Laura Griffin
March 30, 2021
Berkley
Blurb: One tenacious local detective can only get the help he needs from a former forensic photographer with a serial killer on the loose in the new romantic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
When former forensic photographer Miranda Rhoads moves to the seaside town of Lost Beach, she’s decided to make her living as a wildlife photographer and put crime scenes behind her. But her plans are quickly upended when one morning, she comes across a couple sleeping in a canoe, entwined in an embrace. Looking closer, she realizes the man and woman aren’t asleep—they’ve been murdered.
Detective Joel Breda sets out to find answers–not only about the unidentified victims in the marshy death scene, but also about the aloof and beautiful photographer who seems to know more about his investigation than he does.
As they begin to unravel the motivation of a merciless serial killer, Miranda and Joel must race against the clock to make an arrest before the killer can find them first.
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Miranda Rhoads arrives at Lost Beach burnt out from her job in CSI and thinks that turning her sights toward nature photography will be her salvation. Unfortunately, she stumbles upon a boat with a dead, obviously posed, couple in it and her CSI life is rejuvenated, even if she isn’t.
Laura Griffin again delivers a solid read in Flight, the second in the Texas Murder Files series. The first involved her sister, Bailey in Hidden (you can see my review here.) Amusingly enough, I started my review of Hidden by suggesting you shouldn’t get attached to whomever was at the beginning of a Laura Griffin novel because Laura was going to kill them off, but lo and behold, she fooled me this time because Miranda is the first person we meet on this ride.
Everything about Flight worked so well. I loved the beach setting with Miranda photographing birds for a calendar she was contracted for. I loved her dog Benji and the relationship she had with him and how Laura mentioned a dog sitter because, seriously, we dog people think about those things!
The mystery suspense really works–well, it’s a Laura Griffin novel so you expect it to. While I had an inkling as to the direction of the killer, I did not guess until it seemed that Miranda did. The romance I felt meh about although Joel and Miranda were a likable couple.
Despite the fact that this is a series, Flight works 100% as a standalone.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
4 out of 5 butterflies