometimes difficult to determine who was necessary (in that they would show up again) and who was a one-off for this story.

I guess that will become apparent in future books.

The case itself was decent. You find out a lot about it from the blurb (which is a huge pet peeve of mine), but the author does an okay job of throwing in some twists and red herrings to keep the reader off-balance.

I guessed a lot of it correctly, but that’s because I have a background that allows me to think like a detective.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I enjoyed this introduction to a new crime thriller series but that other people may have even better enjoyment of it. I’m willing to come back and give Blake and Byron another try.