Anne Frasier's other series (featuring Jude Fontaine and Elise Sandburg) are well-written, tightly plotted thrillers with strong characterization, realistic dialogue, and a powerful sense of place. All those things are also true of Tell Me, the second in the Inland Empire series.

This series is set well away from the California coast, in the high and dry "Inland Empire" surrounding San Bernadino County. The desert and forested mountains are well-portrayed, as are the many ways nature is inhospitable to humans.

My complaint with this book lies in the fact that, unlike with the other two series, I did not read them in order: I jumped right in with Tell Me, only to discover that it is definitely not a standalone. I lost count of the number of times a reference was made to a person or event that presumably featured in Find Me, the first book -- without a whisper of an explanation as to who or what it meant. In one case, after wondering for pages and pages what Reni's background was and why she would be called in on either a lost hiker search or a criminal case, there is a throwaway phrase about her having left the FBI. Ah. (My Kindle told me it was 19% of the way through the book!)

A few explanatory phrases early would've added to my enjoyment of Tell Me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance readers copy.

Tell Me by A. Frasier, published by Thomas & Mercer, is the second stand-alone in the Inland Empire Series. For best reading experience I recommend to read the books in order. The previous book is Find Me - the introduction of Daniel and Reni.
Tell Me starts out with an bang, three teenagers are in a kind of vacation camp when thye get abducted and Daniel Ellis gets assigned to this case. A case that leads him to a vault of secrets and lies that are about to change his life too. An irresistble, intriguing read that had me on the edge of my seat. Unputdownable, literally. An high quality thriller that had me guessing and guessing till the last chapter. One of my favorite reads in 21, I recommend Tell Me.








Find Me by Anne Frasier, published by Thomas & Mercer is the first stand-alone in the Inland Empire Series.
Daniel Ellis is an homicide detective and he wants closure for th victims of the Inland Empire Killer. What he gets is a suspenseful murder/thriller that keeps the reader breathlessly guessing till the last page.
Put Reni Fisher, the killer's daughter, former FBI Agent and victim herself into the mix an you get an outstanding book, literally unputdownable.

Anne Frasier is a master storyteller! "Tell Me" was a creepy, mysterious, and wonderful ride. Can't wait for her next one.

Just finished reading the second book in this series. I was hoping the author would write a longer series with the two main characters. Although I'm not ready to say goodbye to them or the desert, it looks like she wrapped up all the ends. I will eagerly await her next adventure😀

#TellMe #NetGalley" Thanks to NetGalley, Anne Frasier and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC for an honest review.

Three young hikers and their guide or mentor are found missing and Reni Fisher and Daniel Ellis attempt to find them. The plot it complicated and perhaps even a bit contrived and unrealistic.

Reni has been trying to find Daniel's mother, even though he asked her not to. When it happens it is a shock to the reader and Daniel too, I feel.

I truly enjoyed "Find Me" and this book, while well written, was not as enjoyable for me. Perhaps because, as the author said it was written during the pandemic. I'm glad that Reni and Daniel seem to be figuring their lives out.

3.5 stars
The forest can hide many things but as three young campers and their guide set out on a trail and hope to spend some quality time with nature, all that changes when the counselor is killed and the three girls disappear. In horrible fashion another couple out hiking is also murdered. Do we have a serial killer on a rampage in the forest?

Reni Fisher who herself had experienced the horrendous crimes of her serial killer parents is a criminal profiler. She and Daniel Ellis, team up once again as in the previous book to figure out what is going on as well as try to find the girls. who have gone missing. Daniel is no stranger to grief as his mother deserted him when he was young and he searches for her always believing she was a victim of Reni's parents. It's an odd combination, but somehow these people make it work.

The girls were campers at a camp dedicated to the avoidance of electronic gadgets so the girls have no cell phones. Strangely there is a video taken of the crime scene and posted that seems to be the only clue Daniel and Reni have.

Thankfully one of the girls escapes but the question still remains who is the killer and why has he kept the girls. As the second one is found, once again we wonder if and where the third girl is and if she has survived?

Are the girls hiding something and can Reni and Daniel survive a case that tests their belief in one another?

This was an easily readable story, not quite up to the fist in the series, but still one that was clever and well put together.

Thank you to Anne Frasier, Thomas and Mercer, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out July 27, 2021.

This book, is a second in a series for Anne Fraser. It builds one the relationship in the first book but is fine as a standalone as well. I enjoyed the desert setting and the story as well. As a reader of the first book, I felt let down with how easy the cover arcing story- David finding his mother was handled. The stakes seem lower in this book but still a good read.

