Bobbi caught a glimpse of the car, saw the blood splashed across the front seats, and felt the nausea rise up. It should have been her who was working last night, not Harriet. It should have been her.
When a social worker is brutally murdered, Detectives Mike Nelson and Lena Overton are straight on the scene. But with a long list of potential suspects, can they work out who’s next before the killer strikes again?
It’s Lake Haven’s first murder in eighteen years, and the community is terrified – especially Bobbi, who was not only supposed to be on duty that night, but also has the same long dark hair as Harriet and drives the same blue car. Now Bobbi lives in constant fear that the murderer will be back for her…
When Mike and Lena make a link to a missing-persons case and uncover a wide-spread grudge against social services, they know they’re close to uncovering the killer – but can they connect the last few dots and stop him before he takes another victim?
An addictive, page-turning thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end. If you love Robert Dugoni, John Sandford or Karin Slaughter, Next to Die is for you.
My Review:
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley.
Set in Lake Haven, this US based novel raises many issues with themes such as abuse, trust, fear, secrets, the past and a search for justice – to name just a few of the things that will engross you in this novel!
A quiet town in New York state becomes unravelled when the first murder in eighteen years throws the residents and has the local police teaming up with NY State Police on the hunt for a killer. I thought the plot and narrative in this page-turning read was extremely well developed and authentic. The procedural side of things was believable without being over-the-top manual style and clearly the author did some research in this area. I felt this story was more plot driven than character driven and even though I love my characters, I was so intrigued by the storyline, it all just worked extremely well!
The main protagonist: Roberta Noelle (or Bobbi) works in the Child Protection Services and when her colleague ends up dead, she fears that she was the original target. You see, Bobbi has a past and a few secrets of her own and when more bodies are uncovered…you begin to fear for Bobbi too! ? I loved her character, she was clever, down to earth and even a bit overly-anxious. Totally likeable and realistic given the circumstances she finds herself in!
For me, Lena & Mike stole the show in this novel. Lena works for Laken Haven police while Mike is a NY state trooper. We see their relationship develop throughout the novel and although they are polar opposites…TOTALLY….they just somehow worked so well together and it was easy to see how they paired. Don’t be fooled though, this is not a romatic suspense novel …I just loved this aspect of the story- Lena being so sassy and roguish almost to Mike’s “by the book” personality! Perfect!!
There are many more characters that feed into developing this storyline, including the killer – I have to say, my detective skills were on fire as I sussed it well before the reveal. Saying that, I was still not 100% sure, and raced through the pages to see if I was correct!
The question is, would I recommend this book? Hell yeah! If you like intense, criminal focussed police procedurals that have you turning yourself into an amateur sleuth, this badboy is right up your street. Not complicated, just a down-right cleverly written story that really kept me guessing! BOOM! ??
