Told from two different point of views, the author brilliantly adding fiction to real life facts of the actual case, for those who are familiar with In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Normally, slow moving places in a book turn me off, but not so in this case. .

This story was told from two separate perspectives, Beaumont, the third man with Smith and Hickok, getting out of prison decades later for an unrelated crime and determined to tie up any loose ends that will put him right back inside and on death row if forensics place him at either multi-murder crime. And, there's Brigid, a hardened agent who has always been fascinated by that killing in Kansas that tied to a similar one in Florida where she grew up and now something about her neighbor's new boyfriend and a rash of gang break-ins in the neighborhood have her cop senses tingling.

The author wove fact and fiction well into a solid story. I will admit that it advances very slowly for a time and then like a snowball rolling on a gradual decline, it picks up pace, faster and faster. The background, characters, and current situation get established and the author takes her time filling in each with great depth and color. While the pace was slow, I couldn't really care because I was enjoying the writing and being immersed in the story.

I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the players who all seemed to have shades of larceny in them even priestly Carlo, but especially Brigid's niece who has an interesting fascination for poisons and chemistry.
Brigid is an interesting lead character. She knows that she has a darkness inside her that revels in bringing down criminals in a ruthless manner to rival the criminals she took down. She tries to hide that side from her husband, Carlo. She feels jealous and strongly inadequate against the saintly ghost of his first wife whom he still loves and grieves. It gave Brigid a depth of humanity that is sometimes lacking in many mysteries or thrillers.

But, Brigid wasn't the only character well developed. Beaumont's side where he reflects on his life and proceeds through his plans seems imminently reasonable to him whether to bother with a murder or if it would be too much trouble. He struggles to understand normal human behavior and to catch up on a world that passed him by while he was in prison.

The last few pages were riveting and wrap up the thriller aspect, but also a private one for Brigid. All in all, I'm glad I took the gamble and read it. In truth, I couldn't have done the movie, but reading about the true event wrapped in fiction was doable. I feel that I want to go back for the earlier books in Brigid's story to get those cases, but, I'm also in no rush to do so. I think those who like to get the psychology along with a crime story would be good matches for this book/series.

If you have not yet read IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote, you will get a real taste of what it was all about in this latest Brigid Quinn book. Brigid is now retired from the FBI and is trying to peacefully settle into her marriage with Carlo, a professor and former priest. The antagonist of the story is Jerry Beaumont, an ex-con who was a boy when Hickock and Smith committed the gruesome murders described in Capote’s book. According to the premise of Masterman’s book, Beaumont joined Hickock and Smith in their murder of the Clutter family in Texas. There is also mention of another family mysteriously killed in Florida which may have also been victims of the gruesome twosome. The author does a believable job of incorporating a third person into the mix, a young boy who has now been released from prison and is determined to make sure that no one finds out that he was involved with Capote’s evil killers. This is the point where the imagination is stretched a great deal because Carlo has a copy of Hickock’s confession which supposedly implicates Beaumont. So, Beaumont goes on a killing spree in order to eliminate possible witnesses, including Carlo. Of course, Brigid, a diminutive female agent, has to outsmart Beaumont in order to protect Carlo. This was a good read but so impossibly unbelievable in parts that is was a bit off-putting. I enjoy the Brigid Quinn series, but this one was not up to the standards of the first three books. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of mystery and suspense, and you enjoy a good story with a lot of backstory in it, you will enjoy this book.

Great read, the characters are well-established, and well-rounded. I’ll definitely be picking up more from this author.

2.5 stars (rounded up) We Were Killers Once had me excited. I love true crime and thought the book's premise of a real crime that was then written up by Truman Capote and linked to another similar crime drew me in and made me want to experience this book.

Unfortunately I didn't feel the story shone as brightly as the synopsis did. So many parts dragged and Brigid's husband Carlo seemed like the least aware person in the world. I wanted to shake him and say something like wake up! Hello? Do you not see these HUGE warning signs? Some people may argue that he was a priest, but that was quite some time ago and he has had plenty of time to get more savvy to the world and people in it.

