Taken to the Grave is the second in this series, The Dancing Girls was released earlier this year and I enjoyed that one so much I placed M.M Chouinard on my watch-out-for list.
This second book is every bit as good as the first, it can be read as a stand-alone but I would suggest reading The Dancing Girls first, just to get familiar with the characters, who’s back own stories add so much to the books.
The settings for these books are great, the crimes are intriguing, and the stories rattle along at a nice pace.
Here’s my review of Taken to the Grave
Jo Fournier has relinquished her Lieutenants role and reverted back to Detective. She didn’t like the politics of the role and hated not being on the streets.
Back with her partner Detective Bob Arnett she is sent to investigate the killing of a professor at the local university.
And so, it begins, Professor Michael Whorton is universally hated, students, peers, his wife, and a long list of women who he’s had adulterous affairs with, all seem to have just reason to want this man dead.
The list may be long but realistically who would murder a man, in his own office, in the middle of a busy university.
Jo and Arnett start to unravel the professor’s life, then another body connected to the university is found, and another.
This book is about University Politics, and relationships, and how the unchecked behaviour of one person can send ripples that ruin a lot of people’s lives.
Once the university starts to receive adverse publicity, they start to put pressure on the Police Department, and once again Jo is caught up in Department politics as she is put under pressure to make an arrest.
I liked this book. Just like the first one in the series it’s a good mix between a full on crime thriller and a cosy-crime mystery.
The characters are good, and I really engage with both Jo and Arnett. It is written in a way that it is never fanciful, everything that happens is logical, and there is no “shark-infested-custard” type scenarios or revelations.
The best recommendation I can give this book is it enthralled me to the point where I could have been reading a true-crime story.
Pages: 330
Publisher: Bookouture
Publishing Date: 19thSeptember 2019
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