Ten Days Gone

Ten Days Gone by Beverly Long is the first An A.L. McKittridge Novel. Ten Days Gone is a police procedural mystery set in Baywood, Wisconsin. We follow Detective A.L. McKittridge (we do not get to find out what A.L. stands for) and Detective Rena Morgan as they search for a deadly killer. Four women have been murdered in forty days. They were murdered ten days apart with them just discovering the latest victim. Our duo has ten days to find the killer before he strikes again. The killer is smart enough to leave to no forensics. They cannot find a connection between the four women. The detectives work on questioning the latest victims’ husband, co-workers and friends to see if they can find any connection to the other three victims. The point-of-view switches between McKittridge and Morgan. McKittridge is divorced with a sixteen year old daughter who is acting out (dating a man who is over twenty-one) and skipping school to drink alcohol. Rena Morgan is wed, and they have been trying to conceive for years unsuccessfully. It is taking its toll on their marriage. Rena is worried that her husband is cheating on her. The detectives’ personal lives are woven in with the investigation. I thought the detective’s lives are realistic. They work hard which affects their personal lives which are complicated (just like real people). The mystery was representative of a real police case. Television makes police work look exciting, but, in real life, it is tedious. They must ask questions, follow up leads, fill out paperwork and deal with bureaucracy (like a new pompous chief). Identifying the guilty party was effortless. There is suspense and tension especially as they were getting close to their prey. There were some areas of the book that lagged, and I was put off by the amount of foul language (I do not understand why people feel they need to use such offensive words). Ten Days Gone will appeal to readers who enjoy suspenseful police procedural mysteries. Ten Days gone has a mysterious murderer, a conceited chief, disconsolate target, and two determined detectives.

Detectives A L McKittridge and Rena Morgan have been called in to investigate. With very little to go on, they are desperate to find the killer before another 10 days go by.

Who would want these women dead? Looking into each of the victims’ only shows them to mostly be single, with grown children. They were all liked and had no problems with anyone. So what is there connection? So how do they find their killer?

This is first in a new series featuring two detectives who are committed to finding justice for the victims. They aren’t perfect .. each comes with a little baggage. The blend of their professional lives with their personal lives gives them a realistic edge. I love how they interact with each other… a lot of time with humor. Lots of action swirls around them with plenty of suspects to follow. No cliff hangers here except …. what do the initials A L stand for?

Many thanks to the author / Harlequin / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

As the start of a series, Ten Days Gone does a good job of introducing the main characters and giving us their personal stories. However, it didn’t quite come through for me on the mystery. The case is certainly interesting enough, and I do like a good serial killer story, but this one left me with more questions than answers. Oh, we do get the big answer, the who, but I wanted the why. Maybe I missed something, but I never got the reason for the ten days between murders, why the killer chose those specific victims, the significance of the list… For me, the why of it, the look into the serial killer’s motives is an essential part of the story, and this one just didn’t deliver. As this is the first in a series, I could’ve understood unanswered questions about the main characters or even a cliffhanger, but to solve the crime and leave the why of it up in the air left me a bit disappointed.

Another new to me author with a great debut novel. A very intense mystery/thriller. The mystery of who is killing and why every ten days. The thriller, the next victim and will the killer get her. Or will A.L. McKittridge and Rena, his partner, be able to save her?

When A.L and Rena start trying to piece together what happened to four victims, with little clues to go by, they have no idea what they are in for. Each victim is found basically in the same shape. Not hurt, not molested but without clothes on and smothered, with their clothes neatly folded beside them. No signs of a break in or struggle. What can these women have in common and can these two detectives save the fifth before it’s to late. Can they figure out who is doing this and why. When they do figure out who will be the fifth victim they are in for a long search to find her before it’s to late. Tess, the next victim, is nowhere to be found.

A town full of people and no one ever sees anything. No one hears anything. A psychopath on the lose. Is he or she right under the detectives noses? Will they find him/her in time? Or will there be a fifth victim. They each have something, one thing, in common. One thing that ties them together. It’s up to you and these detectives to find out what and save the day.

