Another very good installment of the Chiara Corelli Mystery series
When I was a teenager I used to devour Agatha Christie novels, there is something appealing in trying to solve a mystery along the way with the detective character. Many years later and hundreds of books after, I’m happy to have found a women-loving-women version of those novels.
This is book four in the Chiara Corelli Mystery series which follows the criminal investigations of NYPD detective Chiara Corelli and her partner Detective PJ Parker. The series, which should be read in chronological order, is formed by A Matter of Blood (book 1), The Blood Runs Cold (book 2), and A Message in Blood (book 3). A hunch tells me that there’s going to be at least a book five as there’s still a journey that both main characters have to go through.
Corelli and Parker are called to solve what seemed to be a straightforward murder investigation, but when the victim is identified as an investigative journalist who blackmailed criminals including members of a white supremacist movement, things start to escalate quickly. Especially when the white supremacists are connected to a threat to democracy.
Like in Agatha Christie’s novels, each book of the series focuses on a murder case that Corelli and Parker have to solve. I like that the cases featured can somehow be linked to real life. Book Three dealt with child pornography which resonated with the US sex trafficking trials while this one connects to the dangerous white supremacist movements.
I mentioned that the series should be read in chronological order, this is because there is an arc that follows Corelli’s and Parker’s struggles with personal issues and professional difficulties. As the series goes by, we learn more details about their pasts and how they are coping in the present. Even though there is a romantic arc, I wouldn’t recommend this series for the romance as it’s very much in the background. The criminal cases are always in the driving seat moving the plot forward.
Abby Craden has narrated the whole series so far and she’s done a magnificent job. Her performance as short-tempered Detective Corelli and guarded Detective Parker is fantastic. Ms. Craden makes this series even more appealing. A pleasure to listen to. 4.5 stars.
Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
Available in Scribd
