Murder at the Lake - Carolyn Arnold

 Murder at the Lake - Carolyn Arnold

She read 

The book opens with the rape and murder of a high school senior, Emily Kane.  Although three of his friends, including Troy Matthews, testified that they did not think him capable of the crime, a fourth is arrested, found guilty, and imprisioned.

Skip ahead 24 years and the killer has been set free.  It is the day of the wedding between Detective Madison Knight and fellow police officer Troy Matthews.  Before the I dos can be said, the ceremony is crashed by a neighboring department’s detectives and Troy is arrested for the murder of Dylan Graham, one of the friends who testified for the defense in the long ago trial.  There is concrete evidence of Troy’s guilt, as well as a journal entry by Dylan stating that Troy was Emily’s true killer.  Out on bail, a second murder occurs, again with evidence pointing at Troy.  As Madison races to clear her fiancee’s name, she uncovers a sinister plot and places her own life in danger. 

Although I am a fan of Carolyn Arnold’s writing, Madison Knight is not my favorite of her characters.  She is abrasive, impetuous, tenacious.  But she is good at her job and has a strong sense of responsibility and justice.  Fortunately, her partner, Terry, tempers that impetuousness when necessary.  One would have hoped that Troy, as a police officer, even though threatened, would have played the situation a little smarter but who knows how we might respond if we were unjustly accused?  

 That said, the book is cleverly plotted and another addictive read by Arnold.  She always pulls in her reader’s attention.  Her police procedurals are engrossing and entertaining.

This can be read as a stand alone.  However, there is a lot of history behind the repeating characters and as this is the thirteenth in the series, readers might want to go back and read some of the earlier installments. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HibbertStilesPublishing for the DRC.

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