This book was so good. The way the clues fall I was unable to figure out who the killer was. I wasn’t totally surprised buy sure didn’t figure it out at all. At one point I thought it was everyone in this book. Well not the victims of course but everyone that the detectives talked to or about. I wanted to know so bad who it was and whether Tess was going to be save, escape, live or die that I stayed awake later than usual to finish. It had a great ending. One that really had me on the edge holding my breath. It was one thrill after another while the detectives raced to find Tess.

I throughly enjoyed this book from the start to the very last word. I rooted for the victim and for the detectives through the whole thing. It’s a thrill a minute and it’s one that will have you wondering just who is doing this. Why and how are they doing this. You will find out so be prepared.

Thank you to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)
MIRA, and Beverly Long for this arc. This is my own true review.

I gave it a big 5 stars and believe it’s worth every single one of them. I highly recommend this book.

My blog is diving into the world of suspense and mystery with this review of Ten Days Gone by Beverly Long since I do enjoy the genre and Harper Collins was kind enough to send me an invitation to read this and tell you about it! Heh. That’s my way of saying, I was given an advanced reading copy of this book by the publisher and am required by the FTC to inform you of lest I face heavy fines that I am much too broke to pay. The bequeathing of this advanced copy does not in any way sway my opinions of this book and all views of said book are my own. Let’s get settled in nice and cosy before we get this review started, get in your favourite reading spot, grab a comfortable blanket, and curl up, folks.

I wasn’t really a fan of Ten Days Gone for several reasons which I’ll lay out for you here. I’ll start with saying that I so disliked the investigative duo, Detective A.L. McKitteridge and his partner, Detective Rena Morgan, that I was decidedly Team Serial Killer before I even reached chapter four. McKitteridge is a real man’s man and I just want to feed him to an alligator, y’all. He’s a prime example of latent misogyny and toxic masculinity and he does very little regarding this case he’s lead on. He scoffs at his new boss’ appearance because he dresses smart and maintains a manicure. He gets romantically involved with the woman they believe to be next on the serial killer’s hit list. And actually pulls the Thin Blue Line family crap with a fellow officer so his daughter doesn’t get arrested for underage drinking and just throw the whole man out, please! Detective Rena Morgan seems to do most of the work in this case despite her constant worries regarding her disastership of a marriage and thinking “disastership marriage+baby=saved marriage”. No! Rena does all of the work and all of the thinking in this investigative pairing and gets none of the credit from her partner or her co-workers. And we really played some nasty little points in her storyline that I wish had not been written because this is 2020 and why are we still doing ish like this for storyline foil?

I had the ‘whodunnit’ part figured out pretty quickly, the clues were a bit obvious for me. I’ve watched 30 years of crime shows and obsessed over suspense novels for just as long, I can see them coming from a mile away unfortunately. I was also a bit bored while reading this when I wasn’t wanting to chuck the ‘hero’ into the lake behind my house (we have alligators…). Nothing really reached off of the page and grabbed me, which I really wanted to happen because I love serial killer suspense. I actually came close to DNFing this book, but I’m trying to get better at seeing things through to the end. Look at me, embracing commitment and ish. Next thing you know, I’ll be signing up for a dating app. Someone set up an intervention before that happens, please.

Overall, Ten Days Gone is not a book I’d recommend unless you want a book to keep you mildly occupied at the Dentist’s but not ensconced while you wait for your mum to have surgery and you have to be there to drive her home. Because that’s how I got through this book. Anxiety and a need for distraction. I am giving Ten Days Gone two stars and no flames because I was not a fan of this book which was surprising because I used to enjoy reading Beverly Long’s HQN novels as a teen. As always, these views are my own, I’m a picky heifer at times so you might enjoy this where I didn’t. So if it sounds like a book you’d enjoy, have fun. It’s your reading time, read what you want!

This has been a review from Once Upon a Time, I Read a Book, if you enjoyed this review, come visit me on my site, give me a follow (it encourages me), or say hi on social media! Until next time, have a happily ever after!

