Great story, and the second one in this series. Gritty, thrilling read which was well plotted with great characters which lept off the page!!

I did not read the first Alex Quick book but I still enjoyed this book. A great murder mystery. Alex is trying to get back to normal and has joined a group and a member of the group finds a body. It turns out to be a man whom she has known for most of her life and as she tries to find out who has murdered him she finds out things about him she would never have believed he was involved in. Then more bodies and few clues as to who the murderer is but as she continues to search for clues it becomes clear who the murderer is. Great read. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC and to apologize for the late review.

This is a new author to me and although second in a series, it works well as a stand-alone.

Alex gets a hysterical visit from a friend, Dimsie, who arrives with news that her brother, Tristan, was murdered. Dimsie wants Alex to look into it as Alex was once an officer of the law.

Tristan was found in a field, brutally murdered. He had been tortured and left with the word CHEAT carved into his chest. Chunks of skin and muscle had been removed.

Alex and Tristan had grown up together, at one time they were really close, but decided it was more important to stay friends rather than lovers.

Alex consents to a little investigating on the side but what she finds is baffling. She thought she knew Tristan well, but there are so amy parts of his life that are missing.

And then another body is found.. in the same condition... and then a 3rd body is found.

How are they all connected? Why are these men dying? And who wants them dead?

Alex Quick is a multi-layered character. Once a Homicide Detective, she left after a contentious divorce and the loss of a child she was carrying. She is now an Art Historian and she's happy with what she does. She has feelings for the man who runs the bookstore, but won't take that first step. She's also attracted to the man who runs the drama productions, but there's something about him that she doesn't trust.

This was a well-written suspense. Lots of suspects ... but then there are all those lies and secrets that some people don't want to see the light of day. It's going to take Alex a lot of digging for the truth about her friend. And she may not like what she finds.

Many thanks to the author / Severn House Publishers Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I wasn't aware this was part of a series when I requested it, so this is my first Alex Quick story. I found it entertaining but a bit graphic, as some other reviewers have commented. It wasn't enough to really bother me, but might turn off the very squeamish!

It's been years since Alex has been a police detective... but when a friend of hers is found brutally murdered, she can't resist acquiescing to his sister's request to investigate. The victim, who she's known since she was a child, was tortured and castrated. The word "cheat" is left carved into his chest. This cannot be random, but Alex has no idea who would have such a vendetta against Tristan. As far as she knows, he didn't have any major enemies. But digging into his past raises a lot of questions... that no one who knew him seems to want to answer. What could this man Alex has such fond memories of have done to deserve such a gruesome end?

The ending was a little abrupt for me and I had a little bit of difficulty keeping track of all the characters. Alex is interesting, but I felt like I didn't know her as well as I should. Possibly because I missed the first book, but I think books in a series work best when they can easily be read as standalones. A good amount of twists and surprises made it a satisfactory read for me.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Severn House Publishers, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.