I should've paid closer attention to the fact that this is fourth in a series. I typically don't choose to start in the middle of one...especially when it contains recurring characters.

However, it isn't difficult to acclimate to the story thus far. There's enough info provided and background to keep the reader on track.

I liked this, but didn't love it. So I can't say for sure if I have any intentions of going back to the old stuff or continuing any further.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC!
I was worried I was going to be lost when I saw that this was Book 4 for Becky Masterman. But I soon realized that I didn't need to read the previous books to understand what was going on.

There is a family of 4 who were murdered two men were convicted and put to death for the crimes, but there may have been a third person involved.

The story is told from Brigid's and Jerry's point of view. It's not a on the edge of your seat book, in fact there isn't much twist and turns through out the book.

It was a quick read and it kept my interested through out the story. I just wished it packed a little more of a punch.

Becky Masterman is a very talented writer bringing us a tough retired female FBI agent in the second season of her life. Former FBI agent, Brigid, is retired and in her 60's. A couple years ago she married Carlos, a widower, who was far removed from the world of death and deprivation she came from. Carlos was an intellectual and former priest. He left the priesthood for the love of his life. Brigid constantly fights an internal battle of jealousy of a ghost. Constantly wondering how does she compare to his perfect love he once had for someone else?

Beaufort, has just been released from 30 years in prison. Caught for the third time on drug charges he's in for life. However, the three strike law is amended and the ones with non violent convictions are set free. What they don't know is that Beaufort has a far more sinister past that he was never caught for. Worried from hearing a prison rumor about another killers death bed confession just before being executed he immediately sets out to make sure if it exists he destroys it.

He finds out that in Carlos past he was a prison Chaplin and could be holding this death bed confession. Beaufort needs to make sure if it exists it doesn't surface, and he will do anything to ensure it. He sets out to make Carlos his friend and see if he can get the damning evidence. Brigid's honed FBI skills senses BS, when suddenly by happenstance an innocent meeting over their back fence brings Jerry Beaufort into their lives. Something is off about him. Brigid Quinn is a tough ex FBI agent that Beaufort doesn't expect. What she suspects is way off from what starts to unfold and both their lives are in extreme danger.

I recommend this book if you like mystery, true crime and romance of seasoned people. Thank you NetGalley and Becky Masterman for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm a great fan of cold cases and true crime and love that you embellished to make it such an interesting read. This is my true unbiased review.

I didn't know when I started this book that it was based on fact with authors right to embellish and add fiction to enhance the readers experience. I learned the second family murdered happened an hours drive from where I live. Two killers were put to death for the Walker family of four massacre in Kansas but did they get them all? And another whole family of four was murdered and in Florida very similar to the Walkers killing in the same time frame and that case remains unsolved. Truman Capote wrote about this Walker case after interviewing the two killers before their execution. It made the case famous it was called In Cold Blood. Could the same killers have done both? And was there a third member? The Florida case remains unsolved to this day.

This one was classic Brigid. Things start out so normal, but as they go on Brigid's instinct's start pinging, she looks further into things. Carlo, like always seems to be the voice of reason, pulling Brigid back in, telling her how paranoid she is being. By the time the book end Carlo seems to be having a crisis of faith, while Brigid is going along like normal, because in her world crap like this happens.

I liked that while all of this was going on we had the back story of the events of In Cold Blood happening. I do find myself wondering about Gemma Kate, could she go the same route as one of the characters from this book?

Thank you to NetGalley, Becky Masterman and St. Martins Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

In 1959, a family was brutally murdered and two men were convicted and executed for the crime. The crime and the investigation became the subject of Truman Capote’s masterpiece In Cold Blood. But what if there was a third unknown perpetrator? Brigid Quinn, a retired FBI agent is trying to enjoy her husband Carlo in this new chapter of their lives. Carlo was a priest in this younger days and mementos from his previous life causes him to become a target with a newly released prisoner who wants to make sure there is no evidence to link him to his crimes.

I had read the first two books in this series years ago and really enjoyed them and I was quite excited to see a new one coming out! I liked how this novel had a completely different premise from most other mystery novels and thoroughly enjoyed the alternating chapters between Brigid and the killer. It was also nice to see more of Brigid’s home life and more of her totally different family than we had previously. I actually really enjoyed how clever the killer was and how he is was trying to learn about how to erase himself from his previous crimes. It was an easy and interesting read!

Out June 4th!

This book had my attention from the beginning. It was hard to put it down. It was a great read! I look forward to reading more from this author.

Yes and no on Becky Masterson’s “We Were Killers Once.” The plus side for me was an original concept that placed a third killer with the notorious murderers of the Clutter family in Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.” Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were both executed for the horrendous crimes long ago but Masterson imagineered a third person being involved, still very much alive, and, at about seventy years old, determined to keep his name out of it and prepared to kill to do so. My minus impression has to do with the writing of the story and an inability to promote interest in a story, often recounted, but musty with time.

