The unsolved murder of a young activist leads to the discovery of much darker crimes in New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan’s latest compelling thriller to feaure the young, edgy detective Kara Quinn and the loner FBI agent Matt Costa. This time they work to uncover possible ties to a high-stakes cartel in the Southwest desert. Something mysterious is killing the wildlife in the … the wildlife in the mountains just south of Tucson. When a college intern turned activist sets out to collect her own evidence, she, too, ends up dead. Local law enforcement is slow to get involved. That’s when the mobile FBI unit goes undercover to infiltrate the town and its copper refinery in search of possible leads.
Quinn and Costa find themselves scouring the desolate landscape, which keeps revealing clues to something much darker–greed, child trafficking and more death. As the body count adds up, it’s clear they have stumbled onto much more than they bargained for. Now they must figure out who is at the heart of this mayhem and stop them before more innocent lives are lost.
A Quinn & Costa Thriller
Book 1: The Third to Die
Book 2: Tell No Lies
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Emma Perez is a wildlife activist. She has discovered something. Something is killing off the wildlife around Tucson. She is determined to find out what is causing it. But, when Emma is found murdered, it opens up a whole new sinister conspiracy.
I loved book one of this series. This one left me confused in places. The plot is a little complex and tends to take detours. It sort of missed its mark. But, it is still a good story. I just felt the first one is better.
I will also say…this author has some great characters! Plus, Costa and Quinn have fantastic chemistry!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
It started with the murder of a college activist, but Kara Quinn and Matt Costa quickly discover there’s a lot more going on in Patagonia, Arizona than meets the eye. Initially called in to go undercover and figure out who killed Emma Perez, FBI agent Costa’s Mobile Response Team quickly zooms in on the local copper refinery and stumbles upon signs of human trafficking. As quiet and small as Patagonia is, there’s a lot hiding under the surface. I can’t say I was a huge fan of the first book in the series, The Third to Die, but I was still interested to find out what was next for Kara and Matt. Honestly, I think it’s these two that keep me reading. I love them!
The Plot: Almost Too Many Lies Going Around
Emma Perez is a college intern with the Arizona Resources and Environmental Agency who starts noticing a lot of dead birds. Determined to figure out what is killing them, she and her boyfriend start hunting, only for Emma to end up dead. With local law enforcement unable to adequately solve the murder, the FBI’s Mobile Response Team is called in, and they quickly start eyeing the local copper refinery. Something is a little off with the company and they’re the only plausible source of whatever is poisoning the water.
With Kara undercover in the town to be Matt’s eyes and ears and Michael undercover within the refinery and Zach madly scrambling for financial documents, they quickly uncover something amiss at Southwest Copper, a family owned and run business, and a lot of strange characters floating through the bar Kara works at. It doesn’t take long for them to discover something is definitely afoot as well, as signs of human trafficking. The only question is: how is it all related and how is it related to Emma’s murder?
Tell No Lies definitely has a lot of lies going around! There are so many pieces to this puzzle, almost too many. I was a little dizzy just from reading it because it felt like something new was dropping into my lap every time I picked up the book. It helped that it was all centered around a small town, but, wow, the secrets one town and one family could hold!
I must say, the story felt like the weakest part to me. There was simply too much going on and I was disappointed that solving the murder, for as much as it was put right at the front, was actually shoved to the back burner. Of course, I understand why, but I do wish it had been a more major piece of the story. Instead, it felt like the vehicle for getting the FBI to come in and discover even more, bigger illegal things going on. It was really difficult to follow exactly what was going on for most of the book because there was just so much going on. With three major things running through and being somehow connected, I think it very nearly broke my mind.
But, I do have to admit that it kept me intrigued. I really wanted to find out how it was all connected. This is a fast-paced story taking place over a rather small window of time. There’s a great deal of danger surrounding all of the characters and definitely more secrets than I could count. Even though the first book dealt with a rather scary serial killer, I felt this case was even more dangerous. For one, there were too many pieces. For another, all the pieces kept moving, and more danger kept being added.
Overall, it felt a little messy with so much going on, but it definitely upped the sense of danger and press for time!
