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A skeleton is found in a shallow grave in the churchyard. But this was not an official burial. The victim was murdered decades ago. At the same time, Detective Nikki Galena and her team are investigating the brutal slaying of local businesswoman Madeline Prospero. She was a member of an exclusive and secretive drinking club called The Briar Patch. But they've got no suspects and no one is telling them the truth. Meanwhile, the buried skeleton leads them on a trail to the village of Quintin Eaudyke. This is a troubled place. In the late seventies and eighties a reign of terror and abuse was unleashed on the close-knit population. When more women from The Briar Patch come under threat, Nikki faces a race against time to stop more murders. Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you in suspense until its heart-stopping conclusion.… (more)
User reviews
It's not good, especially since
The businesswoman, Madeline Prospero, was a member of a secretive drinking club, the Briar Patch, and this proves to be a problem. Many of the women are lesbians, and very prominent and well-connected--and still in the closet. Legalizing same-sex marriage didn't make sexism and homophobia disappear. Nikki is under orders to be very careful with all of them, and not to question some of them at all.
The thirty-year-old skeleton unearthed in the church graveyard is surely less urgent, right?
Except strange things start happening around his grave. The children he was believed to have molested, all those years ago, are still improbably affected; not one of them seems to have moved past it at all.
Then more murders happen, some connected to the Briar Patch, some seemingly related to the old skeleton. Are the two cases connected?
This is seventh in a series, but I think it can be followed and enjoyed out of order. Nikki and Joseph, Joseph and his ex-wife and daughter, and the various team members continue to grow and develop in their relationships. It's a rich, lived-in community of people, and the story moves and is interesting.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
An enjoyable mystery once again in this series. A well-written story that
Received an Advanced Reader Copy