DEADLY FATE

4 stars out of 5

Something like four story "threads" push the needle toward the highly entertaining end in this, the 18th book in the series featuring Detective Kim Stone. Resolutions happen by the end - well, except for one, which no doubt will be a focus in the next installment (I can't wait)!

The overarching story here is the gruesome murder of local psychic Sandra Deakin in a church cemetery. Her last appearance alive was at a "reading" for a group of women who, upon further investigation, aren't coming clean about their experiences with and feelings about the dead woman. Several other folks, in fact, are less than glowing in their description of Sandra and others who ply the psychic trade. But who among them, if anyone, would go so far as to kill her?

Meanwhile, one of Kim's colleagues finds the dead body of a homeless man under an underpass. Natural causes or not, something triggers the thought that something's not quite right here, requiring further investigation (even if it's mostly off the books). Also meanwhile, a case involving a missing boy that's been closed for years grabs Kim's attention, and as someone always intent on finding justice, she just can't let it pass without further investigation. And as if all this weren't enough, another of Kim's close colleagues becomes the center of someone else's attention - but it's a spotlight that isn't welcome.

Needless to say, there's plenty of action in this one, and I daresay that series fans will be happy. As for me, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a pre-release copy to read and review. Good job!

Deadly Fate by Angela Marsons (Bookouture, May 2023); 414 pp.

I WILL MAKE YOU PAY

5 stars out of 5

Time was when extreme emotional distress to me meant not being able to have my morning coffee - you know, that stuff that magically turns you into something close to human - before heading out to get my annual blood test that requires fasting. But reading as many books as I have (75 so far this year), I've found something else: realizing it's 5 minutes before bedtime and I need 20 more to finish the book that's got me on the edge of my seat. 

This is one such book. And yes, I lugged my Kindle up the stairs and sat in our computer room as usual - the last thing I check before hitting the sack is email - and finished it.  Then - mostly because of a near-end twist - I couldn't get to sleep right away. Ah well - it was worth it.

As a mostly former journalist, it was easy for me to identify with the main character, Alice Henderson, also a journalist - with one happy exception: I've dealt with a few folks who gave me a royal chewing out over something I'd written (or failed to write), but  never in my entire career did anyone threaten my life. Alice isn't so fortunate; and while first phone call mostly just shook her up, the next thing that happened left her so frightened that her boyfriend hired a private investigator.

It's pretty clear someone is out to get Alice, but who? Could it be someone who didn't like something she wrote? A person from her past, or even a co-worker? That's what P.I. and former cop Matthew Hill wants to find out, but because he's no longer on the force, he can't be an official part of the investigation. That's mitigated a bit by Hill's relationship with a very pregnant detective Melanie Sanders, his former partner who's now assigned to Alice's case. Needless to say, the whole thing becomes a race to find Alice's stalker - if that's what he or she is - before something more sinister happens.

Chapters switch to show snippets of three characters - Alice, Hill and an unidentified boy known only as "Him." Each chapter adds another dimension to the story until the very end, when everything comes together with that aforementioned twist. All told, a very well done and, dare I say, exciting book that I expect will do well. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll (Thomas & Mercer, October 2019); 317 pp.