Hide and Seek

 

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Playing a mystery game seems the perfect way to celebrate Jamie Kydd’s promotion to Detective Sergeant rank.  But the game turns real when a body turns up in the pretend crime scene.  Perhaps worse than spoiling the party, the corpse is someone Jamie knows.

 

Even though the police take on the case, Jamie asks his friend, former police detective Michael McLaren, to also investigate—concerned that the victim’s criminal past may dampen the Constabulary’s usual fervor to nab his killer. It seems to have been a smart decision, for the police aren’t expending a lot of energy on the inquiry.

 

Suspects float around McLaren…half truthful, hard to find.  More like wraiths than flesh and blood.  If the victim’s burglary partner, ex-wife, or childhood friend didn’t kill Dan, who did?

 

It’s a desperate game between McLaren and a killer who’s playing Hide and Seek.

My review...

This is a rather long review for me. I don’t like to read long reviews and I try not to write them. There were just too many neat aspects in this story to ignore.

Hiestand has McLaren is back but the tables have turned a little. The tough cases are in someone else’s backyard for a change. McLaren’s mate Jamie is being promoted and they’re having a party. While it might be the surprise of a lifetime it most certainly is not the one they were planning.

Another great Michael McLaren story. My favorite character is back mending stone walls and helping people solve crimes; people that really need help. And yet, someone is lying; you know how mysteries are...someone is always lying.

Although the POV hasn’t changed, the author has managed to change the spotlight to shine on a secondary character and she’s done a good job of it. She’s almost made Jamie and McLaren seem as if they were partners again; working together as they did years ago.

Hiestand is excellent at making her characters come alive. Her writing is poetic. “...grey clouds heavy with potential rain fanned eastward from the western horizon. Everything earthbound took on their dense, somber hue...”.  Between her expressive writing and skill at character description, it’s almost as if she creates a stage in your mind; as if you’re watching a “play”.

There were two other aspects I thought were great in this book. The author created a lot more tension during the action scenes. Made me want to read even faster. And secondly, she made it impossible to know who the bad guy/girl was right til the very end.

This is Book 12 of a series titled “The McLaren Mysteries”. While it can be read as a stand-alone, you’ll be missing out on a lot of McLaren cases if you don’t read the whole series.

read an excerpt...

Jamie knew Yates’ recent record. He’d reviewed it before he left the house, wanting to be prepared no matter which way their conversation would turn. The prior convictions ranged from assault, breach of a restraining order, and handling stolen goods to armed robbery.

 He had familiarized himself with Yates’ personal history too: how he’d slid into crime when he was eighteen, how he’d been suspected of murdering his parents and torching the family home, how his mate had provided a water-tight alibi that plopped Yates elsewhere that horrific night. But despite the clean bill of health absolving him of any criminal involvement, Yates had continued to get into trouble.

 Jamie also was prepared for seeing Yates Fairley in person. It was a precaution he took seriously, for he didn’t want to miss any advantage he could get for a successful encounter…which also might lead to a successful interview. Through viewing police photos, Jamie had familiarized himself with the man’s looks and expression—the dark hair and eyes, the piercing stare, the exceptional height and muscular physique. No doubt developed to disconcert police officers and intimidate people, Jamie thought as he looked at the figure sitting across from him. But it wasn’t working on him.

about Jo Hiestand...

A month-long trip to England during her college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British.  Since then, she has been lured back nearly a dozen times and lived there during her professional folksinging stint.

 Jo’s insistence for accuracy--from police methods and location layout to the general “feel” of the area--has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for research.  These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the details filling both her Peak District mysteries and the McLaren mystery series.

In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English.  She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.

Her McLaren mystery, BLACK MOON, received the 2019 ‘N.N. Light Best Mystery Book’ award.

Jo lives in the St. Louis area with her cat, Tennyson, and way too many kilts.

https://www.johiestand.com/books

https://www.amazon.com/Hide-Seek-McLaren-Mysteries-Hiestand/dp/B08BW5Y4T2

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