Like the last Ali Reynolds book, I think there are too many subplots which detract from the main story here, which is the murder of a gold digging divorcee. The ex-husband and his girlfriend are arrested based on some reasonable evidence and Ali is hired by the girlfriend's mother to do an investigative story. Meanwhile, a second murder is discovered nearby of an ex-con, who has suddenly come into money. As always, Ali gets too close to the truth and is captured by the perpetrators and, once again, escapes narrowly with her life, due to the diligence of her boyfriend's technology company and her ex-Royal Marine manservant. ( )

Fascinating, fast read. ( )

Thought I liked J.A. Jance, but after this novel, not so sure. This book has two elements I really dislike. First, the mystery amazingly solves itself in the very end of the book, with a suspect from left field; as a reader, I like to try and solve the case as I am reading the books, following the same clues. Second, I greatly dislike the dropping of brand names throughout the book; feels like product placement. Porsche, iPhones, iPads, The Ritz, Mercedes, and so on... please stop! By using brand names, you are not making the items more real. ( )

This is one of the better Ali Reynolds mysteries. Jance's Sheriff Brady and JP Beaumont series are consistently good. This series has been uneven. Ali becomes in two intertwining mysteries. AJ, a teen boy, is involved with a murder when he follows his estranged father's instructions and discovers a dying woman. Chip, a prominent physician, and his girlfriend Lynn are charged with the murder of Chip's ex-wife. Family problems abound in both families - an ex-con father who suddenly has lots of cash, a mother with Alzheimers, an ex-wife preferred over the new girlfriend, a son nearly disowned while a scheming sister is allowed to control the family fortune. Meanwhile Ali and her "partner" rethink their relationship.
The characters are believable, the dialogue is realistic. The pacing picks up as the tension increases. Altogether a good read.
I would have preferred fewer "commercials" - we really don't need to know that B has an Enterprise rental or the brand names of other products. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless. ( )

I have to say that this is the first Ali Reynolds mystery that I have read. I know eight books into a series that there would be a lot of background information that I would be missing out on. As I was reading, I didn’t feel that I needed all that information. It would have helped me understand the main characters actions but wasn’t necessary to the storyline.

Former reporter Ali Reynolds learns that someone she knows is suspected in the killing of her current boyfriend’s ex-fiance. Lynn Martinson, the suspect and former victim of Richard Lowensdale, who Ali helped bring in. Ali is asked by Lynn’s mother to help her daughter because she knows that someone else was responsible for Gemma Ralston’s murder.

Not only has Gemma’s body been found but also another man’s body was found not far from her. With the possibility of the two deaths related, the police and Ali try to connect dots that don’t seem to be matching up. And so starts another plot line in Jance’s novel. This one involves a boy named A.J. Sanders whose father was a criminal but who mysteriously shows back up and buys him a car for his 16th birthday and tells him of a secret box that holds the key to paying for his collage. On his quest to find this chest he stumbles upon a woman dying and in the hopes of saving her he sends a text to 911 only to realize if he is found at the crime scene then his mother will find out about his skipping school and his father’s secret stash. A.J. leaves the scene of the crime leaving behind his shovel.

As the clues keep piling up the reader starts to wonder if this case will ever get solved. With several plot lines weaving in and around each other I was left confused because of the amount of heavy details that seemed to have no reason being added except maybe to confuse the reader, I had to give this a little lower rating. But in the end, this was a nice light mystery read and I think if you are a devoted J.A. Jance fan you won’t be disappointed. I for one will be looking to start this series from the beginning because I want to know more about Ali’s life.

(I received this audiobook from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced my review.) ( )