Gemma Guillory has lived in the Australian Outback enclave of Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny, red-dust town’s ins and outs by heart, knows the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own.
She also knows her once charming town is now remembered for one reason and one reason only: three innocent people died there at the hands of a serial killer. The last stop on the Rainier Ripper’s trail of deaths fifteen years ago was her picturesque little tea shop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her policeman husband and their marriage to this day, and some of her neighbors are desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier’s notoriety as the “Murder Town.”
When the tour guide is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma’s doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer’s wake explodes into the light, and Gemma is drawn into the investigation. Unbeknownst to her, so is a prisoner named Lane Holland, a former private investigator who earned a living cracking cold cases before he ran afoul of the law.
Gemma knows her town. She knows her people. Doesn’t she?
Release Date: Nov 5, 2024
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: PI Lane Holland
Book: 2
Imprint: William Morrow
Price: $12.99
Gemma Guillory and the rest of the Australian town of Ranier will never be the same since a serial killer claimed three lives fifteen years ago. Now, a tourism company wants to cash in on the town’s infamy by leading tours at some of the landmarks associated with those crimes. The town is split, with some finding this appalling and others eager for the potential revenue it could bring to local businesses. Then a copycat killing occurs which has the whole town again living in fear.
Murder Town is the second book in the PI Lane Holland series, but it works perfectly as a standalone. Lane has a completely different role in this book, and the information you need about him is included in the story. He begins investigating the original deaths while tea shop owner Gemma is also investigating. Gemma knows the town and the people and uses that knowledge to look into the crimes. I liked Gemma a lot and was pulling for her to succeed in the investigation and in her personal life. Lane is an experienced PI, but his circumstances limit what he can do.
Everyone in the town is connected, and it was sometimes hard to keep all the relationships straight. Some of the characters really stood out, in both good and bad ways, but others blended together since so many local residents are a part of the story. I was intrigued by what happened in both the old and the new cases and the book kept my attention. Overall, I really enjoyed this tense, atmospheric story and all of its twists and turns. The very end of the book has an interesting development, and I really hope it sets up a third book in the series.
~ Christine
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