I didn't know what to expect when I opened Face Her Fear other than a great read from a master storyteller. Within the first few pages, it was clear that I was in for the ride of my life, and I wasn't wrong. Face Her Fear is about a retreat Josie goes on to help deal with her complex PTSD after the deaths of her grandmother and colleague. Alone without her team or her tech for a whole week on top of a mountain is rather anxiety-producing for a control freak like Josie Quinn, and if that weren't enough, a blizzard was headed their way. Josie isn't deterred and stays on the mountain with the other five retreat members and their therapist.

Then things take a turn. Josie discovers one of the other five members dead in the snow and knows immediately that Meg didn't die of hyperthermia. She'd been killed, and there were only a limited number of people who could have done it. It only took her a moment to realize she was sleeping amid the murderer.

Face Her Fear is a 'locked room' mystery that shows Lisa's ability to keep a police procedural going even when there is only one detective locked in the same space as the murderer. Josie knows the law, and even faced with the difficult circumstances she was in, she wasn't willing to back down on her dedication to getting the victim justice.

Locked room mysteries are a thing of the past, in my opinion, but Lisa said, not so fast! She took an old, dated, stale trope and brought it into the 21st century. While Josie struggled with changes at home and changes within herself and her relationships, she was forced into a situation where she had to pick friend from foe and figure out, with very little help, who was behind the murder and why. Her friends back in Denton are there to support her, but they can't save her, and Josie has to learn to lean into her gut again for the first time since the early days of her career as 'the boss.' Her internal conversations with Mett were personal, heartbreaking, touching, and yet brilliantly done in this setting.

If you have been with Josie since book one, you will love seeing glimpses of the woman who first grabbed our hearts and minds as she chased the kidnapper and killer of young girls. You'll feel her emotions as she tries to grasp all of the trauma she's been through and root for her as she works to realize while it happened TO her, she didn't make it happen. This locked room mystery helps our favorite detective see that she can trust her instincts AND the people who have left her in the physical realm. They may be gone, but the lessons they left her with will serve her well each and every day once she accepts the pain that comes with acceptance. Josie more than faces her fears in book 19 and comes out of that 'room' with a new friend she wants to get to know. Herself.

Face Her Fears earns another five stars from this Lisa Regan fan for not just a well-told police procedural but for the glimpse into the human who makes these characters come alive on the page for us with every adventure Josie takes.