The second book in the series and although you can read this as a stand alone story itself there is a good continuing back story with the main characters. I enjoyed this book, good story line and again I liked the characters.
Thank you netgallery for this advanced copy of this book

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent novel on June 28, 2021, from Netgalley, Anne Frasier, and Thomas & Mercer publishers. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. This review reflects my honest opinion of this work. The second of a series titled Inland Empire, Tell Me is completely stand-alone, but I liked it well enough to put this series on my need-to-read list. The plus to this story is that Anne Frasier has several series just waiting

This novel is that creepy/scary type of story that keeps you up at night. Taking place in California, we spend a bit of time on the Pacific Coast Trail with a group of teenage girls sent to a special retreat at an expensive, exclusive camp called Kaleidoscope, in an attempt to break their habits of living on their phones and computers and get them outside. Emerson, Portia, and JoJo are friends, despite their differences. These girls are unwilling participants in this wooded escapade, perfectly happy with their 'influencer' status and measuring their 'success' by the number of YouTube 'likes' they have received. All feel lost without their electronics. The only thing they find good about the retreat is they are all three there together.

And then the counselor in charge of the three-day camping retreat with the girls on the Pacific Coast Trail is found in her tent, murdered. The girls are nowhere to be found. It is obvious they had fled into the night, but there is only a vague trail that peters out not far from the campsite. A massive search is instituted. One of the girls is the daughter of a well-known actor and the parents of the other two girls are wealthy and socially involved, as well. Then there is the additional disappearance of another couple, three weeks into a full traverse of the Pacific Coast Trail. All too soon Jordan and Deidra are found at the bottom of a cliff, both shot and Deidra dead, Jordan in critical condition, with still no sign of the girls.

Parents are frantic, police are mystified, forest rangers have pulled out all the stops, and representatives of Kaleidoscope are in hiding. The internet is seething with information both true and false, as usual. Really, alien abductions?

Reni Fisher and her dog Edward become involved in the searches as does Daniel Ellis, a member of the San Bernardino sheriff's department. They have a history from way back but can work together well despite it. This is good because this case seems never-ending...

I really enjoyed this book! I think that because I never read the first one I wasn't really burdened by hoping the sequel would fulfill the expectations set by the first one. I also just really love crime solving books so I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed the twists and turns and the personalities of the characters. Overall, I think it was really good.

When I finished reading Find Me, the first Inland Empire book, I knew I would definitely be reading more in this series, and by Anne Frasier!

Reni and Daniel are at it again in this twisty who-dun-it mystery. Tell Me was fast pace, interesting and I loved the hiking and social media addiction premise. I have not been to the Mojave desert or the Pacific Crest Trail, but I found myself intrigued and referencing maps while reading. The author gives such vivid details, you feel like you’re there. All in all this was a great follow up to Find Me, and I am hoping there will be more to the series!

What I enjoyed..
🌵Fast paced adventure
🏜Great character development
🌵Keeps you guessing
🏜Desert/Hiking setting

If you’re a fan of adventurous, murder mysteries you will enjoy Tell Me! I would definitely recommend that you start out with Find Me or you will miss out on where it all began!

Pub Date: 7/27/21 Pre-order your copy now!

Thank you @netgalley @amazonpublishing and Anne Frasier for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

#TellMe #AmazonPublishing #AnneFrasier #ThomasandMercer #NetGalley #spoilerfree #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookish #bibliophile #booknerd #thriller #booksandcoffee #readersofinstagram #AlisReads #flippin_and_sippin_mn

The 2nd book in the Inland Killer series, and it’s another good one. The Californian desert backdrop is again the setting for another murder mystery that has even more surprises than initially thought. The main characters from the first book form a deeper connection, and the mystery here has personal ties as well. Good characters , great setting. I’m ready for the next one.

As with some other reviewers, I found this book to be a bit of a letdown after the first in the series. I don't know why, exactly--it's like the case just seemed too easy and the stakes weren't that high.

I have been anxiously awaiting this book since reading the last page of Find Me.

The mystery of the book was well executed and believable as social media dictates much of our view on the world and this is especially true for teenagers.

I am invested in Daniel and Reni. My heart hurt for Daniel throughout this book. There are big revelations that are core shakers. It was entertaining to watch the dance that continues between Reni and Daniel....it is my hope there are more books in this world and the dance spins out into something.

Social Media Addicted Girls Find Trouble

The novel opens with three teenage girls, whose parents enrolled them in a social media intervention program, are on a hike with a counselor on the Pacific Crest Trail. They set up camp a short distance from the trail for the night. Talking wakes up one of the girls. She hears a gun shot. The next morning the camp site is noticed by a hiking couple. Upon investigation, they discovered the three tents but only one body of a dead woman. The female hiker records the scene, but there was not any cell signal to call 911 or upload the scene to social media. They hurry down the trail looking for cell service. They find a signal, and the woman uploads her video. Before the male can call 911, two persons appear. He tells them not to go that way as there is a dead body. Suddenly, he is shot and falls to the ground. The scene shifts to Detective Daniel Ellis arriving at work. The buzz is an Instagram video showing a possible murder. The poster could not be contacted, so Daniel was going to investigate, and he knows a person who knows that part of the trail, the ex-FBI profiler, Reni Fisher. The novel takes off from here.

