The Evil and The Innocent: Express Investigations Series - Book 9

by CB Laurence

Three grisly murders. Two sides to the story. One traumatized boy.

When a sailor, his Hispanic sweetheart, and her mother are found murdered, it seems the only witness to the horrendous crime is her four-year-old son, Miggy. Instantly smitten, the Várlumos take the terrified child into their home for safekeeping, while Express Investigations joins Agent Gray and the CBCII to solve the case.

Following multiple leads, the EI team spreads out to solve the murders. Their investigation leads to many paths, yet none seem to cross…until they do.

Political games, harsh betrayals, and power plays turn Los Angeles into a pressure cooker, and time is running out to prevent a home-grown disaster. When the tension erupts in shocking violence, the team and Miggy are in terrible danger. Can EI save the day, or will tragedy strike close to home?

Join the team on their toughest case yet and experience the emotional ending you don’t want to miss.

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2023

About the author

CB Laurence started writing the Express Investigations series during the COVID shutdown in 2020 after thirteen years of writer’s block. (Ugh.) The Mansfield stories were inspired by a music video (can you guess which one?) and once the cork popped, the books didn't stop.

She has a love for all things sugar and sandwich, and would crawl through broken glass for a Diet Coke.

After twenty years in Phoenix, she now connects to wi-fi in Texas, and lives with her 7-pound guard dog, Benji the Yorkie.

Reviews

[Cherie Melbourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in this series that I have read and CB Laurence kept me wondering who to trust and turning pages. It was also a nice change with the era, a lack of electronics to help solve the problem, just the use of intuition to look in the right direction to solve the murders and everything else that was going on.
A great read.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

[Ally Doby (Schleicher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.75 stars*

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racial tensions run high as most of the town would like to see Santiago Canyon razed to the ground and a brand new baseball stadium or theme park built in its place. After all, it was an eye sore, a shanty town full of American-Mexicans, protected by 2 bit punks. But it was also the home of generations of immigrants, people who have scratched a living and built their lives and homes there and the mighty dollar cannot take that away, no matter how much was offered. And this is where corruption starts.

I love the EI books but this is the most painful and heartbreaking one yet, to date. Too much hurt, too many deaths, unnecessary deaths, which left me on floods of tears. Be prepared for that, but what a read - wouldn't miss it for the world. More please!