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4/5 Stars!

Told in dual timelines in the fifties/sixties and the eighties, this engaging police procedural begins as two investigations that morph into one.

Detectives Ben Winters and Tommy Mason are called to the scene when a skull is found beneath a building about to be demolished. However, before they can make any headway, it’s all hands on deck and they’re called away when a fellow officer is murdered.

And another cop is murdered.

Then another.

The skull investigation sits idle as Winters and Mason work to track down a serial cop killer before he claims any more victims.

I didn’t realize this was a book two, and didn’t read the first book, but the author did a good job of including just enough detail that I don’t feel there were “holes” or “gaps” in the story.

Ben and Tommy are a good pairing with great partner banter, and not too much personal drama to take away from the main plot.

Though writing in two distinct eras in history, the author does a good job of capturing the noir feel of the fifties/sixties and the frenetic pace of the eighties.

The book opens with an excellent prologue where a grumpy construction worker is making his way to work. For me, the tight, detailed writing created an eerie feel that had me looking for a serial killer to leap out in paragraph!

Readers of police procedurals, crime fiction, and suspense won’t want to miss this read.

Enjoy!

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Synopsis:

Parker City, 1984…

Three years after the Spring Strangler case rocked the historic Western Maryland city nestled at the foot of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, life has returned to normal for Detective Ben Winters and his partner, Tommy Mason. With a new chief now leading the department and the city slowly crawling out of its economic distress, everything seems to be moving in the right direction.

Until one sweltering summer day, a killer begins targeting police officers. Ben and Tommy find themselves once again leading an investigation the likes of which Parker City has never seen. The detectives quickly come to realize that until the shooter is found, everyone wearing a badge is in danger. To complicate matters even further, when a recently unearthed skeleton mysteriously connects to the string of police homicides, Ben and Tommy begin to think their current case may be tied to events twenty years earlier.

But how could a skeleton buried two decades ago hold the key to solving their current case?

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery

Published by: Level Best Books

Publication Date: February 15, 2022

Number of Pages: 288

ISBN: 978-1-68512-069-6

Series:Parker City Mysteries, #2 || Each book is a stand alone novel.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Goodreads

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