Reviews - Nightshade | The StoryGraph

312 reviews for:

Nightshade

Michael Connelly

3.84 AVERAGE

mhsands292's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious tense medium-paced

slmstar's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious fast-paced

jillann's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

honora23's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

strawberrymivvy's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I see potential in this new series about Detective Stilwell from Connelly, but for me this first outing was a bit too much like a softer version of Harry Bosch, and the author needs to find his groove and develop Stil a bit more.

Surprise surprise, Detective Stilwell has been banished to a small island community because he doesn't follow the rules, and spends his days driving a golf cart investigating mostly petty crimes. As a former member of the LAPD dive team he volunteers to check out the report of a woman's body found underneath a moored yacht, and despite his lack of authority he continues to investigate her death.

A solid, if slightly uninspiring, read, and I'm not ruling Stil out yet...

anneinaz's review against another edition

5.0

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Nightshade by Michael Connelly introduces a new character: a California sheriff’s sergeant named Stillwell. He had been sent to quiet Catalina Island as a punishment but he had found a home. He was investigating the mutilation of a buffalo, which turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. He had found love with Tash Dano, who was the assistant harbor master. The harbor at Catalina was busy, especially on holidays and weekends. Someone had spotted a body in the water and Stil went to investigate. The water was cold but he went in anyway. A woman. He didn’t recognized her but he called ERT to retrieve the body. He wasn’t in charge of the investigation, that was his nemesis, Ahearn, who had been the other part of the altercation that got him assigned here. Obviously Stil would work on the investigation as he was local. Hopefully he could calm the mayor, who was worried about what a murder would do to tourism. The was a lot to unravel.

Stil is a calm, intelligent guy. He has learned, mostly, to hold his temper in check. He was recently divorced but thought he had found the one in Tash. He had a small, but reliable and loyal staff, who helped him police the island. Then, this murder, which took place here and upset the equilibrium. Nearly cost him Tash. The buffalo and the murder were connected but he had to figure out how. He lost a couple of prisoners in his jail, one by murder. That made everyone less than happy. It all worked out but there were are lot of twists and turns to get there. Including his relationship with Tash, which survived.

I was invited to read Nightshade by Little, Brown, and Company. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #LittleBrownAndCompany #MichaelConnelly #Nightshade