The main storyline proceeds quickly to identify the counselor and the girls, but the girls are still missing. The storyline picks up when one of the girls is found. As the investigation proceeds, there are more and frequent twists and turns that kept my interest. This thread also is supported by a few short chapters in the voice of the perpetrator. There is a second main storyline thread. This is Reni’s search for Daniel’s mother who abandoned him as a child. Daniel’s search has been an on and off again effort. This storyline was just a seed in the first novel but blossoms in this novel. This thread added another hook on my attention.

The B-storyline is also rich with three aspects. The author provides more detail on Daniel’s and Reni’s personal lives and new information on their past. Much of Reni’s pasted was provided in the first novel of the series, but adequate background is provided in this novel to understand how her current actions are affected. Lastly, the relationship between Daniel and Reni provides much insight to both of their actions. These B-storylines added to my enjoyment in reading this novel.

For the aspects that some readers find as disincentives to read, this novel is rated as green by me. There are not any intimate scenes. Counting the number of rude words didn’t even use all my fingers on one hand. Violence is short and not subject to detailed scenes.

I particularly liked that the ending was not expected. I knew that something was not right as there were still some loose ends and the novel was ending. This novel was an enjoyable read and kept me reading it to the end. This book is listed as the second book of a two-book series. There seems to be adequate material to continue for another volume. I would like to see another book in this series.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, and it was fully developed for me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite to the level of the first novel in the series. I do recommend reading this novel. I rate it with four stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas & Mercer. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

I really liked the setting for this book and all the intricate descriptions of the desert, the Santa Ana winds, and the native plants. This is the second book in this series and it is full of twists and turns and shocking revelations. I am still not sure if I liked the shocking ending or not

This one picks up after the events of Find Me. Still reeling from revelations, Reni is drawn into a new case when Daniel asks for her help once again. This case is twisted and so realistic. A murder, missing people, and an ex of Daniel's make for a complicated journey for answers.
A unique take on an epidemic of device dependency mixed with the world of social media and influencers. When the answers come they are dark.
I loved Find Me and really came to be invested in Reni and Daniel. I think book one was Reni focused while this one centers more around Daniel. We find out the truth of his mother's disappearance. And when another series of events from his past come to light there are some jaw dropping moments. I liked the ending, it was fairly subtle but a satisfying conclusion to their story.

The second novel in the Inland Empire series, Tell me revolves around Daniel and Reni who is still recovering from the events that took place in the past. When a body is found in the mountains and three young hikers vanish without a trace, Daniel and Reni must unite to solve the case. The only lead is the video of the crime scene that seems staged for social media thrills. Is it a hoax? Or something more terrifying than that?

To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. Unfortunately, I haven't read the first book in this series and hence I couldn't understand what was going on between Daniel and Reni at first. But this aspect also served as a tool to increase my curiosity and stay engaged throughout the story. There's also a slight chance for those who read the first book to find this one under their mark. In my view, this book stands out for its realistic characters, scenes and laid-back writing style. The lead characters have a dark past and are flawed yet they have a strong sense of morality and aren't hardened by the shadows of their past (which usually how books portray). Despite this fact, I found this a little bit slow for my taste and the finding the killer a little simple. Maybe, it is because I haven't read any realistic thrillers. Nonetheless, this is rectified by unexpected twists and adrenaline rushing scenes in the plot. If you are a fan of Dan Brown books or generally a crime/thriller fan, this book does it for you.

Tell Me, the second in the Inland Empire (a specific area with the Mojave desert) series, picks up a few months after the first with Remi back in her desert abode and she and Daniel physically recovered from their previous ordeal. Daniel is called out to the Pacific Coast Trail in search of hikers who are missing after one of the hikers is found brutally murdered. He, of course, enlists the help of Remi because of her tracking skills. The secondary story line, searching for Daniel's mother, also plays a key role in this offering.

Tell Me ultimately circles back to the role of social media influence, how much young girls will do in order to attract attention and gain viewers. The story here asks that question - is this really what has happened? Have these girls set up a fake scene in order to gain more followers?

While I didn't find Tell Me to be as fast paced or compelling as the first in the series, I realize that second books seldom are. However, I love Frasier's writing, her ability to illustrate the atmosphere from the claustrophobic woodlands of the Pacific Coast Trail to the sheering winds and glorious colors of the Mojave desert. I would read her books for her descriptions of locale alone, the fact that I also like her characters is just icing.

I highly recommend this series but you really must read the books in order or you will be totally lost in Tell Me. Then, after you've read these two, go back and pick up her other series. They are terrific as well.

Ellis and Reni Fisher are together again to solve the mystery of the murder of a mountain hiker guide and the disappearance of the 3 young girls she was guiding. Then 2 other young hikers also disappear, but with no connection to the other 3 girls. A twisting tale of spoiled girls in rehab for their addiction to social media, and one man's obsession with one of them. Both Daniel and Reni, have their own demonDaniels to deal with, whilst trying to solve a complex case. An interesting concept as rehab for social media is a very new thing for me I really enjoyed this book and thank Net Galley for my ARC.