I was so excited to receive this book to read and review it! I jumped right into it and read it straight through. The story moved around from 3 different historical sequences, tied together with a unifying theme of 3 murders with the same descriptions. I enjoyed the characters which were also part of the history, with a new Chief from the past who also has connections to Russ and his mother. In fact, the connections with the past were the parts I enjoyed the most, finding out new information about Russ and his family.
I found the present-day story a bit disjointed, and was looking forward to reading more about Russ and Clare with their new addition. Somehow the reality of working and a new baby seemed to decimate the relationship between them (which had been the foundation of previous books). I get that that can happen when a new baby comes along, but this is still a work of fiction and there can be some license here....
So much was happening, what with the fate of the police department, the new baby, 3 crimes of long past, past, and present, a new intern for Clare and the work situation, her addiction, Kevin and Hadley....I wondered if it was a bit ambitious. But the writing style is great, vintage Spencer-Fleming, and I still could give it 4 stars. At one point I wondered if this was the final book; perhaps the last few chapters can give an answer...I don't want to spoil anything! I was sent this book to review and tried to give an unbiased presentation.
I found the present-day story a bit disjointed, and was looking forward to reading more about Russ and Clare with their new addition. Somehow the reality of working and a new baby seemed to decimate the relationship between them (which had been the foundation of previous books). I get that that can happen when a new baby comes along, but this is still a work of fiction and there can be some license here....
So much was happening, what with the fate of the police department, the new baby, 3 crimes of long past, past, and present, a new intern for Clare and the work situation, her addiction, Kevin and Hadley....I wondered if it was a bit ambitious. But the writing style is great, vintage Spencer-Fleming, and I still could give it 4 stars. At one point I wondered if this was the final book; perhaps the last few chapters can give an answer...I don't want to spoil anything! I was sent this book to review and tried to give an unbiased presentation.