The Characters: A Prickly, but Fun Relationship
Tell No Lies picks up a few months after The Third to Die, so Kara is newly added to Matt’s team and their prickly, complicated relationship is even more complicated by the fact that Matt is now Kara’s boss, and Kara really doesn’t like to work as part of a team.
I truly love Kara and Matt. Their relationship is something of a roller coaster, but I love that they work hard to put their case above their complicated relationship. I’m in no rush to see them together because the tension between them is so much fun. Kara is used to working on her own, but she really tries her best to work with the rest of the team. She’s smart and savvy with a soft heart that’s well-protected. Matt is straight-laced and tries really hard to keep things focused. He’s in charge, so a lot is riding on him and his decisions, but he also comes off as really noble to me. That’s one thing I really liked about these two: they really do their jobs well. Even if they differ on how to solve a case.
Outside of Kara and Matt, though, I had a tendency to mix up all of the other characters. Whether they were members of Matt’s team or employees of the refinery or members of the gang trafficking people, I really had a hard time keeping them straight and how they were or were not connected. What I did really enjoy, though, was just how terrible and manipulative the one behind it all really was. That character was brilliant and so consistent in their characterization, right up to the end. The thing that bothered me the most, though, were the characters more strongly connected to Emma’s case. They were kind of, sort of, there. If they were present, it felt more like they were doing little more than hovering at the edges to remind readers there’s still a murder case investigation going on.
The Setting: A Small Arizona Town
Tell No Lies is set in and around Patagonia, Arizona and a bit in Tucson. Just like the small town featured in The Third to Die, Patagonia gives off the small town vibe in spades. It was large enough that not everyone knew all of each other’s business, but small enough that everyone was, more or less, connected.
There’s also a wide wilderness surrounding Patagonia, which was perfect in so many ways for all the story threads running through this book. It definitely felt very isolated and had the perfect desert atmosphere with sudden storms and flash flooding. I had a clearer vision of what the wilderness looked like than Patagonia, though.
But I liked Patagonia. It felt cozy enough to feel safe so that the danger around the corner was fully highlighted. There’s a lot going on under the surface and it was so at odds with what felt like a close-knit town that it added a really fun layer of tension.
Overall: Almost Too Much, But Really Great Lead Characters
Tell No Lies has so much going on in it that I sometimes felt dizzy while reading it. One thing stacked up on another and then another thing was dropped on top. Halfway through I still had no idea where it was going and how it could all possibly be tied together. I was disappointed that every piece of it wasn’t fully explored, that they came and went as the story demanded, but I was satisfied by the end and thought it all tied together quite smartly. The highlight of this series for me is definitely Kara and Matt, though I’m also learning to enjoy all the sudden twists and turns.
Thank you to Justine Sha and MIRA for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
The FBI has been called in on a murder case in Arizona. College student and environmental activist Emma Perez was murdered while out investigating why she was finding birds dead from copper and arsenic poisoning. Matt Costa is the lead FBI agent on the FBI’s newly-formed Mobile Task Force. He was instrumental in its origin as he helped his boss, Tony Greer, brainstorm it into existence. Matt met Kara Quinn when she assisted the task force on their first assignment, the story of that is told in the first book in the series, The Third To Die. We find out that Kara can’t go back to her undercover police role in Los Angeles because she and her partner were publicly exposed which led to the death of her partner and a price on Kara’s head. She is a major asset to the task force but admits she doesn’t play well with others and hopes to go back to her old job in LA some day.
The task force’s job becomes quite complicated as, in addition to the murder of Emma Perez, they need to look into illegal toxic waste dumping, murder and child trafficking. As I turned the pages in this book I found the tension ratcheting up and I couldn’t put the book down. The characters are all so realistic and intense. There’s tons of action and suspense to keep readers on the edge of their seat. The ending crescendoes with heart-pounding events and a satisfying conclusion. Allison Brennan has a great treat for thriller readers in Tell No Lies, the second book in her Quinn & Costa Thriller series.
Will the FBI Mobile Response Team be able to ties all the clues together to stop a dangerous cartel?
I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.
I found this book to be very fascinating. I liked how the story played out. It was fun getting into the character head to see what they were thinking. It was interesting to see how each reacted differently to being undercover.
