This book was written in three segments. I have to be honest and say that I had to force myself through the first part. I hated Luke right away as he evaluated every woman and bemoaned being without one. I thought Melinda was strong, but she fell into the ridiculous romantic gibberish and sex scenes willingly. Ugh. This was not a mystery! There was the potential for a great mystery so I made it to part two where we are introduced to Rae Hatting and her family. Thank you very much! The book got much better and my hope is so will the series. I'm crossing my fingers that the sad doo of a man, Luke, will be a man a pay attention to solving murders in any further books. ( )

Luke Thompson is a police detective who solved a string of serial killer cases, and then sought a more peaceful life as a detective with the police in Mendocino County, California.

Unfortunately, after a deceptive lull, he finds himself hunting a serial killer again, someone who dresses his victims as figures from fairy tales. He also finds love, in the person of an FBI profiler

Then tragedy strikes too close to home.

Luke is thrown into a tailspin, but the serial killer is still at work.

Rae Hatting, an FBI agent who is done, she thinks, with homicide investigations, is called back in for this one. She's got a double task, finding the killer, and pulling Thompson out of his funk.

It's a complicated story, with complicated characters. Everyone has a thornier background than you initially suspect. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but both the Mendocino police and the FBI are shown as made up of people who at their core are dedicated to protecting the public and doing their jobs. It's ultimately positive without being syrupy. I'm not sure I was really up for a serial killer story when I started reading this, but in the end I'm glad I read it, and will probably read more from Osborne.

Recommended.

I think I bought this book, but this is one of those occasions when I honestly don't really remember. ( )

The Fairest of Them by Heather Osborne is the first book in the Rae Hatting Mysteries. Detective Luke has been trying to solve a case involving the Fairy Tale serial killer. After an awful turn of events, Rae Hatting joins the case.

This story had a couple of things that didn't make sense to me. The romance was way too quick and the decision to leave and pack by a secondary character just didn't fit with her being a cautious person.

All in all it was an okay read. ( )

This is the second book in the Rae Hatting mysteries. It’s broken into several parts. Part one takes place in 2005 with Lucas Thompson who is investigating a possible serial killer. All the bodies are left staged as a character from a fairy tale. We follow his frustrations as the clues that he needs to capture the killer, or killers eludes him. Melinda Rawlings is an FBI profiler, who uncovers some new evidence. But as she gets closer to discovering who the killer is, she incurs his/her wrath.

After a seven year lull, another body is found posed like a fairy tale character. Devastated by his grief, Lucas has pulled away from lie, hiding away in his cabin. Wanting to catch the serial killer once and for all, Captain Frank Harris begs Rae Hatting to come investigate the murders and hopefully find them some new leads. But the biggest obstacle Rae faces is getting Lucas back on the case.

I really liked the characters of Lucas and Melinda. Their romance may have happened a little fast, but they were meant for each other. I don’t want to put out any spoilers, but Osborne did a great job with Lucas and his grief. Then Rae Hatting comes on the scene. I enjoyed the interplay between Rae and Lucas, and you could see a spark between the two.

Even though the story is told from a first person POV, there was no confusion on who was telling the story. Osborne did a good job at keeping their personalities separate. The story was fast-paced, well-written, and kept me turning the pages. As for a plot twist, I can’t say I was surprised at the ending.

My only point of contention, Frank and Lucas knew who the killer was at the end of Part One. I just couldn’t understand why they didn’t pursue their leads at that time.

If you love a good psychological thriller, with a little romance, I recommend this book. I’m looking forward to reading more about Lucas and Rae and I give the book 4 feathers ( )