In the stark light of dawn, the young couple are laid out on their backs by the dying campfire, their hands clasped between them. Their eyes are open, but their hearts are cold… her abusive mother is dying, Josie suspects this is more than just accidental poisoning, and she’s right: someone jammed a crudely carved pendant necklace down Valerie’s throat before she died.
Combing the area, Josie’s team discover a third sleeping bag indicating there could have been an extra guest around the fire that night. A lucky escape? A missing victim? Or a suspect on the run? Finding this person is the key to the entire investigation…
Trawling the couple’s photo albums for clues, Josie can’t imagine why anyone might want to harm these smiling, carefree young lovers. Until a face in one of the pictures stops her in her tracks and leads her to a farmhouse hidden deep within the forest – a special place where people go to escape, and to hide. There they meet a young girl with frightened eyes and bandaged wrists who knows more than she is saying. But the next day she’s found dead, choked with a matching necklace…
With her mother’s life hanging by a thread, Josie has an impossible decision to make. But first she must find the meaning of the pendant and catch this twisted killer before another innocent life is taken. Is she already too late?
An addictive and gripping crime thriller from an Amazon, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Readers who love Robert Dugoni, Angela Marsons and Rachel Caine will be sleeping with the lights on after this rollercoaster of a read.
Readers adore Cold Heart Creek:
‘OMG… WOW WOW WOW!!!! This book is just fantastic. Totally gripped me from the first page to the last. This story takes you on a cracker of a ride, a ride that I didn’t want to end. I was totally immersed in the story… I love everything there is about Lisa Regan’s books. I cannot recommend highly enough this page turner of a book. 5 stars all the way. Just wish I could give it more.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Amazing story… one heck of an intriguing mystery!… As soon as I started reading, I didn’t want to put it down! It’s like you’re right there with Josie and her team and you can almost feel the same exhaustion that they do… I just love this series and I have no idea how I’m going to make it until the next book comes out!’ Netgalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Perfect, wonderful and brilliant!!… her best one yet… astounding… everything you want in a police procedural with a whole lot more… so well written, the characters are all totally believable and none of it is ever predictable… much, much more than just a crime novel and each book is a 5 star read and more. So totally recommended. Lisa Regan you are a star, it’s a fabulous read.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘You cannot think about anything else except finishing it and getting all the answers… a perfectly paced and plotted police procedural that you do not want to miss!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Wow, this was a great book! I read it in one sitting. I could not put it down… There are so many twists and turns. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. I highly recommend this book. I give it 5 stars.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘GO AND READ THIS NAIL-BITING, UNPUTDOWNABLE BOOK.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 starsmore
Of all the emotions I’ve felt while reading the Detective Josie Quinn books, this is the first time I’ve ugly cried while reading one. You could say it’s because I’ve grown attached to these characters, or because, on some level, I can relate to them, but it’s not that. It’s the incredible writing and storytelling by Lisa Regan. I truly experienced every emotion while reading this story.
There’s some seriously dark stuff in this book and some dark people. With such a wide cast of characters, I never knew what to believe or who to trust. That’s the beauty of the writing. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the world would shift and I’d be questioning everything again. Lisa Regan weaved a tale that had me second-guessing everything. Just when I thought I could trust someone, new revelations would come to light. And just when I thought all was lost, and Josie would never unravel the web of lies, things shifted again and I was left shocked by the outcome.
I’m not even sure what else to say about this story without giving something away. It’s light and it’s dark. It’s exhausting and it’s invigorating. It’s love and it’s hate. It’s an example of how horrible humans can be to each other, and an example of how kind they can be—or of how resilient they can be.
Masterfully plotted and written, this series, and this book will cause you to lose sleep. I’m yawning as I type this because I stayed up too late and then woke too early because I knew I was soooo close to finishing and I had to know! I had to finish!
Another incredible 5-star read from Lisa Regan, and undoubtedly destined to be a best-seller!
COLD HEART CREEK by Lisa Regan is the seventh book in the Detective Josie Quinn series. This book worked well as a standalone novel for me, but the previous books would likely add more background and show character evolution over time.
This story takes place in and around Denton, Pennsylvania. When a park ranger finds two bodies near Cold Heart Creek, Detective Josie Quinn and her boyfriend, Lieutenant Noah Fraley and many others from the Denton police force work the case. When combing the area, a third sleeping bag is found and the team is not only looking for cause of death for the couple, but looking for the third person that was camping with them.
