Don't Look
4 Stars

***An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Kir Jansen returns home to Pike, Wisconsin for his father's funeral. Son of the town's former sheriff, Kir always ignored his father's drunken ramblings about a serial killer sending him letters until the body count starts to rise. The local police are out of their depths, so Kir and local vet, Lynne Gale, join forces to unmask a murderer.

An exciting mystery and a solid romance although the chemistry between the leads is rather lackluster.

While Kir and Lynne are appealing as individuals, and their reasons for becoming involved in the investigation are believable considering the circumstances, their relationship is lacking. Readers are presented with the facts of their attraction, but the reality of it isn't sufficiently tangible.

The serial killer plot is much more compelling. The details of the victims and their murders are well-written without any unnecessarily gruesome detail, and the letters written from the killer's POV add to the tension. It is possible to follow the clues to sort through the numerous red-herrings, and figuring out the villain's identity and motivation is all part of the fun.

Small towns are quite common settings in this type of book, but Pike is somewhat different. Rather than being quaint with quirky locals, the atmosphere is more sad and depressing,. The residents are trying to cope with the realities of a failing economy and the disappointments in their lives, which contributes to the believability.

Overall, a well-written and entertaining read recommended for lovers of a good romance with their mystery. ( )

Book source ~ NetGalley

There’s a serial killer in town and he has a list with the initials of his victims. A list that the former sheriff, Rufus Jansen, managed to get his hands on, but because he’s now an alcoholic no one believes him. Just the ramblings of an old drunk even if he was well-respected in the past. Then bodies start dropping in the snow and it’s up to his son, Kir, and the local vet, Dr. Lynne Gale, to make people listen before the killer gets to the last initials on the list - Gale’s.

This is a decent chiller for a dark winter’s night. Or, like, anytime, really. But yeah, it’s creepy how the killer leaves his victims naked in the snow. Yeeee. The plot is decent and I’m kept guessing, but the romance is just meh. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong about it, I’m just not feeling it. Plus, it seems to slow the pace down in spots but that could just be me. Overall though, it’s a suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. ( )

Kir Jansen returns to Pike, Wisconsin to bury his father, the long-time sheriff of the small town. While packing up his father's house he comes to the conclusion that his father's musing may hold more substance than he believed. And someone he's known for years is in danger. Lynne Gale is determined to keep up with her father's reputation and skill as a vet, but suddenly Kir is here and he's adamant that she's the target of a serial killer. Never did they dream that it would be murder that would bring them together.

Advanced review copy provided by #NetGalley for voluntary review consideration ( )

Interesting. I'm not a huge fan of romantic suspense. Don't know why. I like romance and I like thrillers but I'm not a fan of the genre mesh. It had really good pacing and the ending was satisfying. So I liked it but it wasn't great. It was fun but forgettable so 3 stars for me. ( )

Lynne and Kir each had a crush on the other in high school that they never acted on. Upon meeting again, their attraction is instantaneous and they had great chemistry. Their romance does move fairly quickly which is typical for romantic suspense books, so that didn't bother me. The two communicate well and the steamy scenes are well done. Overall, most readers will be happy with their romance. I will say the one area I had a few issues with was their investigation to find the killer. Neither of them have any law enforcement experience but yet they're able to quickly uncover leads while getting people to answer their questions with very little prompting. I think I would have liked it better if they had had to work a bit harder for the information they found or if one of them had a background that would make their ease of finding information more plausible. I have to say that I found it to be a really good read and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next book in the series will bring. ( )