The last to leave the office on a Friday night in November, dedicated cold case detective Lauren Riley was startled from her work when she felt an overwhelming pain in her side and fell to the ground. As she realized blood was pooling beneath her, an assailant stomped on her head. In her last moments of consciousness, Riley saw a figure in city-issued police boots walk away holding her distinctive olive-green murder book.

Despite entreaties from her family, doctors, and coworkers to take time off, when Riley wakes up, she is driven to find out why a police officer would attack her and steal the murder book. Trusting only her partner Shane Reese, Riley turns to retired detective Charlie Daley for assistance. Together, they track down an elusive informant who has information about a decades-old murder that may be related to her attack. As they seek evidence for a police conspiracy, they face challenges ranging from a leak, disciplinary action, murderous suspects, and even a car chase on icy Buffalo streets!

Partners Riley and Reese have a fun, teasing-based relationship that is a strength of the novel, and Daley is delightful character as well. The mystery itself isn’t too surprising, but focuses on how the trio will prove the conspiracy, and there are a few twists and turns to keep it interesting.

Although I am not very familiar with Buffalo, we are relatively close, four hours by car, and because of that, the setting felt relatable and exciting. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery was mentioned, and I’ve put that on our places-to-go list. Our winters aren’t as severe as those in Buffalo, but I certainly identified with the cold and snow described in the book. My favorite character might have been Weston, Reese’s dog who becomes a source of comfort to Riley, who, as a “good mother,” even posts pictures of him on her Facebook page.

While I did get caught up in the book, I was slightly frustrated by the awkward transitions between scenes that were often abrupt and at time confusing. Some of the characters’ motivations weren’t sufficiently clear or justified, and that detracted from the novel to me. I also didn’t like some of Riley’s backstory which I viewed as trite: having domestic abuse in the past, being entangled in a strange relationship with a past client/murder suspect (which also reminded me too much of the Frieda Klein series).

The Murder Book did seamlessly introduce a segue into the next volume in the series without leaving the central mystery unresolved. It promises to deliver tension between Riley and Reese and a cunning antagonist.

Laura Riley is stabbed while sitting at the desk in the Cold Case Unit; now her partner, with the help of a retired officer must find out whodunit.

Overall this was a good police procedural, closely following the hows and whys of an investigations, the mix ups and the misdirects. When the team decides to make a move, the action takes off at a breakneck pace turning the last 25% of the book into a real page-turner. The ending definitely opened the gate for the next book In the series.

There is some good interplay between the main characters but the supporting characters seem a little flat and the bad guy(s) remain largely unknown until the last 10-20% of the story. Although this book can stand on its own, the reader would probably benefit from reading the first book in the series first so that the characters are more fleshed out and relevant.

There appear to be several editing errors in the copy that I was given by NetGalley, including a mix up in the time line (Thanksgiving past and Thanksgiving almost upon us), repetitive references to a former presidents assassination and several spelling errors, which were a distraction from the plot. With another round of editing, this could easily be a 4star novel.

The good stuff first: I really liked this book, read it in one weekend and was really invested in the story and how the characters fared. It's a well written police procedural / thriller mixed in with quite a bit of personal drama.
Lauren, the protagonist, is a cold case cop who does PI work on the side (I didn't know this was allowed?). One evening she is attacked in her office - in the police station - and left for dead.
I'm very glad she didn't die, she recovered fairly quickly (maybe too quick?) and went to solve the case with her partner. In doing so she solved a cold case and some related crimes no one had known about before, resulting in a massive scandal.
Overall I really liked the story, even if there were some illogical / unrealistic moments thrown in there. It's got a nice flow, you feel drawn to the characters, I was almost immediately invested in their fates and hoped for a good outcome.

Now the kinda bad: the book is in dire need of a good copy editor. There are tons of homophones (e.g. pee coat instead of pea coat), strange errors (e.g. breath instead of breathe, consistently throughout the book, Magda cum laude), missing words, double words, sentences with fragments from rewrites etc.
I'm not nitpicking here, it's not just 10-15 errors throughout the book, almost every page has them and that for me is not acceptable. It throws me out of the flow of the story when I have to decipher / guess which word is missing. This is no indie self published book, written and thrown out there in 2 months, it's a solid crime / mystery / police procedural that just needs a bit of TLC to be a really good book.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Netgalley and this is my honest opinion about the book.

