This was an interesting mystery. Although it works as a standalone, I have a feeling reading the earlier books would give the characters more depth. It wasn't as mysterious as I was hoping, and was really lacking in the suspense side. That said, it's pretty well written and it is an interesting story, watching Jane try to unravel the clues.

An engrossing mystery, Twisted at the Root keeps you guessing until the very end. Who was the real culprit?

Very well-crafted characters and easy to follow storyline!

I can give this book 2.5 stars at the most. It didn't work for me. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers, but some may feel I fail at that, so consider yourself forewarned.

This book opens with a psychic prediction of something traumatic. After that it shifts, through a number of POVs, to consideration of something in the past. The primary mystery on which the book focuses is in the past.

It feels really slow... like it's dragging. The expectations created by the opener worsen this as every page I keep expecting something else to happen, but it's a long time coming.

Add to this the numerous POVs and I end up not feeling sufficiently connected to any one character to care what happens.

So overall this felt like a slow tedious read that I couldn't wait to have end.

Maybe the problem is me and my tastes and my expectations, but I can only rate what I read as myself.

Twisted at the Root is the 26th book in the Jane Lawless private investigator series. This book finds Jane working with her attorney father to investigate new evidence that may exonerate a man previously convicted of murdering his husband. I recommend this multiple point of view novel to fans of character-driven mysteries. I had no trouble jumping into the series with this book but I think the subplot involving Jane’s girlfriend will have more emotional impact for long-time fans of the series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #TwistedAtTheRoot #mystery

Investigator, Jane Lawless and her father, Ray, re-open an old case in an effort to see justice done for a grieving widower - will they be able to overturn an old conviction? Amidst suspects and motives aplenty Jane and her father struggle to get to the truth of the matter. Enjoyable crime caper with plenty of twists along the way, likeable protagonists and a swiftly moving plot. This can be read as a standalone although more enjoyment to be had in reading from the start of the series - the first being 'Hallowed Murder'.

Jane Lawless returns in the latest in Ellen Hart’s iconic series. This time out, Jane finds herself re-working a case her father was previously involved with in order to free an innocent man and allow him to properly grieve the death of his husband. If you look up the definition of comfort read in the dictionary, Ellen Hart’s work would represent the epitome of that for me. Jane Lawless is one of my favorite crime fiction heroines and I can always count on Hart to provide strong mystery elements wrapped in an easy to read style.

This is the first in the Jane Lawless series that I have read and I would like to go back and read more. Jane is a strong character that I really liked. In this installment she must go back and investigate an old murder. I did not want to put this one down as it really held my attention.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This is my first Ellen Hart book, I found that Ms Hart gave enough information about the characters and the relationships between each of them, that I could read this novel as a stand alone. Cold case murder mystery in Minnesota with lots of twists and turns. It kept me wondering who the real murderer was. I liked the diversity of the cast of characters. Appeared very realistic in today’s world.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Ellen Hart, and Minotaur Books, St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this mystery novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Jane Lawless is the daughter of semi-retired lawyer Raymond Lawless, and owner of Lyme House, a restaurant in south Minneapolis. Oh, and is also a private investigator. When new information pops up concerning the death of Gideon Wise, Jane does all in her power to clear Gideon's husband Rashad May, who has already served several years for this murder he didn't commit.

This novel, as are all the Jane Lawless series by Ellen Hart, is peopled with characters you either like or distrust, the setting of Minneapolis is well represented and the mystery is convoluted and buried fairly deep. This is a book hard to set aside - chores may go untouched - and one I am pleased to recommend to friends and family.

While this is book 26 in the Jane Lawless Mystery series, it works well as a standalone. I am often hesitant to read books that are this far into the series, but I tried a previous one, and I really like the author's style of writing.

The characters are well developed, and the book definitely kept me on my toes. The author knows how to tell a story, and with this many books under her belt, it might be surprising to some that she can still write a spell-binding story.

I highly recommend this one.

Gideon is brutally murdered in his own home in Twisted at the Root.

The only person at home at the time is Gideon’s husband, Rashad. Rashad insists in his innocence but is found guilty at trial. When additional evidence is found four years later, Rashad is retried. He asks for his original attorney, Ray, to defend him again. After accepting, Ray hires his PI daughter, Jane, to find the real killer.

Twisted at the Root disappointed me. I didn’t find the characters engaging. The pacing seemed slow. It might be because this is the first I’ve read in this ongoing series. If so, I wouldn’t recommend this book as a good entry point. However, if you are already a series fan you will probably enjoy this one too. 3 stars.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This well-written mystery novel will definitely appeal to the numerous fans of Ellen Hart's work. Although it is the twenty-sixth book in the series, it can also be read and enjoyed as a standalone. A well-crafted clever plot and a cast of interesting characters (my favourite ones were Jane and Cordelia) will keep your attention, although it is possible to guess who the murderer was quite early in the book, if you pay attention to the clues. I would recommend this book to readers who like a character-driven mystery and multiple points of view.
Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is a very well written story with good characters. It seems to be a lot of descriptions of family and friends, but as it turns out they are all involved in the case, and as such it's useful. The probability of such coincedences is not very high, however, so the plot may be a little over the top.

