December 1-31, 2020 Tour

5/5 Stars

Tenacious and unpretentious, Jo Wyatt lives in Echo Valley, Colorado… her hometown. The town where her mother died of cancer, and where her retired cop father never approved of her. She’s a detective on the police force that just passed her over for promotion, bestowing the sergeant’s position on the less-qualified man she’s divorcing.

If that isn’t enough to qualify for a long rest in a quiet place, Jo’s latest case is a suicide that feels “off” to her. Why would a young video game designer with a bright future kill himself? Though her suspicions are brushed off by Cameron, her soon-to-be-ex… and just about everyone else, Jo can’t let go, especially when she locks horns with Quinn, a foul-mouthed classmate of the victim with a chip on her shoulder, and the person who found his body.

This well-written, slow-burn mystery was character-driven for me with each one well-developed even if they only appeared for a scene or two. Backstories unfold throughout the story and everyone carries scars from the past. Quinn’s just took my breath away. I cannot even imagine.

Jo Wyatt is a protagonist to get behind. Despite the barbs and obstacles thrown in her way and a ton of emotional baggage, she pieces together a psychotic plot of murder and revenge just as another life is about to be taken. Go, Jo, go!

Can’t wait for Jo’s next case! Hope to see more of Squint, her boss, and Aiden, her “friend.” Can live without Cameron (jerk face), and Everett, the nosy reporter.

If it sounds like I’m already invested in these characters, good!

Enjoy!

SYNOPSIS

Death is one click away when a string of murders rocks a small Colorado town in the first mesmerizing novel in M. E. Browning’s A Jo Wyatt Mystery series.

Echo Valley, Colorado, is a place where the natural beauty of a stunning river valley meets a budding hipster urbanity. But when an internet stalker is revealed to be a cold-blooded killer in real life the peaceful community is rocked to its core.

It should have been an open-and-shut case: the suicide of Tye Horton, the designer of a cutting-edge video game. But Detective Jo Wyatt is immediately suspicious of Quinn Kirkwood, who reported the death. When Quinn reveals an internet stalker is terrorizing her, Jo is skeptical. Doubts aside, she delves into the claim and uncovers a link that ties Quinn to a small group of beta-testers who had worked with Horton. When a second member of the group dies in a car accident, Jo’s investigation leads her to the father of a young man who had killed himself a year earlier. But there’s more to this case than a suicide, and as Jo unearths the layers, a more sinister pattern begins to emerge–one driven by desperation, shame, and a single-minded drive for revenge.

As Jo closes in, she edges ever closer to the shattering truth–and a deadly showdown that will put her to the ultimate test.

Book Details:
Genre: Mystery (Police Procedural)
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: October 6th 2020
Number of Pages: 296
ISBN: 1643855352 (ISBN13: 9781643855356)
Series: A Jo Wyatt Mystery, #1
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Penguin Random House | Goodreads