When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise.
A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.
Release Date: Aug 27, 2024
Series: Elise King
Book: 2
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $14.99
Detective Elise King is investigating the death of Karen Simmons, who was killed on Valentine’s Day. It looks like Karen’s death may be connected to her online dating activity. Elise is feeling the pressure to solve this case, but it’s a challenge since she is still recovering from her cancer treatments.
Erica “Kiki” Nunn is a reporter who longs for the day when she was a serious crime reporter and sees a way to get back onto the assignments she loves by looking into the local dating scene for middle-aged women. Each is committed to the investigation, but neither realizes how dangerous the investigation they’re working on really is.
Technically, this book is the second in the Elise King series, but it reads like a standalone. As both Kiki and Elise look into Karen’s death, there are some very scary and all too realistic moments that can be hard to read. The book is told from both Elise’s and Kiki’s point-of-view, and I think the pacing would have been better if the book had stuck with those two narrators. However, some of the chapters are narrated by Annie Curtis, a woman whose son was killed in the same location as Karen. Her chapters give insights into the current case, but for me, it slowed the building drama that Elise and Kiki were going through.
However, I still found the book to be a tense and suspenseful book. I was actually able to predict two out of the three major twists at the end, but I still liked the book. I assume there will be a third book because one thing unrelated to the case is left unanswered at the end of this one. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as others by Barton, but she is still an author I will follow because of her memorable characters and engaging writing style.
~ Christine
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