Josie and Noah are compelling characters and someone you can root for. They felt real and three-dimensional and definitely had both flaws and virtues. Their motivations were believable and the secondary characters were well-rounded and contributed to the story rather than detracting from it. There were plenty of plot twists and turns as well as red herrings. While the romantic relationship between Josie and Noah was weaved into the plot, it did not detract from the story line.
Themes weaved into this novel include domestic violence, PTSD, a strange commune, murder, caverns, heat, rain, kidnapping and much more. This was a complicated case and Josie and the team had to cut through the lies in order to find the truth.
Overall, I was hooked immediately in the first chapter and the pages kept turning. The novel kept me engaged throughout. I recommend this book to those that enjoy thrillers, great police procedurals and those that enjoy this series. While not absolutely necessary, I would recommend reading the series in order to gain more insight into the characters. I look forward to the next book in this series.
Thanks to Bookouture and Lisa Regan for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
Lisa Regan is a rising star in this genre and her depiction of a flawed but morally upstanding female detective has set her apart in the industry often overshadowed by male authors. No one tells a tale like Lisa Regan does. Cold Heart Creek is everything you expect from a Josie Quinn novel and SO much more. This is truly a walk through the dark side of humanity done in a way that never snuffs out the light completely. The verse, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it” played through my mind while I read, but I inherently knew the darkness would not overcome HER.
Josie was dealing with a lot when the book opens. She’s suffering from terrifying nightmares when confronted with the imminent death of the woman who she believed was her mother, but was actually a monster in the darkness. Not ready to deal with the past, Josie and Noah throw themselves into their new case; the deaths of two campers and the third one missing. What starts out as a straightforward murder investigation quickly spirals into a tale of twisted and depraved minds and lifestyles. The tales Lisa weaves are complicated and the tendrils are many, but there’s one thing you can be assured of; she will unravel each thread slowly, precisely, and with the utmost suspense until you cannot think about anything else except finishing it and getting all the answers.
I’m not one to rehash the whole plot, but I will say, this is about more than a dead couple and their missing friend. This is about the demons we ALL fight and the different paths we choose to take in order to win the battle. Some choose wisely, like Josie Quinn, who in the end, shined brightly in the darkness because she is the light. Cold Heart Creek is a perfectly paced and plotted police procedural that you do not want to miss!
This was a wonderful romantic suspense. A real page-turner. I love this series.
Two dead bodies, camping in the woods. A missing woman. A pregnant woman stumbling out of the woods on the road, and a “cult”. Josie Quinn and her team race to find the missing woman, and come up with more questions. There was so much going on in this book. I didn’t feel lost at all though. Another great installment.
There are truly disturbed people in this world and Josie knows that. The woman she believed to be her mother messed up her life. Now she can’t sleep at night without nightmares about her childhood. And the new case she takes on is going to make things worse. Josie has to ask herself if getting in touch with her dark side would be her salvation or her downfall. This series keeps getting better and better. I really enjoy every new book and highly recommend the Josie Quinn series, it’s well written, suspenseful and addictive.
Detective Josie Quinn and her partner at work and home, Lt. Noah Fraley, are called to a possible murder scene in the woods. A young couple are dead, lying next to each other and holding hands. There is a third sleeping bag, but no third victim. As they search for the possible missing person, they come upon an area called the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is supposed to be a place of peace and recovery, but is it really? While there, Josie interacts with a young woman who is scared, but will not accept her help. Josie has been suffering nightmares about her childhood and the abusive woman, now dying in prison, who raised her. She continues to deal with the years of her life that was stolen, from her and her real family, by this woman. Is it time to forgive and let go of the past? An amazing series that I highly recommend…the cases are complex and the characters continue to grow along with the stories. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
Another amazing story in this series from Lisa Regan! This time around, Detective Josie Quinn and her team are searching for a missing third camper that they believe fled the scene of a murder & robbery out in the middle of the woods. Is the third camper the killer or another victim? Their search finds them combing through the deep woods and coming upon ‘The Sanctuary,’ a cult-like group of people who live off of the land as they retreat from society. They’re not helpful with the police inquiries and Josie is determined to find out how much they know and what they are hiding. Add to this a mysterious hermit that lives in these same woods and lives in underground caverns, and you have one heck of an intriguing mystery!
