The Wicked Hour - Alice Blanchard

The Wicked Hour - Alice Blanchard

She read

This is the second in the Natalie Lockhart detective series. The town of Burning Lake is known for its Halloween festivities which draw crowds of tourists each year.  As the town starts to clean up after the latest Halloween, the body of a young woman is found in a dumpster.  

I had a hard time rating this book.  It is a solid mystery; a decent police procedural.  And for that, I would give it four stars.  Being the second in the series, though, there are repeated references to characters and actions from the prior novel.  In fact, Natalie has been so damaged by the past case which apparently involved her sisters, it permeates her thoughts and actions.

Those who have read the first book will most likely be familiar with the characters and the references.  However, I did not and not really knowing what she was talking about or reacting to, I just couldn’t connect with Natalie.  

I think the author could have done a better job filling in the background.  I’ve read a number of other book series having missed the earlier stories, but the authors were able to do a good job introducing the recurring characters and their history.  I missed that in this book, and for that I would rate it 3 stars. There also were instances when the author would repeat the same information almost verbatim.  This was a galley copy I read and perhaps the author will edit for the final copy.  There also were some factual errors which bothered me.

All that said, I did not feel a burning desire to go back and read the first novel in the series.