New York Times bestselling author P. J. Tracy is back with the most thrilling installment in her award-winning mystery series.Dead men tell no tales…but their pasts can’t keep a secret.Gregory Norwood is Minnesota’s most beloved philanthropist, and the story of his son’s overdose was splashed across the front page of all the papers. When a photojournalist sets out to get a candid shot of the … sets out to get a candid shot of the highly successful businessman on the one year anniversary of his son’s death, he’s shocked to find Norwood dead with a smoking gun in his hand. The city is devastated, and Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called in to handle the delicate case. It should be open and shut, but something is not right. Norwood’s death is no suicide.
With no suspects and an increasing tangle of digital evidence that confounds the Minneapolis Police Department’s most seasoned cops, Magozzi calls on Grace MacBride, Monkeewrench Software’s founder and chief computer genius and the soon to be mother of their child together. She and her motley crew of partners begin to unravel connections between Norwood’s death and an even larger plot. Norwood wasn’t the first, won’t be the last, and by the end, may be just one of many to die. The breakneck, high stakes race to find his killer and save the lives of hundreds make P. J. Tracy’s The Guilty Dead her most outstanding novel yet.
more
A suspenseful fast-paced story you can’t wait to finish. I highly recommend The Guilty Dead. Once you begin, you won’t stop until the last page, it’s that compelling.
I’ve long admired PJ Tracy’s ability to spin a complex, compelling tale replete with chilling villains, amazing technology, and witty repartee from the Monkeewrench gang, her wildly unique ensemble cast, led by the indomitable Grace MacBride. But THE GUILTY DEAD is a cut above. The stakes are higher, and nothing is as it seems. This is Tracy at her gritty, elegant best. Do not miss it.
Copy received from publisher via Netgalley for an honest review
I did not know that this was part of a series when I requested (nobody to blame but myself!) however this did not affect my reading of The Guilty Dead at all.
Coming into series so far in did can have a few issues, and as the characters are already so well developed, I did miss a lot of the nuances of their relationships. However, there is enough about them for me to muddle my way through and figure out who was what and to whom.
This story starts out with a murder, and from that minute on we are taken on a non-stop ride of murder, mystery and suspense.
I did have a gut feeling who our bad buy was, but I was never 100% until the author wanted me to know the whos and whys.
I enjoyed the relationship between the 2 lead detectives, the way they read each other, bounced off each other to find the killer.
I liked the way this book tapped into the worries, the fears of our current world, and made it feel like this could be happening in any of our cities or towns.
I really did enjoy this book from this new to me author. I am interested in going back and reading the earlier books in this series, and look forward to more in the future.
The Guilty Dead by P.J. Tracey a fraught four-star read. This is the ninth book in the Monkeewrench series and they can be read as stand-alone, but I would recommend you read them in order to get the full story thread. This book was back to the brilliance of the first several books in the series, the camaraderie and witty repertoire between the Monkeewrench gang. This book has some things that will keep you on the edge of your seat and a thrilling story that will leave you guessing, just when you figure one storyline out, there will be another dangled beneath you that will pull the rug from under you. Throw in some great cute baby moments and then this story will keep you on your toes.
I am telling you right now … if you have not read any of the Monkeewrench series, you need to go right his minute and start at the very beginning of this wonderful series.
Monkeewrench is the name given to the software company founded by Grace MacBride and a team of members you will never forget. They are all geniuses when it comes to computers. How this group got together and forged a bond closer than any family is in the first books of the series.
Homicide Detective Leo Magozzi and his partner Gino Rolseth are called to investigate the possible suicide of Gregory Norwood… a man who lost his own son to suicide a year earlier. Evidence points to this being a homicide … not a suicide.
Meanwhile, Grace and her team are asked by the FBI to help them locate a band of terrorists. What they find is a link to the murder inquiry into Norwood. How are they connected? It’s even more puzzling when everything points to the case of a 14-year-old girl murdered years before.
Norwood wasn’t the first, won’t be the last, and by the end, may be just one of many to die.
This is, as all the books in this series, well-written, action-packed, moving at the rate of an express train. The characters are all unique and unforgettable. The ending is a nail-biter.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
I have been waiting for this book and so hoped it would meet my expectations…..5 stars plus many more!! A terrific regional mystery set in Minnesota with the Monkeywrench gang from her other books. It was like going home and seeing your best friends. Grace, Harley, Roadrunner and Annie. Of course Charlie the dog and the cops Leo and Gino and their team are back.
The plotting is superb, the tension and chills build up right away with a terrorist threat for Minneapolis and a missing gossip reporter and a dead humanitarian. And you think, no connections, just two separate wild cases.
You meet the family of Gregory Norwood saying he was murdered and his best friend Robert Zeller yells that Greg committed suicide.
Meanwhile the Monkeywrench team investigates bomb threats while keeping an eye on their leader Grace. Grace is pregnant and almost due and Leo as a cop and father to be is a wreck. Gino and Leo have the best wit and easy humor of cops dealing with stress and death. The scenery of Minnesota is prevalent and takes you to the lakes, the hustling downtown and the homes of the rich and the forgotten.
As the bomb threats take on significance and you hold your breath for the gang to be safe, a new mystery surfaces. Trey, the dead druggie son of Gregory, becomes important. As does the death years ago of Clara Riskin.
I was nervous as Rosalie, the daughter of Gregory, put things together. Several scenes she was in were heart pounding.
The team, mom and daughter, have taken their time to get each mystery about perfect. PJ, the mom has died, and Tracy is carrying on with the books. Unlike some authors that crank out a book a year with same formula, PJTracy writes mysteries that can stand alone but become a fully evolved look into these people lives as they grow and take on new challenges with the times.
I so recommend this book and all her others!!
Stayed up all night to finish this, well worth it.
I’m finally catching up with all the Monkee Wrench gang: Grace, Harley, Roadrunner and Annie, Charlie the dog and the cops Leo and Gino. It’s good to be able to continue to read about such a crew with many antics, adventures, and now with a ‘baby’ in the mix. It’s a great mystery as to ‘why’, ‘who’, and ‘what’ happened throughout the whole book.
I have one more book in this series and I’m done for a while. Will have to wait until Tracy gets her writing hat back on and brings another adventure of the Monkee Wrench bunch together. Oh now we have Gloria and McCllelan (I think that’s right) to add to the mix. 🙂
Pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.
Great characters, high-stakes, edge-of-your-seat suspense…an excellent read!
I love every book by this author!!!
her best book yet!
The entire Monkeewrench series is fantastic. Edge-of-your seat, page turners one and all. Highly recommend.