A young private investigator learns the price of keeping deadly secrets when a vicious killer sets his sights on her in this pulse-pounding thriller from the USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author. Private investigator Kira Vance spends her days navigating the intricate labyrinth of Houston’s legal world, and she knows all of its shadowy players and dark secrets. On a seemingly normal … secrets. On a seemingly normal day, she’s delivering a report to her top client when suddenly everything goes sideways and the meeting ends in a bloodbath. Twenty-four hours later, the police have no suspects but one thing is clear: a killer has Kira in his sights.
Fiercely independent, Kira doesn’t expect–or want–help from anyone, least of all an unscrupulous lawyer and his elite security team. Instead, she launches her own investigation, hoping to uncover the answers that have eluded the police. But as Kira’s hunt for clues becomes more and more perilous, she realizes that she alone may hold the key to finding a vicious murderer. And she knows she must take help wherever she can find it if she wants to stay alive…
Written with Laura Griffin’s signature “gritty, imaginative, sexy” (Cindy Gerard, New York Times bestselling author) style, Her Deadly Secrets is an electrifying and scintillating novel that packs a powerful punch.
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This book is a prime example of why I love this author’s writing.
Each story is set in or around Texas, the primary characters either working in/with the forensics team of the world-famous Delphi center. As per her style, the H/h are complex characters, bright and dedicated to their job. Even though there are a number of books in the series, the author does a wonderful job of giving the perfect amount of backstory to keep the reader informed but not bogged down with extraneous details.
Without giving away plot points, suffice it to say that you will be kept guessing, as if working alongside the MC as they work their way along the twisted plot.
I was given a copy of this book but not required to write a review. If you enjoy romance or suspense, (even if you don’t), this author’s writing style will pull you in and keep you entertained until the end. Thank you for a wonderful read.
This is the 2nd book of the Wolfe Security series written by Laura Griffin. I love the way Laura Griffin writes strong women in her books. This book is written mainly from the P.O.V. of a female P.I. and also a female detective. They need to figure out how to stop a killer and how the killing is linked to a murder case that is about to be tried.
The female P.I. in this story is Kira Vance. Although she is very good at her job, she is struggling and works with her friend Ollie. Kira brings information regarding a case that Ollie is working on (to the home of the of the lawyer trying the case) where Ollie ends up being murdered and Kira is thrown into a whirlwind trying to figure out why Ollie was killed, who killed him, and how what happened pertains to the current case they were working on.
Charlotte Spears in the female detective in this story. I like her dedication to the investigation. I do admit, at times she doubted / mistrusted Kira and that did drive me a little crazy, however, I know that P.I.’s don’t always share all of their information regarding a case with the police (at times they can’t due to confidentiality). I feel that Laura Griffin did a great job writing about all of the police involved in this case and the steps that were taken to solve the murders. Also, as the story continued the characters did a much better job sharing evidence and working together to solve the case. It took time for them to build trust.
The lawyer that had hired Ollie, Brock Logan, is a prominent defense attorney. After Ollie is murdered he hires Kira to take over Ollie’s case. The murder is days before the current case is to be tried and Kira needs to determine what Ollie discovered that cost him his life AND if the information will help the defendant in the current case. Brock Logan’s company hires private security from Wolfe Security.
Jeremy Owens is a part of the Wolfe Security team and he is one of the team members assigned to protect Kira. You could instantly tell that the 2 of them were going to make this story lots of fun to read!! They way they interacted was spot on and I just loved ‘watching’ them fall in love throughout the story. They definitely didn’t fall in love immediately, Kira certainly made Jeremy’s job difficulty by not following along with the protocols that were put in place by the security team. I liked the respect that each of the characters gained for each other as the story continued and how they ended up working so well together by the end of the story.
Overall, I thought this book was amazing!! The story plot flowed smoothly combining mystery and romance in a realistic way. The pacing of the story was excellent too! I love Jeremy and Kira as a couple and I’m very glad that they got their H.E.A. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!! Once again this was a phenomenal story that kept me engaged and wanting to know what was going to happen next!
*Thank you to Simeon & Schuster and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Avid Reader –
M/F Action
Triggers: Murder
Kira is a PI who is being mentored by one of the best. However, she needs to pay rent and the best hasn’t paid her in a while. Despite that, she knows that the information she has will be needed for an upcoming trial, so she piles in her car that is falling apart and heads to where the meeting is.
