Scan barcode
ztkrogman's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
vkaz's review
3.0
I had a hard time reading and finishing this book. There were a lot of things I liked here, especially Tess's anger management therapy sessions and her investigation with the movie-obsessed ex-policeman, Carl. It took a long time for the disparate pieces of the plot to come together and I got really impatient. Also, I get creeped out by stalkers.
mg_in_md_'s review against another edition
3.0
Earlier this summer, I won a mystery box of books from a local NYT best-selling author. I was excited to receive a copy of this one, as I hadn't read this installment in the Tess Monaghan series yet. In this one, Tess agrees to look into a series of unsolved homicides dating back over the past six years even though the source is wealthy Baltimore benefactor Luisa O'Neal. Luisa was both instrumental in launching Tess's career as a private investigator and intimately connected with the murder of Tess's former boyfriend, so their relationship is complicated to say the least. Apart from the suspicion that each death was the result of domestic violence and all of the cases are cold, there seems to be no other connections. Tess's investigation leads her to more remote areas of Maryland; she is aided by a determined police officer obsessed with bringing down the murderer. However, as the search for the killer unfolds, Tess is thrust into a game of cat-and-mouse with a murderer who is equally adept at hiding in tiny, remote fishing villages as in bustling Baltimore. I always enjoy spending time with Tess and exploring Maryland with her as she investigates crimes; this one was no exception.
annarborelle's review
4.0
Oh Tesser, how do you constantly, accidentally, end up in the path of psychos!? I hope this next book is a little more straightforward and less of Tess putting her own life on the line constantly. I'd like more Crow, and other familiar characters, and less exposition of lone-wolf Tess.
mrsjkamp's review
3.0
This one was barely listen-to-able. The narrator was just awful. It made it really hard to get through it. I'll admit that I skipped through some of it. Ugh. I enjoyed the ending though.
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
Tess Monaghan is up to her neck as always in an out-of-control investigation. What begins as an investigation of domestic violence cases involving murder eventually puts her on the trail of a serial murdered. In this novel, Tess travels all over the state of Maryland from rural northwest Maryland to one of the only populated islands in Chesapeake Bay (in this case a fictional island). Tess is like a dog with a bone and she never stops. This time the cost is pretty high.
A bonus to the audiobook was that the narration did a pretty decent job of varying accents. There is a Maryland accent, more common outside the urban areas and the narrator does a good approximation. It helped capture that sense of place of the novel.
A bonus to the audiobook was that the narration did a pretty decent job of varying accents. There is a Maryland accent, more common outside the urban areas and the narrator does a good approximation. It helped capture that sense of place of the novel.
ptaradactyl's review
4.0
I don’t always like Tess, in that I may not want to be friends with her, but I enjoy her adventures.