The characters are suspect in their ineptness and, sometimes, stupidity. Ex-FBI agent, Brigid Quinn, at about sixty years of age, is the author’s lead character and, although tough and always spoiling for a fight, comes across as revenge-filled and rather aimless. Her ex-priest husband, Carlo, seems just plain dense with no idea of his place in the story, although he probably holds a confession by Hickok that might implicate the old geezer who, at this late date, is probably immune to harm because of the dust on the story. His fanaticism about killing someone to protect himself is implausible and hard to follow. His violent nature creaks with the ravages of time. I doubt he even knows where he keeps his underwear.

I did read the book; although there were times I looked for something else to delve into. I give the author credit for creating just enough interest to keep me in the game, although at the end I was almost embarrassed. I wouldn’t recommend that you NOT read the book. It’s better than that, but barely.

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I was skeptical about the basic premise of this book. I was very pleasantly surprised by how well the author manipulated all the pieces of the plot and the characters to create a new twist with great characters. I will definitely watch for more. Well worth the investment of your time.

We Were Killers Once is Book 4 in the Brigid Quinn Series.
This book was just "okay" for me. The plot was okay and the story was good, but the characters
seemed to have a life of their own, and not in the best way. I felt like I had missed something.

Having said that, I am aware that this is Book 4 in the series and I may of benefitted from reading
the first 3 books first. This wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't my favorite.

We Were Killers Once (Brigid Quinn #4) by Becky Masterman, is the first book I’ve read from this author. The book was well written and researched, but sadly it left no impression on me. I’ve been thinking for 5 days now wondering why and all I can think is it read more like a documentary or a biography. There wasn't enough suspense, edginess or surprise in the story for me. The primary characters ( Brigid, Gemma Kate, Carlo & Beaufort) were well developed with backgrounds but still seemed flat to me. The search for the confession and the info it yielded about Beaufort was interesting but not enough to save the book for me.

I wish to that the Author, the publisher - Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Expected publication date is June 4th, 2019. The book is expected to be released in multiple formats.

For me, this was a 2 out of 5-star read.

This was my first introduction to this author, so I had no expectations going in. I ended up really enjoying this book, and even though it was clearly part of a series (references were made throughout to events in the first few books) it's not necessary to read the first few books to follow the story. I am definitely going to seek out the first three books in this series.

It was a fun, quick-moving book with an interesting premise. In addition, I really appreciated the heroine; not many books are written about "women of a certain age" who also happen to be bad-asses.

* I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book, however it just wasn't the right one for me. I am not sure if it's because my reading tastes have fluctuated, or because I myself was going through a hard time while trying to read this book. But I don't feel like I was the right reader for it.

I do want to say that the Author has a very rich, detailed, and creative mind. It is very apparent whilst reading this book. I do know a lot of my fellow bloggers are going to devour this book.

This is another terrific murder mystery featuring retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn. This time the story is actually based on true crime events in Florida, featured in the Truman Capote book 'In Cold Blood'. I really love this series, particularly the fantastic main character. The first book of the series 'Rage Against the Dying' is still my favourite but this one is another worthy story in a fantastic series

This book wasn’t my favorite. It did have some suspense but I thought it was a bit far fetched. This was my first book by this author and I will try another one. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

What if Perry Smith and Dick Hickok had an accomplice? What if they weren’t the only ones who murdered the Clutter family on that cold November night in 1959? What if another family was murdered in the same style just months later in Florida? This the scenario that Becky Masterman explores in her new work of fiction, We Were Killers Once.

It’s an interesting theory. And even if the book is fiction, the murder of The Walker Family in December 1959 in Florida, is in fact, very true. Which is eerie. And Smith and Hickok were suspects in that case, although it was never solved.

Masterman takes all these details and spins a new story, a different take that offers a “what if” scenario to the horrifying murders. This part of the story is executed very effectively, in my opinion. I enjoyed the backstory about how Perry, Dick and Jerry met and how everything played out.

I haven’t read the rest of the Brigid Quinn series, but for me it was really random having such an interesting back story with real historical significance at the center of a fourth book in a running series. If the whole series was built around fictionalizing famous true crimes it would be one thing, but it appears this is the only such book in the series.

I just wasn’t as interested in Brigid and Carlo and all the everyday workings of their lives. Because I was interested specifically in this story and not in the series.

Anyhow, I’m sure that current fans of the series will love this one, but overall it fell slightly flat for me. Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out June 4!

Although I never read any books by this author I found there writing style entertaining. This an excellent book I look forward to reading more by this author..

This was an interesting book and was well written with strong characters. Since I didn't have the same fascination with Ain Cold Blood as the author did, I wasn't sucked into the story as much as I could have been. But it was worth the read and I would be curious about reading more by this author.

I tried to get into this book but I just couldn't and to be honest it's not my type of book I felt like it talked in riddles and it just was not for me.... it's for someone but it's not the book for me so for that I'm sorry it didn't work out for me.

We Were Killers Once by Becky Masterman is book four in the Brigid Quinn series and the first one I have read. I am now going back and finding the three prior books and reading them in order. Brigid Quinn may be the strongest female detective in current crime fiction going right now.

