Justice Buried – Patricia Bradley – Memphis Cold Case #2 – Revell – Published 5 September 2017

♥♥♥♥/♥

 

Synopsis

In an effort to get her security consulting business off the ground, Kelsey Allen has been spending a lot of time up in the air, rappelling down buildings and climbing through windows to show business owners their vulnerabilities to thieves. When she is hired to pose as a conservator at the Pink Palace Museum in order to test their security weaknesses after some artifacts go missing, she’s ecstatic. But when her investigative focus turns from theft to murder, Kelsey knows she’s out of her league–and possibly in the cross hairs. When blast-from-the-past Detective Brad Hollister is called in to investigate, Kelsey may find that he’s the biggest security threat yet . . . to her heart.

My thoughts

Justice Buried is an exciting and compelling suspense, with just a smidgen of romance to keep things really interesting. The idea for this book sounded wonderful – a woman who sneaks into buildings, cracks alarm codes, and rappels down walls all in the name of keeping things safe? Sign me up! The book’s first line only amped up my interest for this story, and I was not disappointed.

Kelsey Allen is slowly building her security consultancy business. Her recent employment has involved posing as the Phantom Hawk, sneaking into buildings and showing the owners the gaps in their security systems. But when she is spotted one night and shot at, Kelsey knows she had a lucky escape. However, her next assignment – posing undercover at a museum to uncover a spate of artifact thefts – suddenly leads to a murder investigation, and, when it all becomes tied to the cold case of her father’s disappearance, she knows she will need the help of police to solve this mystery. Family friend and old school mate, Detective Brad Hollister is the man for the job, but neither Kelsey nor Brad expect the spark between them, nor just how dangerous this case could get.

I can’t overstate how wonderful it is to enjoy a book where the characters are really good at what they do. It makes a book, particularly a mystery-thriller, so much more enjoyable. Both Kelsey and Brad are good at their jobs. Kelsey is an accomplished computer hacker (though she keeps on the right side of the law), fearless when facing a four-storey climb, and an antique conservator, as well as being intelligent and independent. That doesn’t mean she acts stupidly or impulsively, though, as she faces the very real threat to her and others’ lives. Brad, too, is clever and good at his job as police detective, now working on the cold case investigation team. Further, the bad guys are also clever, not relying on Brad and Kelsey to make mistakes to keep the tension high and the action rolling.

I really enjoyed the first book in this Memphis Cold Case series, Justice Delayed, and, dare I say it, Justice Buried was even better. Justice Buried has a wonderful mix of clever crime-fighting suspense, and romance. Strong character and a fast-paced plot make this a really enjoyable book. I look forward to reading the third book in the series.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Fiction

Genre: Christian suspense.

Themes: Theft, family, romance, police, crime, museums.

Published:  5 September 2017 by Revell.

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook. 384 pages.

ISBN: 9780800727123, 0800727126

Find it on Goodreads

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