I also liked that the book took several twists and turns. To go in expecting one thing but getting another was a nice surprise. I felt the story was complex.
my only drawback was it was the second in a series so for me not having read the first book found myself lost a few times. It also took me a while to catch up with the relationship between the lead characters.
Overall a great book and one that would be even better if you read the first in the series.
This has a lot of suspense that leads to twists and turns. It is interesting to see how different people handle being undercover. I loved how the team of FBI went in to try to uncover one thing and end up being involved in more than they bargained for. I really like Matt, Kara, Ryder and the rest of the gang. I hope there are many more in the series. I have not read the first book in the series but I was able to follow who all the characters were. I look forward to reading the first book in the series. I received a copy of this book from Harlequin for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
Tell No Lies by Allison Brennan
Quinn & Costa #2
Detective Kara Quinn is on leave from her job with LAPD working with FBI Agent Matt Costa and his mobile unit. She is a “cop” through and through but is unsafe in Los Angeles. Matt & Kara worked together in book one of the series, had a romantic interlude, and now are working to find the murderer of a college student who was killed while searching with her boyfriend for a toxic waste dump impacting the dessert environment. With team in place the story begins just after Billy rushes Emma finds Emma and tries to save her. Will the team be able to find the murderer? Is toxic dumping taking place and if so, by whom? Will the romance between Matt and Kara continue? And, what else will be unearthed as the story unfolds?
What I liked:
* Kara: intelligent, quick thinking, loves her job, a chameleon, does what it takes, uses her childhood con artist skills in her current undercover jobs, interesting, fierce, capable…someone I am becoming more and more invested in.
* Matt: intelligent, a bit of a workaholic, work has impacted his relationships in the past, cares about his team, an enigmaMichael, interested in learning more about him.
* The relationship development between Kara and Matt – not much at first in this book but see a great deal of potential as the series progresses.
* The complexity of the case: started simply and became more involved as the story progressed.
* The FBI team members: Michael, Ryder, Zack – the bits and pieces about each one that were shared in this story made me wonder about them and want to know more. It will be fun to see how these characters (and others) grow as the series continues.
* The many threads, that at times seemed too many, all being pulled together by the end of the story. Better than a simple plot executed quickly.
* Billy: I felt for him and hoped that in the future he would heal and be able to move on. I also wondered if he might end up joining the FBI when he finishes school.
* Frank: Emma’s boss, a good man, haunted, focused, provided a safe haven to more than one in the end.
* The dark, gritty, harsh, realness that immersed in the story.
* The twists and turns.
* That there was a resolution to the case even if some were not 100% satisfied with the results
What I didn’t like:
* Knowing that such things happen all too often
* Having to wait for book three 😉
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
This was kind of a long drawn out FBI thriller. I hadn’t read the previous book in the series but it didn’t seem to matter to the story. Kara is a strong female cop working undercover. There is a lot going on in this book, lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed the book
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy
I thoroughly enjoyed the first Quinn and Acosta book, so I really looked forward to this second book. No disappointment here! It is a slam dunk, roller coaster of a trip through the minds of criminals and the procedures of the FBI to capture them. It can definitely be read as a standalone, but I love this series so much that I personally would not miss a single one of them. This book presents a complex story of a family business, environmental damage done by the by-products of manufacturing, trafficking in drugs and people and cartels. Set in the small town of Patagonia, Arizona, the portrait painted of a little rustic place with desert and dunes all around was perfect for the action of the story. Kara is undercover in a bar while Matt runs the team. The first objective of the team is to find out who murdered Emma, a young student who discovered that birds were dying from something in the water and determined to find out who and what was causing their deaths. Her investigation led to her death which led to the FBI sending in a team to investigate. The action was non-stop, with a few romantic scenes thrown in at various times. There were a lot of characters, but the author did a good job of making them realistic and memorable, so I was able to keep up with all of them. My favorite, of course, was Kara Quinn, the “take no prisoners” fighter for truth and justice. She is absolutely perfect in her role, and I could see a movie made from this series because of the strength of the characters and the well-developed plot. With intrigue, secrets and evil machinations in just about every chapter, there was no way to put this one down for long. I enjoyed getting to know other members of the team, like Ryder, who contributed to the take-down of the bad guys but who stayed in the background unless Matt called him out of hiding. I especially liked the teamwork demonstrated in the unraveling of the complicated crimes being committed by a whole gang of people. Fans of the author and the series will devour this book and new fans will find a new group of heroes who are crime fighters putting it all on the line.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. 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.”