Although a hidden cult and hermit in the woods may sound over the top, it’s definitely not. The landscape is bleak, the forests are dark and who knows what else is out there? As is typical with this series, as soon as I started reading I didn’t want to put it down! It’s like you’re right there with Josie and her team and you can almost feel the same exhaustion that they do, working tirelessly to bring the killer to justice. That’s one of the things I love about these books, clues don’t magically appear, killers don’t confess, and the cases aren’t easy. It’s through steely physical detective work that they get the job done. I just love this series and I have no idea how I’m going to make it until the next book comes out!
Detective Josie Regan wakes up in the middle of the night screaming… sometimes she’s on the floor, covered in sweat and tears. Her childhood was horrifying and she still suffers today. Her so-called mother is in prison and is dying. Her other wants her to come see her before her death … but Josie wants no part of this evil, evil, monster.
She’s trying to not let this interfere with her latest case. A married couple is found in the woods near a creek. What starts out as an apparent accidental poisoning changes when a pendant necklace is found jammed down the woman’s throat.
Toss in another missing woman from the campsite, add yet another woman, pregnant, who is found by Josie and her colleague, as well as lover, in the middle of nowhere, a kind of sanctuary, maybe a cult full of people living off the grid and you have the makings of a powerful story.
For those who have followed this series, you will find this a welcome addition. Although this is 7th in the series, it reads easily as a stand alone… but it would be much more beneficial to start at the beginning for the backstory of Josie, plus how her relationship with Noah has weathered many storms.
This is a well written crime fiction, with the usual ups and downs and twists and turns, as are all this author’s books. All the characters are standout and unforgettable. The story is a real page turner.
Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
I loved this book; it was like watching an episode of my favorite crime tv show (pick one, I love most of them). The detail was plentiful, the characters were realistic, and the plot was well-paced. I especially liked how the author wove everything together slowly until it was a complete story with all aspects of the case wrapped up. This is the seventh in the series, but the first I have read, and references to past events were not confusing (they just made me want to read the first six books). I definitely recommend this book! For a full review, please see my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of this book.
Cold Heart Creek by Lisa Regan
Detective Josie Quinn #7
Nightmares are plaguing Josie’s sleep making it difficult to get enough sleep. Having murders to solve and missing people to find seems to increase her stress and keep her nightmares coming. The fact that the woman she has believed was her mother is dying and wants to see her one more time only compounds the emotional issues she has to deal with while trying to solve the mystery of who killed a young married couple and what happened to the woman that was camping with them. Throw ins a crazy cult and you have the makings of an intense action-packed murder mystery that kept me reading throughout the day. This is the second book in this series that I have read and I had no trouble following without having read the entire series. I would at some point like to go back and read the first books to find out more about Josie and how she ended up where she is and how she and Noah ended up together.
What I liked:
* Josie Quinn – a woman who has suffered much but come through stronger in the long run. She has a wonderful job and warm caring boyfriend along with a support group that includes the people she works with as well as her biological family recently reunited with.
* Noah – Josie’s boyfriend is a warm, loving and caring man who is there for Josie through good times and bad.
* Josie’s team – such a wonderful group of people
* The story – the way it was written had me thoroughly invested and hoping for a good ending for those I grew to care for.
* The baddies were caught and put away
What I did not like:
* The baddies – definitely creepy and in need of incarceration
* How warped and twisted some people in the story truly were
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
This author can weave a tale that always takes you on a journey but it’s never in a straight line and it never ends the way you expect it to. In a genre that is over saturated it’s nice to get the unexpected every book.
Josie childhood was horrific and she still has nightmares over it but she has never let that interfere with any investigation she is assigned. What started out as finding a married couple dead in the forest from an apparent poisoning morphed into an insane story.
I love that I never know what I am going to get story wise in this series from book to book and always look forward to the next one.
4.5 stars for me
Book 7 in the Josie Quinn series and each book gets better than the last !
Josie and Noah are investigating the death of 2 campers and disapperance of another. The case leads them a cult which results in not one or two but many suspects.
The pages turn quickly and I never saw the ending coming . Twists and turns will keep you reading.
Dont miss this book or the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read Cold Heart Creek.
This is the 7th book in the Detective Josie Quinn series. It was another great book. It was a slower reading book this time about a husband and wife found dead in the woods and a missing girl. It kept you reading trying to find out who the girl was where she was and what actually happened at the camp site. Had a great twist at the end. Really enjoyed this one.