Black Pearl

A body found in an abandoned building opens a case for Lt. Everett T. Pope with assistance from FBI Special Agent Brian DiPietro. A black pearl is found on the body, which reopens the unsolved case of a missing teen from years ago involving a black pearl. Brian worked the case when the teen was first found and the detectives begin by locating the friend of the teen. They are surprised when they discover that she is now a police officer, Officer Allison Shannon. Due to her familiarity with the town and the teen’s family, she joins the task force along with new agent Devon Taylor. This was a little confusing for me as story starts with an unexplained fire and characters then moves on to the body in the abandoned building. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

A gripping and engrossing book, full of suspense and entertaining.
I liked the solid mystery, the well written cast of characters and the setting.
The mystery is solid and it kept me guessing.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Donnell Ann Bell's murder mystery, psychological thriller "Black Pearl" engages me from the beginning to the end. The prologue shows an image of a man returning to the scene of a crime, where it is revealed he is gleeful in seeing this woman named Veronica dead, in a body bag. It hints somehow she brought this upon herself--that she made this dark-like figure of a man snap. "His success made him tremble with glee, and he relaxed his fist. The Tahitian pearls he'd ripped from her throat lay cool when he opened his palm. Her last moments alive had been drenched in outrage. While his had been steeped in righteous satisfaction to take something she valued over her own flesh and blood." This is his first taste of taking someone's life.

Then a gruesome murder of a young woman happens. A supervising FBI special agent, Brian DiPietro, and his team are not able to solve it. Mistakes were made. Families, friends, and a community are torn apart as a result. The case has gone cold for a good 14 years until the latest strike with the same MO brings Brian DiPietro back. This time with an assembled team of Allison Shannon, a woman who happened to be a friend of the victim and now cop, Lieutenant Everett T. Pope, and a newbie FBI, Devon Taylor. The author keeps the reader guessing until the end and beautifully ties up everything with a satisfying ending.

A fascinating mystery with an ending that I just never saw coming. Great cast of characters, Brian, Devon and Allison are each unique and compelling. Characters I really cared about and wanted to root for. The suspense was equally compelling, building with each new chapter until I was racing through, unable to put the book down.

This is the first time I have read a book by Donnell Ann Bell and it won’t be the last. I was hooked right from the start and was led through all the plot twists and turns quite willingly. This is a psychological thriller coupled with police procedural. The story is told from the different perspectives of the major characters with no rehashing of scenarios, just the story moving forward from a different viewpoint. Because the main task force characters are likeable and mesh well together, the use of different perspectives creates a fluid narrative, rather than the often cumbersome one that can result from this style of narration. This is a worthwhile read.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Black Pearl is a gripping romantic suspense. This is is well written with an edge of your seat plot. Couldn’t put this book down. So many twists and turns. I received an arc from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

A psychological thriller combined with a police procedurall a tense chilling pageturner.My favorite type of thriller one that keeps me guessing to the last page,An author I will be following.#netgalley #blackpearl

New author for me and really enjoyed this book. Hopefully there is a follow up because the characters were great. The story line invovled a cop and federal agents involved in solving a cold case murder possibly related to a present one. Full of suspense & I loved the ending.

Well written with fine characterizations and the twists just keep coming!
Many thanks to BelleBooks Inc. and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Black Pearl by Donnell Ann Bell is a psychological mystery. The police have been chasing a serial killer for 14 years. this book had a well-written plot with good characters. The authors send you down a path of well-hidden clues. Highly recommended.

A cold case heats up when a 9-1-1 call puts police at a Denver murder scene, pointing investigators to the abduction of a Colorado teenager fourteen years earlier. A calling card—a single black pearl—is found on the newest victim. Is the murder a copycat? Or has a twisted serial killer, thought dead or in prison, returned to strike again?

Soon, the hunt for a multi-state killer is on and brings together an unexpected team: a Denver Major Crimes police lieutenant; an FBI special agent who investigated the previous murders; a rookie FBI agent with a specialty in psychology; and the only living victim of the Black Pearl Killer, who is now a cop.

For Special Agent Brian DiPietro, the case is an opportunity to find answers. For Officer Allison Shannon, the case will force her to face down the town that blamed her for surviving when another did not. And for both DiPietro and Shannon, it’s a chance for both to find closure to questions that have tormented them for years.