The author has created a very believable protagonist in police detective Lauren Riley. Reading the first book in this series is highly recommended as relationships established in that novel are integral to the appreciation of this one. This, the second book in the series featuring Cold Case detective Lauren Riley starts fast and keeps moving. Stabbed at her desk and left for dead isn’t enough to slow our heroine who works her magic to tie together her attack with a cold case, the death of her former boyfriend, and a stalker featured in the previous novel..

The Murder Book stands alone - so if you haven't read the first book, you won't feel like you are missing too much in this book (a few references by not many). Actually wish the author had given us a touch more from the last book as a refresher to the characters.

The Murder Book jumps right into action from the beginning and doesn't let up. It's fast paced with a few twists and some great characters. Looking forward to the next book.

The Murder Book started off with a bang and didn’t let up. The story was pretty fast paced and had a solid police procedural plotline. I liked the character of Reese and loved his dog! The main character, Lauren, could be maddening at times with her decisions, but those decisions and her character rang as authentic. I enjoyed the relationship between Lauren and Shane also. The story was intriguing and had me guessing until the culprit was revealed. It ended on a cliffhanger, but this did not bother me and it ended well. I will check out the next book by this author.

How did I not know about author Lissa Marie Redmond?
This book was fantastic.... I loved the characters!
I wish I read read book 1in the series, however it didn’t impact understanding the book!
Lissa has such a great writing style and i loved the sense of humour that she brings to the main character Lauren....I also love any story that features a dog so that was a nice bonus.
I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on her next book.
It’s always such a treat to be introduced to a new awesome author.....thank you Netgalley!

Lauren Riley is hit and stabbed one night when she is alone at the police station where she is a detective. Lauren is hurt but not murdered and with her partner Mac she must find out who is trying to kill her and why. When another cop that Lauren previously dated is killed tensions rise. The novel was fast paced and interesting but I just didn't care for the character of Lauren. She has continually made bad choices in her relationships, having affairs with married men, marrying them and then immediately divorcing them. In relationships with abusive men etc. It's just hard to care about her character.

Really good police procedural, keeps the pages turning. I enjoyed the cold case theme in this book and also the relationship between Lauren and her partner Shane. This book has fun humor along with a mystery. I have to say, I can relate to Lauren's love hate thing going on with technology, but the chase scene at the fund raiser is intense, and her phone helped save her life. The story is a bit of a cliff hanger as it is a series, but is a very good stand alone too.

3 stars

Did I read the same book as the other reviewers?

Lauren Riley and partner Shane Reese investigate her stabbing at the police department. She knows one thing though it was a cop who did it. So begins a story of a police investigation into who stabbed Lauren, left her for dead and why?

This book follows the investigation closely, along with two other detectives. Through moments of tense anticipation and some action-filled scenes, the reader follows the search for answers.

The writing is competent and the plotting is good. One event follows another in a logical progression. There are many places in this book in which the wrong word was used, or the word used was no word at all; many grammatical (spelling?) errors. When I was finished with the book, I still felt like I didn’t know Lauren as well as I wanted. Sufficient information was given about her background to satisfy the reader, but it wasn’t so much that it intruded on the story line. I liked the way she and her partner Shane teased one another.

I want to thank NetGalley and Midnight Ink for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read and review.

Loved everything about this book a thrilling fast paced book from start to finish. I have to buy the first book from this series. Amazing read thanks for the preview.

I actually clapped at the end of this book. What a thrilling ride that is still far from over. I liked the first book but this one far surpassed it and has me on pins and needles for the next book.

What an opening... Our heroine Cold Case Homicide detective Lauren Riley is stabbed and left for dead right at her desk at the police station.. After her recovery her and her partner Shane Reece leave no stone unturned in trying to figure out the who and the why.. But for every clue they uncover it leads to more and shocking revelations are exposed.

I thought the beginning of this book was mind-blowing but whoa boy that ending was a jaw dropper. Kudos to the author for an exceptional second book and I cannot wait for the third...

Lauren Riley is a cold case detective with a big problem. Not only is she in the hospital recovering from a near fatal stabbing, her attacker is a cop. She just can’t remember which one. Her only hope lies with a retired cop who is reluctant to come forward – he’s in fear for his life. Which begs the question, what is going on at the Buffalo PD, and who is willing to kill to keep it quiet? The Blue Line is a real thing, cops won’t speak out against other cops, and so Lauren’s feelings of fear and frustration are also very real