Ollie has been Kira’s mentor since she was a court runner. With his guidance, Kira has learned the tricks of the trade and she’s going to need them all. When she finds herself in the middle of a case, Kira’s training kicks in and she can’t help but want to help solve the mystery.
I liked that this story was told from the point of view of Kira and the female police officer. It was interesting to see their thought process and sometimes diverging processes. The mystery was a good one. I liked that you were wondering who could be trusted and where the case was going to turn next.
That being said, this wasn’t really a romance. Sure, Jeremy and Kira had to spend time together because Jeremy was her protection, but they didn’t really have romantic chemistry. They were more friends who had each other’s backs.
I did like that the mystery wasn’t apparent at the beginning. Watching it unravel was fun. I can’t wait for more books in this series but hope for more chemistry in the future.
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Her Deadly Secrets (Wolfe Security #2) by Laura Griffin to read and review.
As always Ms. Griffin writes a story that keeps you turning pages to find out what happens next. Fast paced, suspenseful with action and romance are a promise when you read her books.
Kira Vance is a struggling PI, who works for a fellow PI Oliver Kovack, helping find info on cases he’s working. Meeting him to tell him her latest discoveries she witnesses his death by a bullet at point blank range. He was working for a well known, wealthy defense attorney, Brock Logan, who is also injured in the attack. He subsequently hires Kira, and then Wolfe Security to protect all the members of his team. Kira is not happy, doesn’t feel it’s necessary, and tries to slip by them as often as possible. Until it seems every step she takes in the investigation someone dies.
Jeremy Owen, former Marine is her lead protector. He refuses to let her try and dodge him, and professional as he is, her sassiness turns him on. They both struggle with attraction and when there is a question the team might be called off the job, Jeremy plans to take personal time to keep Kira safe.
Not only is this book exciting to the last page, the characters are very interesting. Two very strong women, Detective Charlotte Spears and Kira stand out. I enjoyed reading this book, when the author is Laura Griffin I know it will be a great read. Thank your Edelweiss for the privilege to read and review this great story.
Pat Fordyce
/ 5
Her Deadly Secrets by Laura Griffin is book 2 in the Wolfe Security series and was just as full of action as book one!
What it’s about: Kira Vance is a PI in Houston and known for finding facts. But when things don’t go as planned at a meeting with her mentor and client, Kira finds herself in more danger than she ever expected. A prominent lawyer enlists Kira’s help on the case her mentor was working on, and hires Wolfe Security to watch over them for the duration. Kira doesn’t want anyone watching over her and getting in her way, but she’s about to need the help more than she knows.
I can definitely tell that Her Deadly Secrets was written by the same author as Desperate Girls. They both have the same feel and Griffin seems to use a lot of the same wording and terminologies. Not that I necessarily mind this, but I think it would be best for me if I didn’t read the books back to back and had some time in between to ‘forget’ all the verbiage she uses. It almost seemed a bit repetitive reading them in a row.
Another trademark of Griffin’s books seems to be strong female leads, both books in this series are full of them and I love that. Sassy and smart women are the funnest to read about for me so I know I would keep reading Griffin’s books just for that alone. The pacing of Her Deadly Secrets was on point as well and like the first book, I sped through it and read this one in 4 hours and 22 minutes (compared to 4 hours 26 minutes for the first). This book didn’t really have any courtroom drama, and instead focused more on a mystery and Kira’s fact finding, yet another thing I absolutely loved.
A few of the Wolfe Security guys made an appearance in this one, but it could definitely be read as a standalone. You don’t need to know what happened in Desperate Girls to read this, but I liked having read it first just because I like seeing repeat characters. Also like the first book, there are a few character viewpoints, but I felt like I got to know them all better than in the first book, and there were less which made for a better reading experience for me.