Being new to the series, I would say this book could definitely be read as a stand alone. The only thing I wondered is why Brigid was so hung up on Carlo's now deceased wife. That may have been covered in a previous book in the series, but I don't know.

As always, if you're interested in this, give it a try. It might be the perfect book for you. It just wasn't for me, but not every book works for every person.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. My thoughts in this review are my own and freely given.

Retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn and her husband, former priest and university professor Carlo are unwittingly pulled into the cold case of the 1959 Kansas killings of the Clutter family.
In his boxes of paperwork, left over from his days as a prison chaplain, Carlos has a document which might implicate a third, unknown killer involved with convicted murderers Dick HIckock and Perry Smith.
Jerry Beaufort is fresh out of prison after many years, incarcerated on the three strikes program for drug trafficking.
He wants to tie up any loose ends that might connect him to the slaughter of the Clutters.
As Beaufort tracks the paperwork, he prepares to neutralize anyone he thinks will threaten his secrets.
But he's never been up against anyone like Brigid Quinn!
I loved everything about this book. I invested immediately in the characters. Brigid is an amazing, strong woman and Carlo is a thoughtful and sensitive man. I really cared what happened to them.
The true crime case of the Clutter family murders has fascinated me since I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote when I was a teenager.
The author blended the fiction with fact so seamlessly that I felt all the events actually happened.
This is book 4 in the series and my first one read. I am truly excited to go back and read the other books in this series.
Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Retired FBI Agent Brigid Quinn and her husband Carlo are befriend by a seemingly harmless old man named Jerry. Jerry actually has just been released from prison, and is looking for something Carlo doesn't even know he has.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I like true crime novels, and I love the way this ties in with the Clutter Family Murders in 1959. I didn't even realize this was part of a series, and I'm pretty excited to go back and pick up the previous stories!

Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for an early copy of #WeWereKillersOnce to review!

I really enjoyed this book. Those interested in biographies/Memoirs will be interested in reading this book. I rate this book 5 out of 5. Generously provided by NetGalley.

This was very Gillian Flynn - Dark Places-ish. It was good and if you liked it then you'll like this one. Great thriller! This one will probably be another Netflix series.
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book originally appealed to me on so many levels. I am a huge true crime fan and to tell me a story about a 3rd player in the Clutter family murders, why yes, you have my interest. I even jumped in knowing this was 4th in a series. I was ok with that, I assumed I would have no problems catching up- which turned out to be true.

Alas, I wanted so much more for this story. It was entertaining and I kept up, even with it being a 4th series novel. But the plot was much to hard to believe. Inconceivable kept popping into my head. It was an good read but a little slow in the beginning. Overall it was a good read.

Holcomb, KS. 1959. An entire family murdered. The Clutter Family killings were immortalized by Truman Capote. Two killers were put to death for the crime. But just imagine if a third killer was there that night....and was never caught. In fact, what if another family was murdered, but the second crime was never solved. Flash forward several decades and a freshly released long-time convict is afraid that a death bed confession by one of the executed killers might reveal that he is that third killer. He's willing to do just about anything to remain a secret....

In Cold Blood is a rough read for me. I read it for the first time in college. It was just an incredibly creepy read for me (since I grew up in Kansas in a small town pretty much like Holcomb where rural families didn't lock their doors or worry about crime) and made me paranoid about walking around campus for several weeks. In Cold Blood was the first book I ever read about a crime that really happened. It made it a bit too real for me. I don't care for the book even now....just because the crime was so gruesome and unnecessarily cruel. This fictional story adds another layer on top....a what if that just chilled me to the bone. What if there was another murderer there that night....someone who was never caught? *Shiver*

We Were Killers Once is the fourth book in the Brigid Quinn series. Brigid is a retired FBI agent who is trying to get used to her retirement. It's a losing battle, as a series of coincidences line up to pull Brigid and her husband into the cold case of a family killed in Florida in 1959, just after the Clutters. I love how the author weaved this fictional story in with the true crime details described in Capote's book. But, the string of coincidences necessary to get there were just a bit much for me. I think part of the problem is that I jumped into this series on the fourth book....these characters obviously had a lot of background and detail that built up through the first three books. There was a bit of a disconnect for me because I didn't start this series from the beginning.