"...More than fifty years from now, that killing will touch me again, and with more than childish terror. Cold cases, they call them, as if they're frozen harmlessly in the past..."

Retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn is trying to live the quiet life with her husband Carlo, a former priest and University professor. She lives in fear that her past will come back to haunt the happiness she has found with her husband. But what she is unprepared for is that it is Carlo whose past is coming to bear.

In Holcomb, Kansas, 1959, a family of four are brutally murdered. It is a crime that has captured the nation. A crime made even more famous by the Truman Capote masterpiece, In Cold Blood. The killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickok were tried,convicted, and executed for the crime.

But what if there was another family that crossed the path of these killers. Murders that went unsolved. Murders they weigh on the soul of convicted murderer, Dick Hickok. As he sits on death row, he pens a confession about the unsolved killing of the second family and delivers it to the priest who attends to him. A confession of murders and rape and a third killer.

'...Sketch? A letter behind the sketch that Carlo didn't know about? What the hell? My attention swerved. 'What Sketch?'
'I'm sorry?'
'What's the sketch of?'
'It's a man's face. Done in pencil.'
'You know my husband. Is it him?'
Drew paused, like taking a second look. 'No way.'
'What does the letter say?'
'It starts out, 'To whom it may concern...'
'Yes?'
'My name is Richard Eugene Hickok. I...'
'Holy shit,' I said..."

Brigid Quinn has survived as a FBI agent and deep undercover for most of her career with a finely honed sense of danger and people. Its a life she has tried to leave behind. But her husband's new friend Jerry Beaufort is setting off all her alarms. She just cannot understand why.

"...For the first time I began to be scared of the boy, more than before when it was just his grandfather that he killed, or even after I saw what he did at the Clutter place. Here I was, a killer who had done the same thing, but I was afraid of him. I had done it for the money, but this kid did it for the fun.There's a difference..."

Beaufort was a young man when he first met Perry Smith and Dick Hickok. No one had ever known of his part in the killings. Not even that writer from New York. The one who got famous on the blood of the families just like he had been killing right along with them. But Beaufort knows that times have changed, there is DNA that may linked him to the crime scenes and worse, a confession. A letter from Hickok to his prison chaplain. A letter that is now in the hands of a retired priest in Tucson, Arizona. A letter the priest doesn't even know he has.

Brigid Quinn knows that Jerry Beaufort is not who he says he is. There is something very predatory about the man. But she doesn't quite know what it is and Carlo doesn't see that there is anything extraordinary about Beaufort. But Brigid has not lived this long without trusting her instincts. She begins to investigate Beaufort and what she begins to find out is hard to believe and may put her husband and herself next in line for a killer to hunt down.

Brigid Quinn is a terrific character. Flawed and deeply scarred by her past. She struggles to live a normal life, but her training and instincts get in the way. All Brigid wants is to be is loved by her husband and to love him back. Something she struggles to accept she could be worthy of. She deals with the ghost of his first wife, that seems to fill every crevice of their home, as well as her own ghosts. The blood she has spilled and the blood she has seen spilled.

Beaufort is a killer caught out of time. Recently released from prison, he fears that the new technology that has been developed while he was incarcerated may finally prove his involvement in the murders. He has gotten away with violence for so long that he finds it impossible to accept that his secrets may now be revealed. Nor can he believe, that a woman, even a FBI trained investigator like Quinn, could be a threat to him.

What I find so intriguing about this story is that Brigid Quinn seems to only be interested in solving this mystery because it poses a threat to her new life. To the peace she has found with Carlo. She is the epitome of the reluctant hero. She is content in her new world and it is only when the peace of her new home comes under attack that she goes in motion. But she does, she is something to behold. She tries hard to keep her violence from Carlo. Afraid that he will see her differently if he sees what she is capable of. That if he sees all of her, he may not love her anymore. This is her weakness, in all her strength, this is her great weakness.

A terrific tale of murder and terror and of the haunting of our pasts.

A really good read.

Bridgit is a retired FBI agent living a pleasant, quiet life with her husband Carlo in Arizona. A world away in Mississippi, a three strikes felon is released from prison after his sentence is commuted. Having spent 30 years in prison for a drug offense Beaufort is ready to move on with his life at 67. He has some unfinished business that he has to take care of before he can live his perfect life. Beaufort has ghosts living in his closet in the form of crimes commited that he was never charged for. When he hears that a former accomplice of his, who has since been executed, has left behind last and final confession, Beaufort fears that if it becomes public he will be sent straight back to prison.

His journey brings him to the doorstep of an ailing priest who is said to have received the last confession . The priest refuses to turn over the confession, and in desperation Beaufort seeks out who else may have the confession. That brings him to Carlo and Bridgit, and it sets Beaufort up on a collision course with a retired FBI agent who has lost none of her zeal.

This story is interesting because it is a work of fiction that is woven together with aspects of true life crimes. Also the character of Bridgit is unique in that she is both older and on the psychopathic spectrum. The story is exciting and interesting to read. A recommended read. Review posted to Goodreads and Librarything.