Black Orchid Girls - Carolyn Arnold
She read
Publication Date: Feb. 10, 2022
This is the fourth in Carolyn Arnold’s Detective Amanda Steele series. It is the first one I have read. Although it does make reference to past cases and personal history, I felt enough background information was provided so that it worked well as a standalone.
A college student, Chloe, is found dead in a state park, killed very early in the morning. She has been stripped of her clothing and possessions, posed, and a black orchid placed on her. Amanda Steele and her partner, Trent Stenson, are on the case. Was the perpetrator someone close to Chloe or is there a serial killer at large?
This was a fast, engrossing read. Amanda is a bit of a flawed character, but the death of her husband and daughter a few years earlier has had its impact on her. And, by the way, she is trying to adopt a young child, Zoe, orphaned after her parents were killed in an earlier story. I did have some questions about the partners’ procedures (really, interviewing two persons of interest together?), yet it remains a decent police procedural.
I don’t feel compelled to go back and read the prior books in the series, but am looking forward to the next one. And, I wonder if the spark that was hinted at between Amanda and Trent will ignite, or will they remain supportive friends and partners……
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