The story starts off a bit slow....but once the case revs up, there is great suspense and story-telling. The plot is interesting, engaging and very creative. I just didn't connect with the characters very well. Brigid's husband is a former priest...that seems a bit weird from the start. And Brigid is jealous of her husband's deceased first wife. Just a strange mix....then all the coincidences to tie them in with this unsolved murder and the Clutter murders.....it just didn't really gel for me. But.....I might have liked it better if I had read the first three books first. Or it might have been that the Clutter killings are a crime that just really bothers me. Not sure.

Solid 3.5 stars for the interesting plot. I'll round up to 4. I don't think I will be reading more of this series....it doesn't seem to really be one for me. Not every story is for every reader. It's a good story and very well-written....just not my cup of tea.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

This was a great story and an awesome concept. Masterman blended the real life events from the Clutter family murders, as well as Capote's account of the events, and another seemingly unrelated murder and wove them into a fantastic piece of storytelling.

The new mystery, the paroled con who seeks an elusive confession and the cop that has always been haunted by the long ago murder come together in a chilling finale. A great read.

60 years after Kansas Clutter Family murder immortalized in Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD, mysteries remain. Masterman skillfully blends fact and fiction in a reinterpretation of that event and the true, unsolved Florida Walker Family murder that took place soon after.
Good charter development, fast-paced storyline and excellent author note make this thriller worth reading.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #MinotaurBooks for advance digital book. #Wewerekillersonce

Could there have been a third killer involved in the murders reconstructed by Truman Capote in his bestseller In Cold Blood? This is the theory that Becky Masterman has incorporated into the fourth book of her Brigid Quinn series. Brigid is a former FBI agent who married late in life and continues to fight her insecurities of being the second wife of a former priest. Despite her petite stature, she is a powerhouse when she comes up against the bad guys. I intend to read the earlier books in this series to learn more about Brigid's backstory. We Were Killers Once was especially interesting to me since I had read In Cold Blood many years ago and have long been drawn to true crime stories. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

It didn’t take me long to get hooked on the plot of author Becky Masterson’s novel “We Were Killers Once.” The constant flip-flop of POV between retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn and killer Jerry Beaufort works well to slowly build the tension and then start the race toward the climax.

The premise of the book was interesting. It is built upon the murders of members of the Clutter family by former prison buddies Richard Hickok and Perry Smith. The question posed is whether there was a third person present, one who could also link the pair with the murders of the Walker family. That person is Jerry Beaufort, who wants the past to remain buried and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.

I did not realize until I had completed the book that it was the fourth in the Brigid Quinn series. The author’s deftly built up the necessary back story without waving the previous books in our faces. There was enough information shared to allow us to understand what was happening at that moment in the book while never spoiling the storylines of the previous tales. This will make it easier for me to backtrack and read the first three books.

To me, it seemed obvious that Ms. Masterman does not command a solid knowledge of the FBI, police work, or semi-automatic handguns. To her credit, she steered away from trying to insert items into the book that might expose this lack, and the few times she did introduce them to the story, she never dwelled on them. Even though I felt, “Well, it could have happened that way, but…” her references were so brief that I was able to quickly get back into the story.

Bottom line, that was a good effort and one that will encourage me to check out one (or more) of Ms. Masterson’s books. Four-and-a-half stars.

My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an advance complimentary ebook of this title.

Six-year-old Brigid learned of murder and rape while sitting on her daddy's lap. That may have warped her psyche just a tad.

