Sunday, May 15, 2016

Review: Traces of Guilt

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Traces of Guilt by Dee Henderson was a better read than the last few I read. Actually, I took a break from her books since the recent ones were all so dry and boring to me, but this latest one was an improvement. It still had some boring, disjointed sections, but not nearly as bad or as long.

Evie Blackwell is the head of a new task force in Illinois to solve cold cases. Her first stop is in Carin, Illinois where she must figure out two cases within two weeks. With the help of Sheriff Thane, she gets to work solving the cases.

The author's new style of writing is still strange to me. The conversations didn't always flow well, but again, it was much better than the previous books. Also, this story seems to be the first in an Evie Blackwell series so be aware and read them in order for the whole picture. Honestly, something I really dislike from Dee Henderson's recent books is that they are all interconnected. It irritates me since they aren't marketed as a series. They should have something to let us know because if you miss a couple of books you are left wondering who some of the characters are.

But anyway, back to this book. The cases in the story were solved, but Evie didn't move forward in her relationships which made it feel unfinished. But since it's a series I was comforted that the loose ends would be wrapped up eventually. The brothers in the story were the best characters in the book. They felt the most real, and for that reason the book pulled me in. I was intrigued by the mystery and couldn't wait to see how it would be solved. But then more and more characters came in making me feel not as invested in the book as I originally was. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story, but it could have been better.

One thing I love about Dee Henderson's writing is that she doesn't give too much detail about the hard cases. She gives just enough so you know what's going on, but she doesn't revel in giving lots of gory details so you can't help but imagine all the awfulness. She really has a good balance with the info she releases, and I really appreciate that about her books. It's a skill, and she does it well.

Overall, I really did enjoy this story. I will be reading her next one since the characters were well written, and I want to see where they will go.

I was given this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

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