Synopsis

When celebrity author Portia Hart dies under mysterious circumstances in a small Florida town, a vulnerable young woman is the only witness, and Willow Bay’s new chief of police must begin the hunt for a ruthless serial killer who will stop at nothing to hide his true identity.

As reporter Veronica Lee investigates the breaking story, a local woman is brutally killed, exposing a disturbing connection to a dangerous con man who has eluded capture for almost a decade…

Review

I actually came across a different book of Woodhall’s but when I realised it was part of a series, I obviously wanted to start with the first.

This book took me just under 3 hours and it definitely exceeded my expectations. It was well-written (ignoring the expected typos from an ARC), intense and the character development was strong. The story progressed at a good pace and there was sufficient, but not excessive, detail on the violence and deaths.

I had strong suspicions as to who Xavier was and had narrowed it down to two people. Of those two, one ended up dead and the other seemed on his way to prison.

I did feel that there were a lot of events mentioned that readers to this series might find confusing. I was trying to get my head around all of the characters and many of them had suffered injuries or lost loved ones; they all seemed to know each other and I felt I was missing out by not knowing their histories. I assume that some of them featured in a previous series.

I’m now excited to read the next book, where I expect to hear more about Veronica. I was surprised that she was more of a sub-character in this book, as it forms part of the Veronica Lee series.

A great start to what I hope will become a new favourite crime series.

I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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