When Detectives McKittridge and Morgan discover four murders have taken place ten days apart, there’s a race to discover who the killer is before another ten days passes and a potential fifth murder takes place. With a looming deadline that means life or death, this story should be filled with tension, suspense and a sense of urgency but it’s not – not at all.

The crime itself is explained but I didn’t find it convincing. Further, the investigative steps made huge jumps in conclusions that I felt lacked credibility.

The spotlight often moves away from the investigation and focuses on the personal lives of not only the detectives but their family and colleagues. Yes, it’s good to inject some personality into the main characters, especially since this is the start of a police procedural series, but not at the expense of the crime solving.

The writing is easy to digest but the overall plotting and story development needs a tighter focus.

ARC received courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher

What could the significance of ten days be for a serial killer?

For this serial killer, ten days is the time frame between murders.

How can they find the next victim before it happens?

Detectives McKittridge and Morgan are on the case with slim leads until they find one sheet of paper that might be their main clue.

The investigation moved forward but always had some setback, and they were running out of time before the next ten days were up.

If you enjoy an intense, difficult investigation and last-minute tension, TEN DAYS GONE needs to be in your TBR stack.

TEN DAYS GONE will keep you on the edge of your seat as all the clues come together for an ending you won’t forget. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a police procedural with a lot of humor and insight into police detectives who have a human side that they aren’t afraid to show. Detective A.L. McKittredge is a divorced father of a teen girl who is “spreading her wings” and showing her independence. Detective Rena Morgan wants to have a baby but she and partner Gabe are having difficulty conceiving. Add to their personal problems the fact that a serial killer is in their small Wisconsin town, killing a new woman every ten days. When they think that they have figured out who the next victim might be, A.L. and Rena are determined to keep the new possible victim safe and to catch the killer. The action is fast-paced, the plot is full of suspense and the characters/suspects are realistic and totally fleshed out. In my opinion, the author did a wonderful job of creating characters that will keep readers wanting more in the series for years to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially following the clues all the way to the surprising conclusion, and I am sure that mystery/police procedural fans will want to read this intriguing start to a new series.
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.”

There’s a serial killer at work in Baywood, Wisconsin and he or she has a pattern. That’s the reluctant conclusion Detectives A. L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan have reached when they arrive at the scene of the fourth victim where it mirrors three others. Even more concerning about the pattern is, if they’re right, the killer will strike again in ten days. A. L. and Rena race to figure out the victims’ connections so they can identify the next person before the ten days are up.

When I decided to read this book, I didn’t know it was going to be part of a series, and after finishing, I couldn’t be happier that there will be more stories about these detectives. I like them as partners as they have sort of a yin yang relationship that worked extremely well in every aspect while maintaining proper boundaries. The procedurals were engaging and well paced, creating tension and excitement. There’s also a strong relationship element here where there was focus on A. L.’s and Rena’s personal lives that was equally as interesting. The suspense kicked up a notch when they identified the next potential victim and the story went in a new (great!) direction.

This is my first experience with the author and I liked her character development. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew them well enough but wanted more. The procedurals were well researched and followed logical investigative directions, which I find important. While I figured out the likely suspect, the why of it all was elusive and kept me guessing. I didn’t learn what A. L. stands for and that promises to be a whole thing in itself. I enjoyed the mystery, the procedurals and the interpersonal dynamics, enough to want to see more of these characters. It’s a strong start to what promises to be a good series.

(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)

While I have gotten to the point I will take story over romance I still enjoyed this nail biting read. I haven’t read this author before so when Netgally offered I was all in. There’s a serial killer on the loose killing every 10 days. So far they haven’t had much success in catching a break in the case. We get to know the 2 lead officers and follow them as they go through the grind of catching the killer. It’s a slow start with plenty of background on the detectives. This is a plus and minus. A plus because you get to know them in the beginning of the series and probably more as the series progresses which is all good. The minus is sometimes it feels like filler and the romance didn’t add to the story. All in all the mystery part of it is done well and holds you in place until the end. I enjoyed this authors style and was thrilled it was well edited. I will definitely be back for more.