A Message in Blood

This is the latest part in the Chiara Corelli Mystery series and as far as I’m concerned the best one yet. I should say upfront, this book won’t be for everyone, it deals with the very difficult topic of child sex-trafficking and discusses this in graphic detail at times, however the uncomfortable nature of the topic is outweighed by the underlying relationships that thrive in this book.

Chiara is now beginning to gain public awareness for her work in a good light again after her previous battles due to her undercover work. Chiara is more aware of her own issues, especially with her PTSD and is more open to confronting her feelings and behaviours towards others. This growth from book one is one of my favourite parts of this book.

There is a general awareness throughout the book of how people interact with each other in all of the horrible ways. It discusses racism, cops, politicians, the military, family and many other things with an honesty that I found refreshing and at times profound. The way Maiorisi weaves these concepts through the narrative, giving each its moment and relevance to the overall narrative is masterfully done.

The complicated elements of love and loss and moving on are looked from many different perspectives. Chiara is opening her heart to the possibility of a relationship with Brett, and I especially love how Brett approaches this with her. P.J. has her own battles to fight with her past, and I love how she has grown and fits together with Chiara and her family.

Family is at the heart of much of the narrative, both in positive and negative ways. Chiara’s sister and her story arc in this book actually made me cry.

The mystery element of the book was done really well. As I mentioned it revolves around the very difficult topic of child sex trafficking and is graphic at times, so I had to take a break at times, but I think it’s done in a realistic and non-gratuitous manner. We’re kept in suspense until the very end as to the perpetrator and I enjoyed the twists that came with this storyline.

Whilst the book covers many hard topics, I find that upon reflection the feeling I was left with when I finished reading was warmth. Maiorisi finishes this book in a way that would neatly tie up the series should this be her choice, but I have to say I would love for her to continue to tell Chiara and P.J’s stories, especially at this high standard.

If you haven’t started this series yet, do.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the third book in this mystery series. Detectives Chiara Corelli and P.J. Parker were handpicked to solve a very disturbing case. Three prominent men were murdered during a sex orgy: a senator, a pastor of a renowned church, and a music industry billionaire. That alone made this a highly sensitive case, but the message on the mirror, written in blood, described the heinous behavior of those murdered and the possible widespread fallout for those involved.

I enjoyed the relationship growth between the two partners and how they dealt with past emotional issues. I also liked how Parker shared her past in order to help others faced with the same issues. These were extremely emotional scenes.

There were also a few other deeply moving emotional scenes between Corelli and her family members, such as the conversation Chiara had with her brother-in-law about reconnecting with his gay son. However, I felt the most heartfelt and and heartbreaking scenes involved Chiara’s sister and her involvement with the case. On a personal level, Corelli and Parker each had someone special in their lives and the initial stages of romance blossomed.

I applaud the author for writing about a difficult topic concerning children. It’s a topic that needs to be written about and read because it deals with real life and crimes against the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society. I know some readers tend to shy away from certain topics because of the details. You don’t need to do so with this story. The author does not give any graphic details concerning the victims; instead she skillfully targets the detectives’ rage and anger at those responsible for the crimes committed and empathetic and compassionate scenes with the victims.

This was a very fast paced and well written mystery. There were many different characters involved within this storyline which added to the realistic feel of it.

Since this is a series, reading the other two books will give you additional background information on the characters. However, the author does provide snippets of information to help with the understanding. But no matter what, this is the book to read.

An ARC was given in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. Another excellent murder mystery! This book is part 3 of the ‘Chiara Corelli Mystery’ series. Each book has its own mystery and can be read as a standalone in that respect, but I do think you’d miss out on some deeper insights into the mains; Detectives Chiara Corelli and P.J. Parker (and you’d miss out on some great books).

I remember reading the first book and not particularly liking Chiara at the start, but as it turned out, she is fighting her own demons (grief, PTSD) which causes her to lash out at others including those who want to help her. In book 1, I was slowly warming up to her towards the end. In book 2, she still has her moments, but I started to understand her and even though she’s still not always the nicest person you can see she is a good and loyal person. In this book, she’s acknowledging and working on her issues and I was absolutely rooting for her. I just loved to follow her on her journey. In this third installment you also get to know more about P.J.’s history, which has not been easy and I enjoyed the partnership between her and Chiara. They are so different, but they work. As this book is told in the third person from Chiara’s POV, you get more insight in Chiara than in P.J., but P.J.’s character still has plenty of depth. While there is a very slow-burn romance (not between the mains) spanning the three books, this is not the main focus and I wouldn’t recommend these books for the romance, although it is a nice added bonus.

These books are to be read for the mysteries and they are so good! This one starts out with the murder of three prominent men. They appear to have been murdered during a sex orgy, but soon they discover the involvement of children. Obviously, it is all politically sensitive and in no time the investigation is very intricate and I was engrossed until the end. Quite a lot of people are involved in the investigation and I found myself going over the details again after finishing the book. There are some things that might be a bit much of a coincidence for it to be completely realistic, but they did add to the mystery and I greatly enjoyed how everything was build up. There was one minor detail that still doesn’t seem to completely add up for me, (that’s the nerd in me, I have to understand everything), but it didn’t reduce my enjoyment of the book. The topic of (sexual) child abuse and trafficking is hard to stomach, but I felt that Maiorisi made good choices of adding enough detail for a police investigation, without becoming too explicit.

This is not a particularly short book (my reader indicated 285 pages), but, as there was so much information, the wrap up still felt a bit quick. However, everything from the murder case to their personal lives was addressed. I’m not sure if this is the last book of the series, but it could very well be. If it is, I’m happy with the ending, but at the same time I’m sad that there will be no more stories with P.J. and Chiara.

I love old-school murder mysteries and this is one of the better mysteries that I’ve read in a long time and I definitely recommend this book.

Before I read this book I read the first two because I wanted to know the MCs better.

Detective Chiara is a strong and brave woman she suffer loss does the right thing even if she knows it will hurt her. Rookie Detective P..J. is just as strong and brave who been through a lot in her life also but came out better for it.

They both are called to a scene where three important men are found murder and naked which looks like they were having a sex party but what more disturbing is what they find when they go upstairs that’s breaks their hearts.

As they investigate they keeps certain facts close because they don’t know if this was vigilante killing because of what they find out about these men or where they killed for something else all entirely.

I like that this author didn’t put the MCs together all though I like their dynamic I was kinda hoping they would but the love interests both the MCs have fit more for them even though we see more of Chiara love life then P.J. at the moment. I like the comment when Chiara say why every case we work on always involves a family member not being involve but some how connected without realizing it. Chiara has such a compassion family I do hope we get to see Chiara reconciliation with her parents especially her father.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.