Bea Reviews Her Mother's Grave by Lisa Regan

Series: Detective Josie Quinn #3
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (re-print)
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 3rd, 2020
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
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Blurb from goodreads:

From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes another Detective Josie Quinn thriller, as her past crashes into her present when a killer will do anything to keep the truth buried.

When two young boys discover human bones buried beneath a tree in a trailer park, Detective Josie Quinn races to join her team at the scene. She used to play in those woods as a child, happier outside and away from her abusive mother, Belinda Rose.

Josie's past crashes into her present when a rare dental condition confirms the bones belong to a teenage foster-child who was murdered thirty years ago. A girl named Belinda Rose . . .

Josie hasn't seen her mother in years but, with an undeniable connection between her mother and the dead girl, does she dare track her down?

Just as Josie gets closer to uncovering a secret that will shatter her world forever, another body is uncovered. It's suddenly clear that someone very close to Josie will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried forever.

As she battles the demons from her past, can Josie stop this killer before another precious life is taken?

My Thoughts:

Whew! "Her Mother's Grave" was  initially slow to pull me in, I kept putting it down, but then it sucked me in. I ended up reading late into the night to finish. At one point, I looked at the page count, looked at my clock, and said "It's just under 100 pages left. I can't stop now!" So if it doesn't hook you right away, 

have patience, "Her Mother's Grave' could still lure you in.

Although this is book three of a ten book series, it worked not only as a stand alone, but as an entry point into the series, and now I have a backlist to glom, if I can find them. Josie Quinn is a police chief in the small town where she grew up. She's a good cop, not perfect, but good. She also has a good team who like and respect her. When the crap hits the fan during a challenging investigation, they have her back. I did not like how blindly stubborn she was about refusing back up after an assault and in fact, that thread was left dangling. We found out who was behind it but not what happened to the person who actually committed the assault. Sorry for the vagueness; I'm trying to avoid a spoiler.  

The challenging investigation links to Josie's past and wow, was that a ride! Part soap opera. part thriller, and twisty even though I figured out some of the twists. While the plot strained credulity at times, I've read news stories just as bizarre. The pacing was a little off; the POV moved between the present and past with transitions that were sometimes jarring even though they always involved a chapter change. At the same time, Regan knows how to leave a chapter at a cliffhanger so you have to keep reading. The more involved in the story I got, the less I noticed the transitions.

Not having read the earlier books, I don't know well or complexly Quinn was portrayed but in this book, she was stripped down to the bones. It was a deeply emotional book that wrenched me dry. We really get to Quinn's essence, and oh my heart broke at the details of her childhood. Here is where I note, HUGE warnings for child abuse, kidnapping, sexual assault, and horrific violence. I couldn't read the full description of what was done to another character, Dex. That one pushed my emotional riggers. Whew. 

"Her Mother's Grave" was not a perfect book, and it was dark and gritty, but also ultimately hopeful. I care about Josie, Trinity, Noah, and the others. I want to read more in the series but my library doesn't own any in this series and I was rejected for a review copy of the next book. :( I'll need to keep my eye out for Kindle sales.