Breathe Your Last

Josie Quinn No. 10. A swimming champion drowns, a firefighter sets his house on fire, some ordinary people try their hand at flying... It soon becomes clear that these are not just cases of truly bad judgement but that a half-crazed serial killer is on the loose in Denton.Sounds good? It is - for what it is. If you like Josie Quinn, you'll enjoy this instalment. If you don't, this won't make you change your mind. Since this is a pretty “decoupled” episode, you can enjoy this book even if you haven't ever read any of the previous books.Just be sure you know what you're getting - a suspenseful but bog-standard police procedural like many others out there. It just happens to be one of the sort I enjoy from time to time for its pure relaxation value.Four out of five stars.Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

My review in one sentence: I read this book in 24 hours.

But in case that was insufficient to tell you how amazing I thought the book was, let me expound.

Josie Quinn didn't expect to find a dead body in the swimming pool when she went to see her brother at his job on the campus of the local college. But find one she did, and unexpectedly, it's a championship swimmer. Drowned. How does that happen? Others might want to rule it a bizarre and unexpected accident, but Josie doesn't think so. The problem is proving her theory that foul play was involved. But when other seemingly unexplainable incidents start happening, Josie knows she's got to get to the bottom of things.

Josie is a likable character - a tough, dedicated detective who's trying to learn how to let others get close to her. She's good at her job and when she thinks she's right, she doesn't back down. She isn't such a hardnose that she lacks empathy for the people she's trying to help, but she will push to get the information she needs.

But we don't see the story unfold only from Josie's point of view. The killer's thoughts are interspersed throughout the book, too. I found those little tidbits to be absolutely fascinating. And even with insights into what was on the killer's mind, I didn't see the big reveal coming until it hit me upside the head. I'd think, okay, I've got it figured out, and then there was a sudden shift, and I found myself right back in the dark. Well done, Ms. Regan. Well done!

This was the first of Lisa Regan's Josie Quinn series that I've read. I got enough backstory to follow along with no problems, but now I've got to go read books one through nine to catch up!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.