Monsters…witches…it’s Halloween night in Cedar Valley, Colorado, and since becoming a cop, Detective Gemma Monroe has always dreaded the season. But this year is different, as she and her fiancé Brody are trick or treating with their toddler Grace for the first time. With the evening winding down, Gemma wants to make one more stop – a quick visit to retired Judge Caleb Montgomery. A close friend of her grandfathers, Caleb has long been a friend of Gemma’s family, and has asked to see her.
When Gemma arrives, Caleb hands her a package of letters – death threats that he has received every few weeks, beginning after he stepped down from the bench six months ago. He describes a familiarity to the writing, but he is unable to place why. So, he has turned to Gemma for assistance. His fear, although he hides it well, makes Gemma uneasy. Shortly after Gemma and Brody leave for home, an explosion lights up the night, coming from the direction of Caleb’s office.
Gemma immediately returns to the scene to investigate the incident, her worst fears realized. Now more determined than ever to avenge Caleb, the investigation flies into high gear and Gemma, her partner Finn and the rest of the team begin to research individuals that might have wanted Caleb dead. But after a long and illustrious career on the bench, the list is long…too long.
As Gemma & Finn dig deeper into the past, a local bank is robbed. Inexplicably, an unarmed guard is shot to death by the thief as he is leaving the scene. Watching the camera replays of the incident, Gemma sees the shooter lean down and whisper something to the wounded guard, but he dies before ever regaining consciousness. Even more puzzling, the gun recovered from the scene is a Japanese, and a collector’s item. A visit to a military historical expert yields an unexpected clue – and a sad story of a soldier who returned from war a changed man. Gemma realizes she has a copycat killer on her hands, and that the killing has just started….
This novel was another delightful & unexpected find via the Netgalley site. I was sure I had the killer pegged early on (I was wrong) and I thought the book was following a rather predictable course (it wasn’t) and still I culdn’t put it down. I love the characters of Gemma & Finn, and there are some great peripheral characters as well that I hope continue to make appearances in future novels. Best part of all – this is too part of a series! If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know how much I LOVE to see my favorite characters return in future books! Easily read as a stand-alone, but I have some back reading to catch up on now! A fabulous read!
I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!
Tropical Delusions...... 