A Cruel Light

A Cruel Light

By Cyndi Macmillian
Narrated by: Nan McNamara
Listening length: 7 hours, 53 minutes
Release date: April 4, 2023
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

It was a blood-curdling crime that rocked the town to its core, leaving some with permanent scars and others with deep regrets. A young girl had been brutally slain. Memories were beginning to fade, but during the renovation of the old parsonage, the murder rears its ugly head again when workers discover a time-ravaged portrait of the young victim. Conservator Annora Garde is hired by the local police to clean the painting and expose what lies buried within it.

Inspector Scott Mac MacGowan is convinced the mural is a cryptic confession that will solve the cold case—but it’s looking more and more like someone will do whatever it takes to keep the past in the past. Together, Mac and Annora struggle to put the pieces of the puzzle together, in order to provide closure to surviving family members.

Toxic mold obscures blood-chilling clues, and the painting has an eerie life of its own. Annora is haunted by what she reveals, by the dirt she digs up, by her own tragic losses, and perhaps even by the young victim herself. As she closes in on the killer, the killer inches ever closer to her, and she will come face to face with a brutal truth: some murderers never come clean.

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape media for the opportunity to listen to this story.

The description of this mystery pulled me in, and once I started listening, I couldn't stop. This story didn't feel like one that you have heard over and over. In this novel, Annora is tasked with restoring an old mural, but not for the "usual" reasons that one restores art. She is tasked with restoring the mural to help solve a cold case. As she and Mac get closer to figuring out the painting, the murderer is getting more and more violent to try and keep them from the truth. I loved how this book weaves in parts of Annora's past, helps you understand why she sees things the way she does. Another thing I really loved was the relationship between characters. You see the realness of the people shine through in the way they handle the things that keep getting thrown at them.

Overall, this was a great mystery and I hope to be able to read more stories that feature Mac and Annora.

Good Dog, Bad Cop

Good Dog, Bad Cop

By David Rosenfelt

Narrated by Fred Berman

Release date: March 14, 2023 

Listening length: 6 hours, 3 minutes 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

"[Series narrator] Fred Berman brings the team to life. His well-paced delivery allows the story's laugh-out-loud humor to shine, particularly the dry one-liners and wisecracks from Corey and Andy.... Berman's narration, along with the fun and engaging mystery, results in a thoroughly enjoyable listen."—AudioFile on The K Team

For the K Team, playing "good dog," "bad cop" is all fun and games...until there's a body on the scene, in the next K Team Novel by bestselling author David Rosenfelt.

The K Team enjoys investigating cold cases for the Paterson Police Department. Corey Douglas, his K-9 partner Simon Garfunkel, Laurie Collins, and Marcus Clark even get to choose which cases they’d like to pursue. When Corey sees the latest list of possibilities, there’s no question which one to look into next.

Corey’s former mentor, Jimmy Dietrich, had his whole identity wrapped up in being a cop. When Jimmy retired three years ago, his marriage quickly deteriorated and he tried–and failed—to get back on the force. Jimmy was left to try to adjust to life as a civilian.

Not long after, two bodies were pulled from the Passaic River. A local woman, Susan Avery, and Jimmy Dietrich. With no true evidence available, the deaths went unsolved and the case declared cold. This didn’t stop the whispers: an affair gone wrong... a murder-suicide committed by Jimmy.

Corey never believed it. With this case, the K Team has the opportunity to find the real murderer, and clear Jimmy’s name. Bestselling author David Rosenfelt returns in Good Dog, Bad Cop, where there’s little to go on, but that won’t stop Paterson, New Jersey’s favorite private investigators from sniffing out the truth.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchanged for my review, all opinions remain my own.

This book literally leaves things until the last pages to wrap up. I had no idea what was going on until the last 10 minutes of this audiobook. The story was detailed and kept me guessing. Characters were interesting and relatable. I love that the retired police dog, Simon, still takes part in the cases that this team takes on. Who doesn't love a good dog? 

 I would totally pick up another one of the books in this series to see if Corey ever does M his long-time girlfriend. ;)

Burying Eva Flores

Burying Eva Flores 

By Jennifer Alsever 

Narrated by: Moira Todd, Gail Shalan, Michael Gallagher, Eleanor McCormick, Whitney Dykhouse, Amy McFadden, and Zac Aleman

Listening length: 9 hours, 17 minutes

Published November 29, 2022

My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, Bonus prompt 1: Eldritch "uncanny, unearthly and weird in a supernatural way." 

