Detective Kit McKittrick and Dr. Sam Reeves are finally on their long-anticipated second date on a hike in the desert when they stumble upon a dead body. Sam identifies the body as one of their city councilman, a man no one likes. Kit and her partner are assigned the case as as they reveal evidence they find he was involved in some sinister dealings and someone is out there killing all the people involved.

This is the second novel I’ve read in this series so I was pretty familiar with all of the characters as well as their idiosyncrasies. That was helpful at times because there was quite a bit of back story that would explain how characters are reacting to certain scenes in the story. Despite that historical knowledge, I do think the author gives a good rudimentary explanation so that you could read this novel as a stand alone, although I think you’ll get more out of it if you read the previous novels.

Kit has an instinct for detecting and solving crimes. She and her partner Conner have earned a bit of notoriety from solving some higher profile cases so when she finds this body in the desert they are naturally put in charge of the case. Despite the immediate finding of the body I found the first third of this novel really slow, it wasn’t until the killer started knocking off some of their witnesses that the story picked up a bit. Truthfully, I think detective work is probably pretty boring so maybe the author portrayed that first portion pretty accurately! Once the story picked up my reading pace also picked up and I found myself enjoying the story more. I was a little worried at first and thought I might have to put the book down.

The one thing I really enjoyed were Kit’s relationships with the people around her. Her feelings for her family come through in her character and her budding emotions for Sam are new for her and the way the author wove their romance into the mystery gave each moment greater impact. I liked how her emotions for all the people around her really helped push the stories momentum forward. I also really enjoy reading about a character who is so smart, has solid values, and that you can rally behind. It was a rocky story but I ended up really enjoying this book.

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I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

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