Catch Her Death - Wendy Dranfield

 Catch Her Death - Wendy Dranfield

Release date: TODAY!  Sept. 9, 2022

I read this as a recommendation from a fellow bookstagrammer. It is the fifth in the Detective Madison Harper series; the first one I have read. Although there is a lot of tragedies the histories of the main characters, I think this does work well as a stand alone, although I was left with some unanswered questions about their background. 

The snow is falling, Christmas is neigh, and a woman is found bludgeoned to death in her car in her parking lot; her young son in the backseat is untouched.  After a second similar murder, Lost Creek, Colorado wonders if there is a serial killer afoot. Madison Harper, a detective who had spent years  wrongly incarcerated is on the case, along with her new partner, who seems more a hindrance than a help  Her father, a former fed who chased serial killers in Alaska, has recently reentered her life, as has her son.  Supporting her is good friend and private investigator, Nate, someone also who was also wrongly imprisoned for a period of time.  

This is a suspenseful, engrossing read.  I stayed up late into the night to finish it.  The main characters are damaged individuals striving to do their best. Some of aspects of the story strain credulity, but that didn’t take away from it.  This is not a cozy mystery; there are some gruesome murders here. 

I enjoyed this book.  I don’t think I will go back and read the prior ones, but do look forward to the next one in the series. 

Thanks to @netgalley and @bookouture for the ARC

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