Review of ‘Drawn’ by Carsen Taite, Audiobook narrated by Paige McKinney

Carsen Taite is a prolific lesfic author who, as a retired criminal defense attorney, shines when she writes police procedural books or lesbian action-romance books. ‘Drawn’ presents the right amount of mystery, thriller, and romance that will please Ms. Taite’s fans.

Riley Flynn is a talented artist who loves to sketch her favourite Dallas landmarks. When dead bodies start to appear in the exact same locations depicted in her works, she’s reluctant to help the police as she is treated like a suspect. But her unexpected and irresistible attraction to Detective Claire Hanlon, in charge of the investigation, will put Riley at odds with her preconceptions about police and might threaten to destroy Claire’s career.

This was an entertaining mystery/thriller by Carsen Taite, in my opinion, one of her best in the latest years. Ms. Taite has found a niche in lesfic in which she has little competition, especially when she combines action with legal procedures. This novel emphasises more on the police procedural side than legal aspects and, at the same time, finds a good balance with the romance part.

Regarding the romance, Ms. Taite builds the relationship between the main characters with a strong bond and excellent chemistry. Both characters are opposites in many ways but their attraction is undeniable and sizzling. With respect to the mystery plot, the author manages to keep the reader turning pages and guessing. There aren’t many action scenes but the pace picks up towards the end.

The audiobook version was narrated by Paige McKinney, who narrates a lot of lesfic audiobooks. Despite that, I’ve only listened to her narration of ‘From the boots up’ by Andi Marquette. I liked her performance of the different voices, including the male characters. I felt she got the pace of the book just right in both the romantic and action scenes.

Overall, a very good lesbian mystery-romance audiobook that is going to make Ms. Taite’s fans happy. As a bonus, there are cameo appearances of Morgan Bradley and Parker Casey from ‘It should be a Crime’, one of my favourite books by this author. 4 stars.

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins