Overview

From the award-winning author of Trace of Evil, a detective dealing with the scars of her past must solve a seemingly unconnected string of murders, and face the impossible question of what to do when the killer may be hiding amongst the ones you know, in Alice Blanchard’s The Wicked Hour. 

“Readers will welcome a return to Burning Lake with Natalie at the helm.”—Associated Press

“Lockhart is a relatable new heroine on the police-procedural scene, and one who will appeal to readers of Tana French.”—Booklist

The day after Burning Lake’s notorious, debauched Halloween celebration, Detective Natalie Lockhart uncovers a heartbreaking scene—a young woman, dead and lying in a dumpster. There’s no clue to who she is, save for a mystifying tattoo on her arm, and a callus underneath her chin. She’s not from around here. No one knows who she is.

As Natalie retraces the young woman’s steps leading up to her death, she uncovers a deeper, darker horror—a string of murders and disappearances, seemingly unconnected, that may have ties to each other—and explain the abrupt disappearance of her best friend years ago.

As she digs deeper within the mind of the hunter, Natalie finds a darkness she could never have imagined. And as she draws closer to the truth, the killer is weaving a trap for her that may prove inescapable.

Review

Detective Natalie Lockhart has uncovered a string of murders in her town. She is fighting her own demons as she is searching for the murderer. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes the murderer is someone she would never suspect. Or maybe not!

There are quite a few missteps in this book. The author repeats herself several times about several things. If she says once…she says MULTIPLE times about her friend disappearing in high school and the person who was accused of her death kills himself. I also recommend reading the first in this series. I have not read the first one and that may have helped me follow some of this story.

I did enjoy the suspense built around these disappearances. I also connected with Natalie. She is struggling to overcome the death of her sister (this is where reading the first book would have been helpful). The author did a great job with Natalie’s pain and with her strength to overcome. Plus, the mystery surrounding the murders is intense and unique.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.

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