Review by Booklist Review
The brutal murder of Joanna Moorehouse sends Detectives Thomas Riley and Jack Renner following the money. There's a lot to follow because Moorehouse discovered eviscerated in her Cleveland mansion led Sterling Financial, which built its success on the backs of unwary customers seeking mortgage loans. Some former customers have sued the firm, and others are currently conducting organized protests. Within days, two other women working at Sterling are killed in the same manner by someone who manages to leave no traces for forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner to uncover. The uneasy alliance between Gardiner and Renner continues in this third entry in the series, after Unpunished (2017), as the current case takes a turn that casts dark light on Gardiner's personal life. Black's research of the 2008 financial crisis shows in details that may delight business types but may slow the action for others. Still, the plot hurtles to an adrenaline-fueled conclusion that is sure to hook Black's devoted readership.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In bestseller Black's uneven third thriller to feature Cleveland forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner (after 2017's Unpunished), Maggie is horrified to see 28-year-old Joanna Moorehouse, the owner of mortgage banking firm Sterling Financial, lying gutted in the living room of her spotless home, but the most surprising aspect about the murder is the lack of evidence at the crime scene. Maggie's got a tough job ahead of her, and Joanna's employees at Sterling aren't exactly the most forthcoming. Maggie's colleagues, detectives Jack Renner and Thomas Riley, begin digging into Sterling, and a pattern of corruption emerges. Another, identical killing kicks the case into overdrive. Meanwhile, Maggie is struggling with a dark secret involving Jack, one that ex-husband Rick, a cop, may soon uncover. Black packs the formulaic plot full of fascinating forensic science and an eye-opening deep dive into predatory mortgage-lending practices. But after such an extensive buildup, the pedestrian denouement comes as a disappointment. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A forensic expert tries to make sense of a grisly string of murders.Joanna Moorehouse was living the life. Already, in her late 20s, she was CEO of Sterling Financial, a large mortgage company. Her job rained down perks, including a luxurious home in the Cleveland suburbs. Who could have hated her so much that he or she wanted her not only dead, but literally hacked to ribbons on the floor of her pristine dining room? Maggie Gardiner (Unpunished, 2017, etc.) hopes to cull enough evidence from the scene to give a firmer direction to detectives Jack Renner and Thomas Riley's investigation. What interests Maggie most is not what she finds but what she doesn't find: no blood trail, no fingerprints, no trace of the killer's movements walking away from the scene of his own carnage. As Renner and Riley seek motives for the killing among the Sterling staff, including Jeremy Mearan, an employee whose benefits package included access to Moorehouse's bedroom, Maggie puzzles over the trace evidence. But it isn't until more corpses crop up, similarly slashed and with similarly sterile crime scenes, that Maggie, Renner, and Riley realize that the murder isn't just about Joanna. Black offers readers a crash course in subprime lending and credit default swaps along with a strong position in suspense. The good guys don't all finish first, but in the end, justice is done.Like her Theresa MacLean series, Black's Gardiner and Renner investigations graft a quirky social justice sensibility onto a solid backbone of detection. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
