A review by hyzie
Pretty Dead by Anne Frasier

3.0

 

This series always manages to throw me for a loop.

 

It was the first Elise Sandburg book that caused me to become an Anne Frasier fan (and I'll admit to being an Anne Frasier fan up-front in case I get all fan-girly later), and this delivers more of the same, in the best possible way.

 

Elise and David are always fun to read about. I like their banter and their relationship, and I like that they are both haunted by their pasts to some degree, but that it makes them better police because of it.

 

Their pasts are front and center in this one, with both of them dealing with serious (but old) family issues, and not always in the best way.

 

Watching Elise struggle to handle the bombshell that was thrown at her in the last book was intriguing, and I felt for her, even when I thought she was being overly dramatic about certain things.

 

David's problems broke my heart, perhaps because they hit closer to home than Elise's. The thought processes felt extremely real, and watching him try to pull himself together (with a few tears in my own eyes at times) and handle everything else that was going on (because do these two ever catch a break? No, they do not.) was heart-wrenching.

 

The introduction of a few new characters was fun, although the characters themselves were not always. I had very close to Umbridge-level hatred for one of them, though how much of that was due to said character's dislike of a character I did like I don't know.

 

I totally called the killer at 15%, and I feel brilliant because of it. I don't think I was supposed to catch said murderer that early, and it was one of those odd moments where things come together and I suddenly felt like a cop myself. It was beautiful.

 

Even knowing early on who I was pretty sure did it (I never completely trust my instincts on such things, given everything going on in a novel like this), this was an enjoyable ride with a hefty number of twists and turns. I doubted myself again and again, as did the characters, and having everything come together in the end the way it did was wonderful.

 

I can't wait to read the next in the series, given how things ended, and I will be eagerly anticipating it. If you haven't dived into this series, start with the first book, Play Dead, but do start if you like atmospheric crime thrillers with well-developed characters and lots of hilarious one-liners thrown in for even more charm.

 

This book was provided to me for free by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.