Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed on 4/21/2022 + 1032 more book reviews

#17 in the series. Lots of backstory explanation so that it's fine for a new reader to start here, and so much that for me it was annoying. Brady is in fine form again, delegating with reluctance even though she knows she has capable subordinates, still dealing with mommy issues, and habitually late for dinner. I like most of the regular supporting characters too and glad to see Montoya again. But IMO, Jance did a poor job with presenting the mystery. Giant leaps in logic from all the law enforcement, not to mention all the suspects go right along with it too. We readers know it's a murder mystery but the characters aren't supposed to right up front. Two bodies at the bottom of a cliff, with no signs of any injuries other than the fall - your mind does not automatically leap to homicide. Or a lesbian murder-suicide, which comes up too many times in the first part with absolutely no supporting evidence. And weird errors, like why would a microbiologist be cataloging cacti? Why was the FBI there anyway, it wasn't really a kidnapping. Brady tells the FBI agent that slick mud is caliche, which is so wrong that I almost quit there. Then with 3 pages to go, there's a scene where they release a ton of balloons, thereby trashing the environment with plastic crap for years to come - I hate people who do that so much that I wanted to throw it across the room. I could go on. But I finished it, it's a pretty fast read, and I mostly liked how Jance handled (oops no spoilers) what one victim was really up to. I have liked most of the series but I'll think twice before spending time on another.

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