Clara Donner, an investigator with the San Francisco homicide squad, is called with her partner to the scene of a very heinous murder with ritual aspects. On a wall of the victim's house is a series of photographs of women, all taken in violent situations.
It does not take long for the two detectives to discover who the murderer is and what his motives are. The difficult thing, however, is to stop him and prevent further murders, especially since it is precisely in the motives that there is a risk of feeling a sort of sympathy for the murderer, who in his own way carries out a kind of justice towards abused women.
An excellent psychological thriller, well written. The lack of real plot twists is amply compensated for by the psychological depth of the characters and their interactions.

I noted at the time that this was both a good psychological thriller and an interesting look at the idea of vigilantism and how it does or does not fit into contemporary society. We may agree with the criteria one vigilante uses to pick victims but we may not agree with the next, and may well become a target. So vigilantism just doesn't work.

I am catching up on books because of an illness so am going off of what I remember and a few notes I made at the time. My apologies for the brevity.

This is exactly the type of "whodunit" and police procedural I enjoy reading. With compelling plots, motives are explored, as the suspense builds. Disappointing when the book is finished, I want more!

I like crime/murder/police procedurals and this has it all. Enough extra characters to keep it interesting but not bogged down. The murders are described pretty explicitly which some might not like but I found it to be pretty creative.

Very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat!
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a really good psychological thriller, you know the type where you are swept along into the novel lots of suspense, intrigue and unknown elements but not a lot of details to tell friends about when discussing your latest read. The novel builds and builds to a heart thumping finale. Excellent fast moving read with some very good characters and an intriguing plot. I just love this kind of novels, thanks for the copy!

Bestselling author Seth Harwood has written a new thriller that is a bit different from the norm. Everyone Pays is set in the seedy area of San Francisco, where a main character is a priest by day and serial killer by night. Those being murdered are guilty of heinous sexual crimes against women, and their deaths are extremely violent and horrible; the murderer is making them suffer as much as their victims. Clara Donner is the detective assigned to find the serial killer and put him behind bars before more murders are committed. It is a problem, though, because these men being murdered deserve to be tortured like their victims, and the city is better off without them. Donner, of course, still puts her all into the investigation; she is likeable and seems to do a good job. She also has a conscience, and is diligent in solving the crimes where some would hold back.

Harwood does an excellent job of describing his characters so that they become real. Both the good guys and the bad have an integral place in the story. Harwood is an excellent storyteller and the book flows in an easy manner. While the novel isn’t a particularly fast read, it moves along at a good pace. There is enough happening to keep the interest of readers, and make it difficult to put down.

The suspense is palpable, and it builds throughout. And, as will any good thriller, the dénouement is a surprise - even though readers know who the murderer is during the course of the novel, there are unexpected happenings that move the story along and make it one to keep readers thinking after the book is finished.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

Harwood's a new-to-me author, his Jack Palms series is on my to read list but I haven't gotten around to it yet. This title seems to be a stand alone but I could easily see it turning into another series.
Clara Donner is a rare sight in the San Francisco PD Homicide Unit. It's a boy's world but she's working to open it up for other women. Her partner, Hendricks, and her are on call and it turns out this is going to be the busiest week yet of their careers, maybe of all time. Called out to a body found, they arrive at a grisly scene - within 24 hours there's another body found, this one in even more of a grisly state. Suddenly pieces fall together and it looks like someone out there is taking the law into their own hands. Before the body count rises Donner and Hendricks need to find the guy. But this guy isn't your typical killer - he has a particular mission and only a specific set of people he's targeting. In fact, you might say he is doing God's work - or so he believes.
This was such an easy read - and I mean that as a compliment. It moved along so quickly with just the right amount of detail that I had read half the book before I even realized it. I like Donner as a strong female character, I like that a man wrote her as one. I appreciated that Harwood didn't shrink back from details but also didn't include too many. His killer was a freaky choice, though not far fetched. He made me interested enough in Clara Donner that I'm hoping this book becomes 1 of a series so we can continue to follow Donner on her gig as a female homicide detective.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well written and the characters believable. It kept me turning the page to see what was going to happen to the last page. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I knew very early on who the killer was so that was disappointing. I usually like to be led astray and guessing to until the end. It was violent at times with lots of action. It was just ok though.