Detective Jo Fournier #6
Next to the lake’s dappled water, a woman lies on her yoga mat, her limbs twisted as if she is trying to crawl away. Her mug of tea steams into the cool air and her lips, still warm, are parted mid-sentence. But she will never speak or see again…
When Sandra Ashville is found murdered in a sleepy town near Oakhurst, Detective Jo Fournier is first at the scene. Jo is shaken by the similarities between herself and the dead assistant District Attorney, a dedicated woman with a heart for justice. And as she examines Sandra’s body, Jo discovers something that chills her to the bone: the bullet hole is covered by an intact blindfold. Why was Sandra only blindfolded after her death?The very next morning Jo receives a shocking call. A judge has been brutally killed, before she too was blindfolded. Soon it becomes clear that the twisted serial killer is working with a deadly countdown: every morning, another body will be found. Working around the clock, Jo makes an important break-through: all the victims are connected to the same murder trial. And Jo’s dear friend and partner Bob Arnett could be next…With the next morning rapidly approaching, Jo and her team pull out all the stops to catch the killer. But when she uncovers a stain of corruption that includes Bob, Jo faces an impossible choice. Can she trust her partner, when the evidence suggests he turned a blind eye to a grave miscarriage of justice? And as the body count rises, can Jo catch the killer before it is too late for her oldest friend?
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Review
Dealing with crime every day… That means you have to be a strong person. You have to be able to empathise, but you have to be able to keep your distance too. Getting to emotionally involved can make you miss things that important to solve the case.
When you are called in to investigate a murder and you realise the victim is one of your own, it makes the police team even more determined. Not that they don’t do their best every time, but they are only human and you cannot deny the feeling is different when you know the deceased personally.
Immediately a whole array of suspects are presented to Jo and her team and little by little they start to strike them off their list, until one remains. That must be the one who they have to put behind bars, for sure.
Jo, though, feels like things are not adding up. No matter which way she turns all the clues they have, around in her head, there is no doubt they are missing something important. The one million dollar question is: what are they not seeing?
The killer, in the meantime, does not waste time sitting around waiting for Jo. Oh no, they have a whole agenda to work through.
Will Jo and her team catch the murderer before it really escalates?
I was with Jo on this one. It was very clear in which direction all the fingers were pointing, but sometimes it’s just too good to be true and you know that one plus one does not equal three. Even I saw there was more to it. 😉
I did understand where the killer was coming from and I loved the way the author explained the traumas someone is forced to deal with. The way she did it touched me deeply. It was devastating. I think it’s very clear that a victim remains a victim even after all the physical wounds are healed. It takes a lot more time to heal your mind. It even might never happen.
It took your attacker only a few minutes to leave you behind in the deepest darkest place you did not even know existed.
Ow Detective Jo Fournier, you are one hell of a woman. I admire you. 5 stars
Thank you
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:About the author
M.M. Chouinard is the author of the Detective Jo Fournier mystery thrillers, and the standalone mystery thriller The Vacation. Her first fiction story was published in her local paper when she was eight, and she fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. While pursuing a Ph.D in psychology and helping to found the first U.S. research university of the new millenium, the stories kept rattling around inside her skull, demanding to come out. For sanity’s sake, she released them.
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Author Links
Website: http://www.mmchouinard.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mmchouinardauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_m_chouinard
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@m.m.chouinard
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Book Link
https://geni.us/B0BG6DPP6Bsocial
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