Everyone thinks I killed Eva Flores.

Sure, I hate how everyone was over the moon about her TikTok fame. And I suppose I got a little bit carried away with vengeance when she tried to ruin my life.

But seriously, when my friend gave me that leather journal, I’d never had so much power in my life. It was intoxicating. Who wouldn’t have done what I did to Eva?

Now everyone thinks that just because she vanished in the forest after a party, that I killed her. That the blood on the jackets is proof. Or the text messages. The slightly weird thing I had with Eva's dad. The fire.

The whole thing is far more complicated than you’d think.

What happened to the horribly obnoxious, very complicated Eva Flores? I can't really say.

Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus, this book will grab you and won't let you go!

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

 
This was a book that just kept you guessing. The viewpoints jump around to different people. You get some chapters from the past, some from the present, some from the police files. It follows the disappearance of a young tik-tok famous girl, gone missing during a class trip. Oh, but this book is so much more wild than that. When Sophia is given a blank journal by a friend, inspiration to complete a school project, she begins to write a story inside. When that story beings to play out in real life, she sees the power she now holds and begins to write a new story... but just what is she really writing.

I loved how the author chose to wrap this up. It isn't a "happily ever after" but it also closes and leaves you feeling like there is an ending to the story. This one is worth picking up and listening to. The audiobook has a whole cast of characters in it and is simply fun to listen to. Plus, just take a look at that fun cover!

Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship & Murder

Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship & Murder

Written by: Amy Butcher 

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Published April 7, 2015

Listening time: 6 hours, 57 minutes 

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

With echoes of Darin Strauss' Half a Life and Cheryl Strayed's Wild comes a beautifully written, riveting memoir that examines the complexities of friendship in the aftermath of a tragedy.


Four weeks before their college graduation, 21-year-old Kevin Schaeffer walked Amy Butcher to her home in their college town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Hours after parting ways with Amy, he fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Emily Silverstein. While he awaited trial, psychiatrists concluded he had suffered an acute psychotic break. Amy was severely affected by Kevin's crime but remained devoted to him as a friend. Over time she became obsessed - determined to discover the narrative that explained what Kevin had done, believing that Kevin's actions were the direct result of his untreated illness.

The tragedy deeply shook her concept of reality, disrupted her sense of right and wrong, and dismantled every conceivable notion she'd established about herself and her relation to the world. Amy eventually realized she'd never have the answers or find personal peace unless she went after them herself. She drove across the country, back to Gettysburg for the first time in the three years since graduation, to sift through hundreds of pages of public records - mental health evaluations, detectives' notes, inventories of evidence, search warrants, testimonies, even Kevin's own confession.

This is Amy Butcher's deeply personal, heart-wrenching account of the consequences of failing her friend when perhaps he needed one most. It's the story of how trauma affects memory and the way a friendship changes and often strengthens through seemingly insurmountable challenges. Ultimately it's a powerful testament to the bonds we share with others and the profound resiliency and strength of the human spirit.

This one was different then I was expecting. It is not only the story of a girl dealing with the aftermath of her friend killing someone, but her dealing with the idea of being friends with a murderer. It isn't something many of us think about, what we would do if someone we loved committed an unspeakable crime like murder... but Amy has to do just that when her college friend Kevin stabs his then girlfriend to death. This book is her reflection of how she dealt with the trauma of that night and how she felt like she failed him when maybe he needed her most... I think we all wonder what we could have done differently when bad things happen. This would be no exception. I found it really interesting to hear the facts about mental health and violence. Though I knew many of them, hearing them aloud in this context is always shocking, heartbreaking because we allow this to happen with the limits we place on access to mental health resources.

Wherever She Goes

Wherever She Goes

By Kelley Armstrong 

Audiobook narrated by: Thérèse Plummer 

Published June 25, 2019 

My review 4 of 5 stars

I read this for my UBN book challenge for the prompt: Read a book by and award-winning Canadian author.  never mind then I guess I just read it for FUN! 

In looking more, it appears she doesn't meet this prompt, she is a bestselling author, but not award winning. UGH! 

From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a brand new psychological thriller about the lengths one woman will go to in order to save a child.

“Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid.”

That’s what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn’t anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn’t matter that the mother can’t be found. It doesn’t matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he’s missing.

Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She’s a former stay-at-home mom who doesn’t have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past – even from the people she loves – were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows she can’t be the mother or wife she envisions until she learns to leave her secrets behind.

When the police refuse to believe her, she realizes that rescuing the boy is up to her alone. But after all the secrets, how far is she willing to go? Even to protect a child.

What would you do if you witnessed a kidnapping, but the police didn't believe you? 

In this book, that's exactly what happens to Aubrey. That's when she brings out the skills from her past life, from the life she buried to find a boy no one else is looking for. 

This was a page turner for sure. I kept wondering, oh my gosh who has this kid?! And then, "oh my gosh, where did this lady get these skills?!" 

In the end, you learn all the secrets, both where the child is, why no one was missing him, and all the secrets Aubrey was keeping. Totally worth the listen.

Her Last Whisper (Detective Katie Scott Book 2)

Her Last Whisper

By Jennifer Chase

330 pages

Published October 21, 2019

My review: four out of five stars

Katie focuses her mind, trying to keep another anxiety attack at bay. The victim’s long brown hair is slick and wet, her body rigid in the grass. She looks more like a mannequin than the woman Katie had spoken with only yesterday, the woman she had promised to protect…

When a cold, naked body is discovered by a couple on a jog through the lush woodlands of Pine Valley, California, new recruit Detective Katie Scott is stunned to discover the victim is Amanda Payton – a much-loved local nurse and the woman at the heart of an unsolved case she’s been investigating whilst getting a grip on her crippling PTSD.

Weeks earlier, Amanda had run, battered and bruised, out into the headlights of a passing patrol car. She claimed to have just escaped a kidnapping, but with no strong evidence, the case went cold. The Pine Valley police made a fatal mistake…

Katie is certain the marks on Amanda’s wrists complete a pattern of women being taken, held captive and then showing up dead in remote locations around Pine Valley – and she won’t let someone die on her watch again.

But then a beautiful office worker with a link to the hospital where Amanda worked goes missing. With only days before the next body is due to show up, can Katie make amends for her past by saving this innocent life?

Totally gripping crime fiction for fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh. Nothing will prepare you for this nail-biting roller-coaster ride…

This is the second book in the Detective Katie Scott series. This case isn't quite as harrowing for Katie, but it still has some action in there. This story starts out with Katie in her new position as the head of the two-person cold case division in her hometown police force. 

PTSD is a strong force in her struggles in this book, especially when an old friend from her time overseas in the military makes an appearance. I really identified with the panic attacks that Katie had in these books. 

The characters relatable, and the story was a quick enough pace to keep me reading but not so fast that I was left wondering what the heck just happened. Great "who dunnit" book - planning to read the next book for sure.

Desperation in Death

The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil…

New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.

Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear--because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.

Another amazing story. This one does get hard to listen to, the case deals with the trafficking of young girls and women for sex. While this is a difficult issue, it is a relevant one. One that is a problem right now. I think any attention brought to this horrible issue is good attention. It needs to end and to do that we need to bring it out of the shadows and into the light. Maybe we just need Eve Dallas and her team?

All Good People Here

This is a book I have been looking forward to and it did not disappoint. This is the synopsis from goodreads: 

In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast "Crime Junkie," a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later.

Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the case of January Jacobs, who was found dead in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist, but she’s always been haunted by the fear that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.

When Margot returns home to help care for her sick uncle, it feels like walking into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembered: genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under eerily similar circumstances. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January’s murder once and for all.

But the police, the family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could the killer still be out there? Could it be the same person who kidnapped Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night?

I will start with a few trigger warnings. This book includes lots of talk of child death and or murder, missing children, abuse of an already deceased animal, violence. This may not cover all triggering topics, read with caution if you are sensitive to this kind of content. 

I really did enjoy reading this story. The pace was fast and kept me really guessing who the "bad guy" was. It was suspenseful without being too much. I think the only thing I didn't love is that the end was so open. While you know what happened, you don't know everything. If you have read it, you know. 

I hate it when that happens. 

I've upgraded this one from my original review to four stars. The open-ish ending didn't change how I felt reading this book. 

Would recommend this to any true crime fans (likely you have heard about it already if you listen to any true crime podcasts).