When a woman calls her sister Akiko out of the blue claiming to have information about her birth mother, detective Kit McKittrick is immediately suspicious. Kit has a bad feeling and insists on going with Akiko to the meeting. When the woman doesn’t show up they go to her house they are fired upon and seek refuge in the house where they find her dead body. Although she’s on medical leave, Kit can’t leave the investigation up to anyone else and breaks the rules to keep searching for answers. Was Mary Sherman Akiko’s birth mother and why did she wait so long to reach out to her? As Kit investigates and more bodies turn up, Kit wonders if this secret should be left buried.

This was by far my favorite book in the series to date. Kit has been a hard protagonist to get to know, and in this novel she not only opens up about her family and her relationship to Akiko, but she also opens up to Sam, the man she’s in love with and just started to date seriously. Kit has come a long way from the isolated, cold woman in book one. I love Kit 2.0, she is easy to like and relatable!

The mystery of Akiko’s parentage was a fascinating read. You always hear stories about adoption and the wondering of who a real parent might be, in this case Akiko would’ve been much better off never learning anything about her family. The tale is tragic, sad, and kind of scary. Beyond that, I’ll not reveal any of her secrets, you’ll have to read it yourself! Needless to say, I enjoyed this novel a lot and am giving Karen Rose her first five star rating from me. This tale was entertaining, emotional, action-packed, and absolutely gripping! You all will enjoy this one!

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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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