Jeremiah Randolph Beaufort is an evil old criminal, but they let him out of prison all the same. He carries with him a great fear of forensic science and the kind of evidence such stuff produces. What starts as just an Internet inquiry to make sure everything he is afraid of is still hidden turns very scary. Those old fears have already drawn the attention of the police. Nothing that will get him arrested yet, but a detective who specializes in cold cases is interested. However, so far Beaufort's connection to Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Smith, the two murderers of “In Cold Blood” fame, has not been brought to light. If it ever is, They will send "Jerry" to Death Row. He can’t take a chance on that.

Brigid Theresa Quinn, former FBI agent, is a tough broad. Moreover, she is genuinely in love with her husband Carlo DiForenza, who was once a Catholic priest. A calling he soon left for the halls of academe and his first marriage to Jane. Brigid calls him "Perfesser" because he once taught philosophy at the local college. It is a strange pairing; the woman of action, able to kill with her bare hands and the contemplative teacher who wants to turn the other cheek. Carlo also worked with the last priest to hear the confession of Richard Eugene Hickock. That information will draw the two of them into danger as sure as a magnet will attract a steel tack.

On the plus side, this is a story of violence and evil that will lay "hands" on your attention and not let go. The characters are realistic to a fault and all a bit unusual; one of the "good guys" is a psychopath, and another is a bit sadistic. On the minus side, if I were writing the next book in this series, I would make Brigid, and Carlo get a divorce. They are too different in their morals and experience to last a month, let alone, "til death do part." All considered I liked the action sequences but found Brigid's hand wringing over hubby's first wife and Carlo's contemplations/stupid reactions very unappealing. Rating: Recommended with reservations.

My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance galley for review.

I was initially drawn to this book because of its connection to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. What I didn't realize when I first requested it, however, is that this is the fourth book in a series. While it does work as a standalone, I did feel like I was missing some backstory on the protagonist Brigid Quinn, a former FBI agent, that would have helped me connect with her a little better. There were several instances throughout the story, for example, when Brigid's gut would tell her there was something amiss with her husband's new acquaintance, but when she would mention her suspicions to loved ones and former colleagues, they would immediately brush her off and tell her she was being paranoid. There was a vague notion that something had happened in an earlier book for them to react that way rather than trusting her judgments, but I would have liked to know more.

Even with that gap in backstory knowledge though, the story is an interesting one. The idea that there could have been a third killer involved with the Clutter family murders that Capote features in his famous novel was fascinating. I also found it entertaining to watch the story unfold from the perspective of Brigid, who is obsessed with an unsolved case that is believed to be connected to the Clutter murders, and also from the perspective of the third killer, Jerry Beaufort, who has just been released from prison after serving decades behind bars for an unrelated crime. When he is released, he becomes obsessed with destroying any leftover forensic evidence from the murders that could send him back to prison. I loved how the author set Jerry and Brigid up on a crash course because of their individual obsessions.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty compelling read. It definitely kept me entertained and made me curious enough about Brigid to consider checking out the earlier books in the series. 3.5 STARS

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I loved this book. It was a really great read. Lots of plot twists and turns and I could not put it down. I was drawn in and kept me turning the pages till the end.
I know this is book four in the series and I felt that you didn't need to read the previous books to understand this book. I know I will be doing that.

It is so refreshing to see a retired couple who are still in love and active sexually that is well written about with love. Brigid and Carlos are two opposite sides of a coin who fit perfectly. He is the gentleman scholar who sees good in everyone and she is the tiny burst of fire who sees the potential of everyone to be evil. As a retired priest and psychology professor he reaches out and thinks deeply. She has spent years with the FBI working undercover with the worst of humanity. When a new player in the form of Jerry, an ex con, comes into their life it is up to her to find out why and keep them all safe.

The author has created an exemplary pierce of work that will keep the reader turning the pages and tuned it to the last. The psyche of the characters is very detailed and realistic. You will instantly become a fan if this is the first book you have read.

This book really caught my eye and I was very curious about it. I have always been fascinated by the true crime killings that Truman Capote wrote about in his book, In Cold Blood. This book is kind of related to that one. Although this is the fourth book in a series, it is the first one I have read.