Short-novel prequel to the bestselling crime fiction thriller mystery and police procedural series featuring forensic investigator, Reilly Steel.
Forty miles south of Washington, D.C. lies the small town of Quantico. Situated among lush greenery, the 547 acre property is where FBI recruits run obstacle courses, engage in firearms training and participate in mock hostage scenarios in Hogan’s … scenarios in Hogan’s Alley.
It’s the world budding forensic investigator Reilly Steel was born for.
During her first student semester at the Academy, a fatal accident occurs at a student party off-campus, and a fellow recruit is under suspicion. But by the behavior of the other students and the forensic evidence at the crime scene, Reilly guesses that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Will her instincts, and everything she’s learnt at Quantico so far help Reilly uncover the truth behind the victim’s death?
CSI Reilly Steel Crime Series:
All stories are standalone and can be read in any order but are best enjoyed in sequence
#0 CRIME SCENE – Prequel
#1 TABOO
#2 INFERNO
#3 HIDDEN
#4 THE WATCHED
#5 TRACEmore
An entertaining introduction to the Reilly Steel series, but it is not required reading for the books to follow.
A Troubled Prequel
Recently, based upon really enjoyed reading the first five books in the Reilly Steel series, I purchased this novella and the next two books in the series. I thought a nice way to start up again with this series was with this novella.
The novella opens with Reilly Steel reporting to Quantico for FBI training. She meets her roommate, Faye Williamson. Although different personalities, they become friends immediately. On the second day Reilly impresses SSA Rob Crichton, their instructor, for the first class, Introduction to Forensic Analysis, with her since of smell. At the mock crime scene she detected perfume on a shirt and correctly deduced what happen. What amazed SSA Crichton was that since no one had picked up on the perfume clue, putting perfume on the shirt stopped over eight months earlier.
After the first week of rigorous training, every trainee was ready for the weekend. There was going to be a party on Saturday, and Reilly and Faye decided to go. They didn’t want to get drunk so they ate first and arrived an hour after the party started. Once they arrived, the appearance of the house showed a very serious party was in progress. As they walked through the house to the patio, they discovered that everyone was looking a dead body. The main storyline proceeds from here.
The B-storylines were light even for a novella. Reilly was covered along with Faye, SSA Crichton, and Jake, another trainee and Crichton nephew. The author weaves these well into the main storyline as all four work together to solve the crime.
There were not any intimate scenes. Only a few slightly vulgar words were used. As for violence, there was only one and described in the past so not as edgy. Therefore, I believe that nearly all readers should not find any objection for these three categories in this novella.
There was one major timeline error. First, the party occurred on a Saturday night. The next day was a training day, Monday. Later in the chapter, there is a clear reference to the party being the night before. What happened to Sunday? Second, there were two other logic errors where the size of the engine in Faye’s restored ‘67 Mustang. The engine was described as a 420cc engine. Faye liked muscle cars, but 420cc engine is less than half the size of the engine in my first car, an Austin-Healy Sprite, Mark II. Its top end was just over 80 mph. That is the size of a motorcycle engine. I believe that 420 cubic inch would be correct even though there appears not to be any stock 420 engine. Another noticeable error was that Supervisory Special Agent Crichton also was introduced as Special Supervisory Agent. There also were two typographical errors and four other minor logic errors.
Because of these errors, I checked Amazon.com for any updates to this novel. There were none. I used for the first time the “Report Content Error” feature to report these errors. If you read kindle novels purchased from Amazon, I recommend checking for updates before reading.
This novel is a prequel that was published between the fourth and fifth novels in the series. This novella is weak and had too many errors. I was quite disappointed and do not recommend reading it first in the series if at all. If you really want to read it, I recommend reading it after the fourth novel. In my opinion, skipping this one is advisable as the value added is minimal. I rate this novel with two stars. If you really are a Reilly Steel Series fanatic, it might raise to three stars. I will read the other novels in the series, just later than I planned.
Very good start to a series.
Enjoyed the development of the central characters
Sort of cut a d dried if you have read any of her other books. It is a good introduction to the main character.
Top notch reading, couldn’t put it down.
don’t like alcoholic characters
Lame characters. Plot uninteresting.
I’ve read several of the Reilly Steele series and she is a great character ! comes alive as a person and the stories are solid and slight clues are given slowly so you can think along with Reilly !
I love reading the adventures of Reilly Steel. Just knowing she’s the heroine of the book is enough of an incentive for me to read it.
I have all the books in the series by this author. This book does not flow quite as smooth as the rest but held my attention and was entertaining enough for me to read the rest of the series.
I only read a few chapters and then quit reading. I’m used to reading good books. Insulting to the intelligence.
Love the series.
I so disliked the main character; she was just nauseatingly brilliant; she could even get down and smell the clues that, invariably, led her to the correct conclusion. So wonderful was she, that even the instructors asked for her help, and of course, she was correct in the very end. I respect the story line, but it was contrived and one-dimensional.
It was a story of of 2 sisters. I enjoyed the book but was not completely taken with it.
It was good but not as good as the other ones in this series
It was nice to read the beginning. Not overly complicated and quick prequal
Well-written, which made this a page-turner. No unnecessary “scenes” to muddle through
This would never happen in real life situation. However, it was a good read for change of Pace.
I just finished reading the first in this series and I really enjoyed the characters and the story. I am now reading the next book in the series. I plan on reading the entire series.