A body lies beside Kettlewell Creek, the waters rushing and churning next to her broken form. When Detective Josie Quinn arrives at the scene, she finds few clues and a victim with no enemies. Nineteen-year-old Sharon Eddy was cherished by her beloved grandmother, who raised her, and her death shocks the Denton community where she worked at the local animal hospital.

When Josie is called to the morgue to hear the results of Sharon’s autopsy, the case takes a sinister turn. She is horrified to see that a mark has been burned on to Sharon’s left hip with a cattle brand: a horseshoe shot through with an arrow. Shaken and terrified, the usually cool and collected Medical Examiner Anya Feist lifts her own top to show Josie an identical mark. Ten years ago, Anya fled her hometown after her marriage to her high school sweetheart ended in terror.

But Josie can find nothing to connect Anya’s ex-husband Vance Hadlee to the murder. Her search of his family farm leads to more questions than answers.

Then another body is found. A young woman in a red coat, lying in her final resting place, her hip bearing the same tell-tale horseshoe mark. As Josie gets closer to finding the truth, the killer creeps ever closer to home, threatening the lives of those Josie loves the most. Can she put together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle before it’s too late?

49 Chp | 340pg | 2 Day Read | Paperback

I bought 12 books on holiday. I started to read one, but I ended up giving it to mum as I couldn’t get on with it (Eight Detectives). This is the second book I picked up to read. As you know I’m a massive fan of Lisa Regan’s work and this series, the Josie Quinn series is the longest detective series I own.

In true Regan fashion, this book follows the past of one of the key characters. This time it was Doctor Anya Feist, the pathologist. This character has been an instrumental part of the series.

The plot was complicated with many twisted avenues that crossed over each other. It didn’t make it overly confusing, but it worked well as a ruse to still the reader from working things out too quickly.

This book has 3 current murders, 1 past murder, and a ton of secrets that are more tangled than my headphones wire! I guessed part of the mystery but the other part I only realised when the reveal was happening.

The plot of this felt different because there were more characters involved and more sub-plots that ran together but also mingled together. Both Josie and Noah had to work hard on this case, actually, the whole team got involved and very invested in solving the multiple cases.

In a sense, there was a running theme of the perils of small-town gossip and unfounded judgements. It definitely shed light on something which still occurs in the present day.

Within all the secrets kept and discovered, the decisions of the characters involved showed the human capacity on different ends of the extreme.

This book had a part that rocked me to pieces, I won’t spill what this is but it might be handy to read with tissues nearby!

There was also a change to Josie’s character, it wasn’t explosive or shock absorbing, but it did feel like the right move for the character, so I am interested in seeing how that progresses.

Book 18 is already hitting the Kindle store, so I’m sure I’ll get the paperback edition soon.

I give this book: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