Perfect for fans of Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles and Kathy Reichs, comes an explosive debut thriller about a team of two strong women and a crime that will shake you to your core.Three separate homicides. Three unrelated victims. One grisly secret.When the body of famous actress Niki Francis is unearthed from its shallow grave, the small town of Medford, Oregon is alarmed, but not shook. … Medford, Oregon is alarmed, but not shook. After all, there should be plenty of motives and suspects–Niki had fame, wealth, looks. The kill was targeted, premeditated, and it’s about her celebrity. Or so they thought.
Whit McKenna is licking her wounds, working as a reporter for the local Medford rag. Fresh from a harrowing assignment for her previous post at the L. A. Times which cost her her husband, Whit must pull herself together for the sake of her two daughters. The wound has hardly begun to scab when she’s called to cover the murder, so she teams up with her best friend, medical examiner Katie Riggs. Then two more victims turn up, completely disconnected from one another, and McKenna loses all hope of a breakthrough.
Rather than clarity, the possible suspects and motives become scrambled. But time is running out, and each front page article McKenna writes brings her closer to a killer who will stop at nothing to realize a deadly vision.
more
A nonstop thrill ride! Turn the first page and you’re hooked. And Greer has given us one of the most memorable heroes in recent crime fiction, Whit McKenna—love her!
This is the first of the McKenna and Riggs novels that I’ve read, and it had me hooked from the beginning. The characters are real, with faults of their own. Still, they are smart and and driven, it’s the case that’s twisted. The writing pulls you in and make you want to call in sick to work!
This is a great book, I would definitely read her series, if the author proceeds to write more with the main two characters. A really good read!
Twists and turns? Check! Characters you root for? Check. A DESPERATE PLACE by Jennifer Greer is one of those books you stay up all night telling yourself, “Just one more chapter,” until you turn the last incredibly satisfying page. Yes, it’s that good. More McKenna and Riggs? Yes, please. I highly recommend!
Two and a half stars. Too slow. Better writing than a lot of the stuff currently out there and the main characters were kind of interesting (hence the second and third stars) but the story seemed to me to drag. I gave up after a little more than 25%.
Greer has painted an authentic and colorful tapestry of small town Medford, she has me wishing I’d been invited into the tight knit circle of [the cast]. Hard to believe this is Greer’s first novel. More, please! I’m hooked.
When Whit McKenna, investigative reporter, realizes that a man was in the house that caught fire, she had no idea that his death would be a murder and would lead her to the case of her life. When the body of a local celebrity and actress is found in a shallow grave, her autopsy will have chilling similarities to the man’s autopsy. As Whit digs deeper in to the first man’s death, for his wife, she realizes that she is putting her life on the line. She gets closer to finding the killer, with help from her friend Katie Riggs a Detective with the Medical Examiner’s Office. Whit is still dealing with the trauma and death of her husband in Afghanistan as is her two daughters. Will she be able survive her investigation and stay one step ahead of the killer? A spine-chilling medical thriller. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
3 and 1 / 2 stars
Two very different women are very good friends in this book. News reporter Whit McKenna teams up with her friend medical examiner detective Katie Riggs to investigate the death of a well known actress. Both women are recovering from life threatening and harrowing experiences.
Niki Francis’ body is found in a shallow grave near Medford, Oregon partially eaten by a bear. Who would want to kill the popular actress? Was it a case of a celebrity stalker? The surfacing of more bodies puts paid to that theory.
This is a very slow moving story. I kept stopping and going back to it. The writing was very well done and the book was easy to read. I had problems with the pacing though. I kept wanting the action to hurry up and get to it. I like that the novel starred two women who overcame adversity to carry on their lives successfully.
I want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for forwarding to me a copy of this fairly good book for me to read, enjoy and review.