My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publisher: Waterfall Press
Summary: Jayne Murphy has always put family first. That’s why she abandoned her dream of joining the police force to run her ailing mother’s dance studio.
When one of the studio’s most talented instructors dies in a car crash, Jayne isn’t convinced it was just an accident. Relentlessly pursuing her hunch, she teams up with Officer Danny Nolan, the best friend and partner of her brother Patrick, who died in the line of duty. Haunted by Patrick’s death, Danny has begun to question whether he should still be a cop at all.
As Jayne digs deeper, suspects emerge, including the victim’s clingy ex-boyfriend and a jealous foe from the cutthroat dance world. Her evolving insights into the case rekindle Jayne’s passion for police work. Danny, too, feels a renewed sense of purpose…and a definite attraction to his unofficial partner, which seems to be mutual. Now, if Jayne can only keep herself out of harm’s way, she and Danny both might get a second chance—with their careers and each other.
This is about a 2.5 star book for me. I very much liked the opening of the story and the POV of the murder victim in the moments of her demise. I quite liked the POV of the killer and thought the author deftly obscured their identity while giving the reader a glimpse into their mind. Main character Jayne is our typical cozy mystery heroine in that she's got a knack for nosing and also has a bit of a winsome personality so a reader can't help but root for her. Jayne has a deceased officer brother and a mother suffering from Alzheimer's, so she's definitely someone I wanted to see have a win here. Enter Danny, survivor's guilt ridden, ex-partner of deceased officer brother and we've got the suspense with a dash of romance. All the elements were here for something really great but it added up to middling, at best. It's a comparatively short book so would do if looking for something to while away some hours but in all honesty reader, if you missed this one, you won't have missed much in your lit life.
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