Member Review

Kate Myles, a self-described “... pathologically messy ex-cop-turned-private-eye with flaming ADHD.” is now a private investigator and things are looking dark at the onset of “Burn This Night.” She has just stumbled onto the discovery that her late father was not, in fact, her biological father. Her DNA search reveals she is related to the murderer of a cold case victim. The police recruit her into their investigation, also securing her some work for an attorney defending a completely separate murder case in the same locale.

Multiple murders with multiple characters spilling their backgrounds in alternating timelines– it seemed chaotic and complicated– and I was a bit skeptical through the opening sections. It is Kate’s character, though, who draws us into the story and soon both cases are hurtling along. Kate is a tenacious investigator, but her vulnerability is always evident, as well.

Alex Kenna skillfully weaves numerous plotlines together without losing pace. The cast of characters range from colorful to seedy, all very convincing. I was not aware until the end that Kate Myles’s character had a backstory in a previous novel, “What Meets the Eye.” I will have to seek that one out.

A very absorbing crime novel.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #BurnThisNight #NetGalley