The cover initially drew my attention to this book. I cannot quite put my finger on why i didn't enjoy this book as much as i thought i would. Maybe it's because i haven't read any of Ellen Hart's previous books. It is an easy read and the story was good. I would like to try more books by this author.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Did Rashad killed his husband Gideon? He was convicted of the crime. He was also defended by Ray Lawless, the father of ace investigator Jane Lawless. If you haven't read this long running series, know that you will be fine with this as a standalone. She'll catch you up on who's who and what's what. Told from multiple perspectives, you, along with Jane will go back over the evidence that was used in Rashad's trial and- surprise- she finds there's a problem. There are multiple people who did not like Gideon but who was the villain? She also discovers that her brother Peter, who hasn't figured much in these novels, has secrets (no spoilers and frankly not a revelation). Jane's friend Cordelia is a hoot. There isn't much interaction with Julia, Jane's current love interest, which was ok since there's enough going on with the Lawless family. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. While these are very much character driven novels, this is also a twisty little mystery with enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

I think this is a well written mystery but I couldn't connect to the characters and it fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

If there is one thing I dislike a lot in mystery novels, it’s getting a POV other than the detective’s, namely one that is either the bad guy’s or another suspect’s. Unfortunately, that’s just what this book did.

Twisted at the Root is like a cold-case murder mystery, but where the original murder was “solved” and is now being reopened for new evidence. In this case, a lawyer was murdered and his husband was put away for it after a combination of shoddy police work, leaning on a few witnesses, and good old-fashioned racism and homophobia. So, enter Jane Lawless, a private investigator, who agrees to take on the case for her father, who is representing the defendant.

First things first: I mentioned I don’t like getting bad guy/suspects’ POVs in murder mysteries and that’s because it gives me information that the detective doesn’t know. So I’m sat there thinking, this guy’s the dodgy one go question him, or this is what he’s not telling you, and it bores me, honestly. And then it makes the actual perpetrator not at all surprising (not that you want them to be a complete surprise either because then you haven’t threaded in enough clues). In this book, with a combination of the suspects’ POVs, and the fact that this character was really fricking dodgy, you could tell who it was about two thirds through. So, still a good way off from when Jane herself figured it out.

Another thing I wasn’t keen on was the writing style. This is another “it’s just me” one, to be honest, but it felt not that easy to read, really. I was skimming some parts of it fairly early on (particularly the suspects’ chapters), because reading it fully kind of bored me. But, each to their own with that.

I did, however, mostly like the characters. Jane was great, and her and Cordelia had a great partnership. Peter annoyed me (mostly because, as with most cishet men, he seemed to think only with his dick), but I did feel a little sorry for him. I’m not sure I saw enough of any of the other characters to fully form opinions of them, but it was a good enough cast. Even if I hated Julia (listen, when you have a character say hey your girlfriend is horrible and manipulative first up, I’m never going to like her) and even if, in the end, the bad guy seemed a little… two-dimensional.

But, ultimately, what I have to conclude is that this book wasn’t for me. It’s the first in this series that I’ve tried, and I feel like it would have sat a lot better with someone who had been reading the series from the start, and who had that history with the characters (not that you can’t read it as a standalone, but it is the 26th Jane Lawless book). For the right person, a good book. I’m not the right person.

This was a little bit jumbled and I felt lost a lot of the time. I finished the book, but I could have put it down halfway through without feeling any guilt. It was ok. Someone will like this book. I'm sure people who have read the author's previous books will enjoy this.

One of my favorite Jane Lawless mysteries so far! These books are total comfort reads for me, and this one was everything I was looking for from this semi-cozy Minnesota mystery series. Jane is investigating a case her father worked on several years ago, trying to find evidence that Rashad, jailed for his husband's murder, is innocent, as well as who the real killer is. With a great cast of shady suspects, as well as the ever-amusing Cordelia, Cordelia's eccentric niece Hattie, and Jane's brother Peter, this book is a really fun read. Jane's relationship with Julia is pretty meh to me, but Julia is absent for most of the book, which I appreciated. Would really like for her to get a new love interest, but I will continue following this series in any case!

This is a long running series featuring private investigator, Jane Lawless, set in Minnesota by Ellen Hart, but this was my first taste of the series which I think you can reasonably read as a standalone. Four years ago, it was assumed that Rashad May and Gideon Wise were contentedly married, until Gideon was discovered murdered in his bath, and his partner, Rashad was convicted of the heinous crime and sent to prison. In this miscarriage of justice story, Rashad's brother gets in touch with Jane's father, Ray, his defence lawyer, with potential evidence that questions the original guilty verdict. This propels Jane on the path of seeking justice for Rashad, still grieving, determined to find the truth in a case in which her brother, Peter, with his involvement in the original trial, a man who harbours secrets. She has her work cut out as she sifts through a host of suspects, all with viable motives to murder Gideon.

I found this to be an okay, if undemanding, easy crime read. For me, it needed more in depth characterisation and more complex plotting. However, I am aware that there many fans of this series and who will no doubt love this addition too. Many thanks to St Martin's Press for an ARC.