This is the first book in Ms Griffin's Texas Murder Files series. This story dealt more with the research and legwork involved in solving a murder case rather than crime lab results and profiles that are central to Ms Griffin's The Tracers series. I enjoyed following the progress of the homicide detectives and the reporter in finding the facts and story to this murder. Bailey Rhoads is a crime reporter for The Austin Herald. The paper is in the midst of layoffs and Bailey and fellow staff are wary of receiving a notice. She feels constant pressure to crank out good stories. Bailey and her editor are always listening to the police scanner so she is first on the scene of a female jogger at Lady Bird lake who is found stabbed and left in shallow waters. Homicide detectives, Jacob Merritt and Kendra Porter are on the case. There is no id on the woman and no one is missing this woman. Despite working the Austin crime scene for awhile, this is the first time Bailey has had to interact with Jacob Merritt and he is not forthcoming with information about this victim or the crime scene. However, Bailey is very resourceful in finding facts and figuring out possible motives. Jacob and Kendra id the woman. It turns out she was in the FBI Protected Witness program so the FBI takes the case but Jacob continues to investigate on his own. Meanwhile, Bailey is also investigating and turns up information neither the cops or the FBI find including the method a protected witness was found and stalked by a hitman for the family she testified against that led to her "protected" status. This part of the story was fascinating and also a bit scary that it could or does exist. One of the reasons I love to read Laura Griffin is the current and trending topics that seem far fetched but are really occurring and we should be aware exist. In this story, the topic is a facial recognition database so vast that it is possible to locate an individual given a dated photo from years ago. The Jacob/Bailey romance was ok - they were both likeable characters however, there were trust issues and it was difficult for me to believe that these issues were resolved by end of story and this couple would live in blissful harmony for very long.

Reporter Bailey is determined to get an in depth story about a murdered woman found on an Austin hiking trail. Detective Jacob Merritt is in charge of the case, and while he’s very attracted to Bailey, the case comes first. It’s clear that there’s nothing ordinary about this case and as the trail leads to some of the nation’s most powerful tech giants, no one is safe as millions of dollars and national security are at stake

I loved this action packed suspense filled romance story.The story will have you on the edge of your seat.The characters will captivate you.You will be drawn in by the characters and how they have an off the charts chemistry.The chemistry between Det.Jack Merritt and journalist /reporter Bailey Rhoads is smoking hot.The need to hide things from each other is a Blockwell between them.The mystery behind how someone got the whereabouts of protected witnesses will. keep you intrigued.I love the way this amazing author brings the characters to life before your eyes and makes you feel their emotions and their pain.I can hardly wait to see what's next by this multi talented author.This is definitely a must read book.I can hardly wait to see what's next by this multi talented author.

Hidden
Texas Murder Files #1
Laura Griffin

Griffin’s first in her brand new Texas Murder Files series, Hidden is fabulous, a rollercoaster thrill ride that gives readers a sweet romance on top of a chilling murder case. The plot has some really unexpected and very 21st century timely twists and turns relating to some cutting edge technology and it’s ingenious how she plants it into the novel. Her two stars Jacob and Bailey are amazing, very likeable and genuine, she describes Jacob’s hard cop side and sensitive soft side without taking away from his masculinity and makes Bailey’s tenacity look like an asset and not a liability. Plus putting a cop and reporter together in a relationship is tricky but Laura handles all the sticky situations with kid gloves and makes it very believable. Laura’s fans and all romantic suspense fans will devour this story and look forward to seeing where she takes the series.

When a young woman is murdered on a popular Austin jogging trail Austin homicide detective Jacob Merritt gets the case. But its far from open and shut when the woman doesn’t seem to have a past before moving to Austin over a year ago. And then there’s the pesky, beautiful Austin Herald crime scene reporter who seems to be always one step ahead of him.

Bailey Rhoades has to be on her toes especially now when the Herald’s employees seem to get fewer and fewer so when she catches a murdered jogger case she jumps in with both feet. But soon she feels more like she’s sinking in quick sand than getting answers and for some reason which she knows is a BAD idea she can’t stop butting heads with and thinking about the hunky homicide cop that’s on the case too.

A woman is brutally murdered on a running-and-bike trail in Austin and no one is exactly sure why. Bailey Rhoads, an investigative reporter is assigned to the story and she is demanding to know what the cops know. She is trying to get information out of the lead detective Jacob Merritt, but he is a closed book. He doesn't give away information, but this case is something new and nothing really adds up. That is until Bailey and his ex starts putting the pieces together for him.

As Bailey finds out the victim is part of WITSEC something just doesn't add up. IN turn she is lead to a local tech company where she is able to find all of her answers and uncover something even more disturbing and could be deadly if the technology falls into the wrong hands.

All during the investigation Bailey and Jacob start to fall for each other but try to keep their relationship professional which of course doesn't work out well for them. Their lives are forever changed after they track down the next target and Bailey becomes a target for a different reason.

Laura Griffin has the ability to take a terrible occurrence and turn it into a story that keeps you enamored, has you hoping the bad guys are brought to justice, and the main characters get their HEA. Hidden is no different I had no idea who the bad guy was going to be or if there was more than one, but I did get bad feelings about different characters that left me wondering, and I was wrong, my mind should have gone in a different direction. There was one characteristic that left me a little on edge, there was a woman in Plano that was kidnapped and murdered after running on a trail. The difference was, she was running late at night and but they found her body in the lake as well. I'm not sure if that case was solved but it did seem similiar to me. But like usual another great read!!
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Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review