Friday, August 1, 2014

A Deadly Business

WIEHL, LIS
HENRY, APRIL

A prosecutor of violent criminals. A detective on a dangerous beat. When these two pros take on an off-the-books case, the line between professional and personal becomes perilously blurred. 

When a twenty-two-year-old convict walks into the courtroom, his eyes confirm what Mia Quinn already guesses: he blames her for his conviction. In seconds, he knocks her to the ground and holds a razor blade to her throat. While she manages to escape without injury, it's just one more reminder that Mia's job prosecuting Seattle's s most dangerous criminals is far from low risk.

As a single mom, the last thing Mia wants is for her work to follow her home or discover that it already has.

Now Detective Charlie Carlson is suggesting the very thing Mia doesn't want to believe—that her accountant husband’s deadly car accident was no accident at all. When Mia and Charlie encounter resistance to reopening the case, they take the investigation into their own hands. And they find much more than they bargained for.

Was Mia's husband more than an accountant . . . and less than an honest man? As the truth becomes more shocking and the case grows more complex, her husband's killers take note of Mia . . . and her children. How far will this prosecutor go to learn the truth about her husband—and how far will she have to go to protect her family?

My Review:

A page-turning legal thriller. It is a gritty read, even grisly at times, as tension and danger and unsolved mysteries abound. I was reeling by the end, left gasping for breath as Mia hurdles into sinister danger at a break neck speed. I appreciated the fascinating legal details liberally peppered throughout. The only thing missing from this edgy read was a viable inspirational thread. Don't get me wrong, the story is good but I read Christian fiction for a reason and with a Christian publisher of this caliber, well, I was left surprised at the lack of a solid inspirational element.

My thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for a review copy of this book.

6 comments:

  1. Have you read the first book in the series? I've picked this one to review as well, but want to read the first book first. Just wondering if you had any thoughts on that....

    Great review!

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    1. Shannah, I haven't read the first book and it didn't hinder reading A Deadly Business. As far as I can tell the first book's mystery is distinct from this ones and the only overlap is that Charlie and Mia know each other -- have worked together on a case before. So this one easily reads well as a standalone.

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  2. Kav,
    I was gasping at just the description. I will definitely look the series up. I love a thriller. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I know -- a lot happens in this book. Keeps a reader on her toes.

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  3. I listened to the first book in the series on audiobook. I felt like there were too many storylines going on at once but I thought it was because it was the first book in a series and was trying to establish groundwork for books to come. Other than that, it didn't have much of an inspirational thread either, I thought this would change with the second book but I see it doesn't. Thanks for the review!

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    1. She has multiple story threads in this one too -- I think it's just a day in the life of a prosecutor on top of the actual mystery. There was the barest hint of an inspirational thread in this one and I'm thinking that maybe over the course of the series that will develop more. Definitely not as much as I am used to reading. Strange really, because that's one of the things that sets Christian fiction apart. I definitely wouldn't consider this in that genre. It's a legal thriller period.

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