Song/s the book brought to mind: Close to Me by Ellie Goulding
Final Thought: Can I just mention how much I love the covers of these books? Her Deadly Secrets has one of my favorite covers of all time and I don’t know if that makes me like the book more, but it might. This was another romantic suspense where you could easily skim or skip the sex scenes if you wanted to. It didn’t take over the book, and nothing really gets too dirty until towards the end of the book which I really appreciated. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
This book is a fantastic mixture of romance, suspense and mystery! The Wolfe Security team is hired to protect Brock Logan and all who are working with him on the Ava Quinn murder case. Kira Vance is a private investigator who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and maybe also working the wrong case, because now her life may be in danger. None of the team member of Wolfe Security are hard on the eyes, but Jeremy is the man assigned to Kira and she feels her heart thump harder each time she sees him. As they work together to solve the case of her co-worker Ollie’s murder, both learn to respect what the other does and the differences in offering security and being a PI. Although I did not read the first book in the series, I was able to understand everything in this book, so it could be a stand alone. It was certainly a page-turner, with murders, a mob and a surprise villain! I enjoyed the playful interaction between Kira and Jeremy as well as how intelligent and strong she was in the face of enemies that could have her killed. Her resourcefulness and skill made her a great heroine, and she even learned how to play nicely with Jeremy before the book ended. I look forward to more books in this series as not only was I entertained, I also learned a lot about law, mob bosses and protecting yourself from the mob.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
Laura Griffin always delivers intriguing stories with great characters and Her Deadly Secrets is no exception. This is the second book in the Wolfe Security series. Even though the series is about the assignments Wolfe Security takes on, the story focuses on strong independent women and the security team is secondary. This series is less intense than the Tracer series of which I am a big fan. You owe it to yourself to check it out!
Private Investigator Kira Vance gets a front row seat to her mentor/associate being gunned down and killed. Her life is then upended as the lawyer her associate and herself were helping with a current high profile case hires Wolfe Security to protect his firm along with Kira. She isn’t to happy to have a bodyguard following her around but soon realizes that the killer didn’t get what they wanted the first time and now have set their sites on her.
This series checks all the boxes for Romantic Suspense but I miss the in depth details of the Tracers series. The women in this series are also the most tenacious and at times overbearing females which didn’t work for me in the first book but Kira was much more tolerable. I do love that these take place in familiar locations in Texas that I know.
Her Deadly Secrets was a murder mystery with a dash of romance. This was my first time reading Laura Griffin and I thought it was a decent book. I didn’t know before reading that this was part of a series, but I still feel like I could follow along with the story.
The story follows private investigator, Kira Vance. She is used to following others and now she finds herself mixed in an investigation where she is being watched. There are twists and turns that had me gasping a few times while I was reading.
The author wrote using multiple points of view. I found that it was a little hard for me to remember what characters perspective was which. I feel like it would have worked to just have had Kira’s perspective.
I always enjoy reading romance, so I did like the romance aspect of the book. Laura Griffin showcased love even in the toughest of situations.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The mystery was great in adding suspense but felt it was lacking in the romance department. This book is categorized as being a romantic suspense novel but I thought that the “love interest’ and ‘their connection’ was brought up too far into the book. Even though I wished there was a little more relationship development between Kira and her love interest, I would still recommend this to my suspense fans.
One of my favorite things about this book is that it follows the POV of two women, a private detective and a police detective, who played a big part investigating and breaking open the murder case this book is based on. I love to see when women are shown just as smart and capable of doing what some believe is a mans job.
Kira was a fascinating heroine to follow in this book. She’s more or less just starting out as a private detective. Her mentor was just murdered in front of her and now she has to step into his shoes to not only find the killer but also link that killer to the murder case they were investigating for the defense attorney.
She’s a confident woman but also knew her limitations. When the law office hired security for the defense team, she handled it very well. I love a smart and confident woman but not when she thinks she’s invincible, and we don’t have that with Kira.
I got to know Jeremy a bit in one of the author’s Tracer books. I liked him then and I liked him now. He’s the strong, silent type which happen to be my favorite. I liked that we got to see him battle with his attraction to Kira. If we didn’t, I don’t think these two would have been believable.
If I had one complaint, it was that Jeremy and Kira’s romance was on the back burner to the investigation. I would have loved more for them but the investigation was pretty exciting to read about and really kept my attention. This is one thing I am learning about this author, she really knows how to grab your attention and keep it.
This is the second book in the Wolfe Security series but can be read as a stand-alone as the use of familiar characters are the only familiarity between the two books. While the plot line itself did not hold much distinction to others of the genre, Griffin does keep her audience captive with her strategic writing style and creative characters. The main character and heroine, Kiera, though thoroughly evolved could have benefited from a deeper delve into her past. It felt as though the reader was brought just to the cusp of understanding who she was but left not knowing the entire story. As if a bit of her was missing. Nonetheless, the slow-burn chemistry between Kiera and Jeremy is beautifully frustrating, proving Laura Griffin knows how to keep the reader engaged and flipping the pages. The mystery of whodunnit was a constant tease and the foreshadowing keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Those going in expecting a fast-paced suspense will be let down, this is a steady-paced romantic mystery. 4 stars.
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #HerDeadlySecrets