Tell No Lies by Allison Brennan is a very highly recommended procedural and the second novel featuring detective Kara Quinn and FBI agent Matt Costa.
A young college intern is killed when out looking for a copper refinery’s toxic waste dump site that she believes is responsible for a number of dead birds she has found in the area. Her death brings in FBI agent Matt Costa and a team to quietly, undercover, investigate the copper mine and their waste removal company. Included in Costa’s team is Detective Kara, who finds an undercover job as a bartender, and Michael Harris, a former Navy SEAL who takes a job at the refinery. The refinery owner’s son becomes an informant and Kara becomes friends with him at the bar in order to keep an eye on him.
The undercover case becomes more complicated when another death occurs and suddenly the case may be about more than toxic waste dumping. It becomes evident that there are even more nefarious activities going on in the area that are dark and disturbing. The team must figure out if all the disturbing evidence and clues are tied together with the refinery dumping or if they have even more illegal activity going on in the area.
Tell No Lies is a sequel to The Third to Die, which was on my list of the best procedurals of 2020. Although this is a very different case and the novel has a comparatively slightly slower pace at times, it is still features a wonderfully entangled, intricate plot with timely events happening. Tell No Lies can be read as a stand-alone novel as Brennan provides enough background information while providing more character development. Personally, I could have done without the relationship between Matt and Kara heating up, but on the other hand it worked well as a part of the over all plot. They both continue to be great characters.
The writing is excellent and will hold your complete attention from start to finish. The overall narrative presents a solid, meticulous mystery and the investigation follows the clues in an orderly, logical manner. Because this is a sophisticated novel that demands you closely follow the clues and action in the plot, you have to pay attention while reading. You’ll also need to keep track of all the characters and their stories. While you might be able to predict parts of the ending, you won’t know all of it and will experience several heart-stopping moments when the action is overwhelming.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/03/tell-no-lies.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3870701797
I love Allison Brennan books. Normally, I’m hooked from the first page. This one … not so much. It took me several chapters before I found myself fully invested. Then …. I could not put it down! Really enjoyed it! Looking forward to seeing this series and group of characters grow.
Thank you #netgalley and #HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) #Mirabooks for the eARC.
This was a very complicated and complex case for Quinn & Costa. The team investigates a murder of a young college student. Things get very complicated after that. This book takes place a couple months after the first book. The relationship with Quinn & Costa becomes more entangled and more interesting to follow. I can’t wait to see what the author does with the two of them. This case has a domino effect to it. Reader you will enjoy unraveling the mystery of this book.
*I received this free book from NetGalley and am leaving my honest opinion*
I was really looking forward to reading this new crime mystery. The author really captured me in her past novel with the complex layout and multiple layers in building the scene. This book also has those many levels and Brennan’s detail was right on the mark.
I was also really looking forward to having Quinn and Costa get fired up together too but that fell really flat for me. They have to potential to burn it up, but in this story, the author chose to have the crime and police procedurals be front and center with their internal fires dampened – not out though!
With so many different pieces and parts of the story coming at you from all sides, it does leave you wondering and scrambling for the answers. The character development was awesome and she keeps you on your toes following all of the leads.
While I try and not hold up one story up over another one, I do have to say this one did not fire me up like Book One did. Still a great story but I was missing the intensity and “gasp” factor that would have put this over the top.
Very Entertaining!!
This second book in the Quinn and Costa series makes a powerful statement about the world we live in.
Quinn and his team are sent in to investigate the murder of a activist and discover more than they bargained for.
I am an looking forward to seeing how the relationship between Kara and Matt develops in future books.
“I’m so screwed,” Matt said. “Oh?” Now Tim was smiling. “Keep this to yourself. It’s…complicated.” “You fell hard, didn’t you. For someone on your squad.” “She wasn’t on my squad when I fell for her.”