The Colonel's Daughter

Military Investigations #3

by Debby Giusti

A ruthless killer is targeting the families of soldiers in a U.S. Army colonel's brigade. Special agent Jamison Steele, of the Criminal Investigation Division, vows to stop him—because this time, Jamison's heart is involved. The colonel's daughter, the woman who loved and left Jamison without a word, came face-to-face with the murderer. Protecting Michele Logan means constant surveillance. And solving the mystery of the serial killer's motive requires asking Michele the questions she least wants to answer. Questions that may lead them both into a deadly trap.

Genres: Romance, Love Inspired Suspense, Love Inspired, Mystery, Christian Fiction, Christian, Christian Romance

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Debby Giusti is a medical technologist who loves working with test tubes and petri dishes almost as much as she loves to write. Growing up as an Army Brat, Debby met and married her husband – then a Captain in the Army – at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Together they traveled the world, raised three wonderful Army Brats of their own and have now settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where Debby spins tales of suspense that touch the heart and soul.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ruthless killer is on base. Special agent Jamison Steele (Bond, James Bond) has been given the job of keeping Michele Logan - his former love - and her mother, safe while they prepare for the return of Michele's father (the Colonel) and his brigade from Afghanistan. Every person who steps on base is a suspect, except one person who is given information freely and never brought in for questioning. Duh, I pegged him immediately as the killer. Guess what?! Yep, he was the killer. But first, you have to read chapter after chapter of Jamison and Michele rehashing, "I can't fall in love with him/her." Followed by "I can't keep away from him/her." I am usually a fan of this author, but not this book. I often figure out mysteries, but this one didn't drop clues along the way. It was just badly done. Worse. It was boring.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the romance novel I thought it was going to be ( or if it was a romance then it missed the mark with me), but that's okay as what it actually is is more of an episode of NCIS, just one where the investigating Agent and the witness used to date.

When Michelle and her Mother are the first to arrive for a potluck dinner and find that the hostess has been brutally murdered and the killer is still in the house, Michelle calls the first person on her speed dial, something she probably should have changed, her ex-boyfriend CID Agent Jameson Steele.

Steele is still heart broken after Michelle left him 10 months ago and is determined to protect her from the killer and win her back. As I've said, this doesn't feel much like a romance to me, I didn't feel much sympathy for either of the protagonists an what in the book is supposed to happen over a few days feels like a very long drawn out book. I enjoyed the 'who done it?' aspect of the book which is why I kept reading, however, I did figure out the killer early on and kept thinking 'no, it can't be them, its too obvious??'.

I was entertained while reading it but I don't think I will read it again.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up in a second hand store last week because I'd never seen a "Military Investigation" series before, not that any of my family is military. It was a pegged as a suspense book, so that was another thing that drew me to it.

It was pretty bad. The writing was weak. It was boring, especially having to read and read again of the on going same issues of why Michelle ran away, and why Jamison and Michele's relationship could never work out by the both of them. Then it was pretty easy to figure out who the murderer was early on, because they had no real reason to be in the story. I hated Jamison and Michele's denial that they loved each other, and the reasons/excuses of why their relationship wouldn't work out. It was also beyond irritating how many times the author had to put in, whether it was either one of them saying it, "the ten months we were apart", at every opportunity as though the reader forgot how long they had split up. Each time I had to read it, it irritated me even further.

Bla!

[Sally Kilpatrick]

I really enjoyed this book, and the line for early voting was SO long that I read the entire book while in line. As usual, Giusti handles questions of faith with a delicate but firm hand. The conflict within the heroine was so deep, however, that I think she easily could have spent another hundred pages trying to straighten that crazy woman out. Great pacing and suspense, but I did peg the killer pretty early on in the book. Excellent series, but I liked The Officer's Secret even better.

[Holley · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 50%.
OMG, the female protagonist needs heavy duty counseling and possibly chemical aid to get through her trauma that she just keeps repressing. I am APALLED the parents and others around this woman did not get her help, but just kept saying "you need to work through your brother's death".
And a CID officer who hasn't received mandatory counseling to work through an ambush he was involved in?!
I was also not impressed with the heroine always being described in terms of her "feminine" outfits.
Besides being poorly written, the number of typos and misused words was crazy.
I will NOT continue this series and really only read the author if she's part of another series I like.

[Susan Faloon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly interesting read. I did figure out the 'bad' guy very early on but questioned myself near the end. I had kind of a hard time getting truly invested in the female lead. She seemed kind of self-centered at times. I get it that she was scarred by the loss of her brother but she wasn't a character that I fully cared about. If you are questioning reading it I can say go ahead. It's worth a read.

[TrishN29 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Military families live in base housing single military personnel live in the barracks and are usually told to return to quarters, meaning the barracks. Ugh, double Ugh!!!

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book as much as the other books in the series, they lived in the past way too much.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirational romantic suspense.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Military Investigations series. It was pretty good and I'm happy to report that I didn't know "whodoneit" until it was revealed, and I was a bit sad since I kinda liked the person...

The romance was okay, though Michele did get on my nerves a bit with all her "I can't love you" and then "I do love you" stuff...

Still, the story was interesting.

I found something interesting with this series thus far: They are independent of each other, The character of the next book is usually introduced in the book before but the characters in previous books are never mentioned again. Perhaps this will change, but for the time being they seem to drop off the base...

Warning: Spoiler below

I found an interesting flaw in this whole story. An important military guy like Jamison Steele would not leave his cell phone where others can get to it. Nor would he leave it without a password. I work for a community college and they make us put passwords on our personal phones in order to have our email on there. I cannot imagine the army allowing someone to have a phone and not have a password protection on it...I just could not see that happening AT ALL!!!

[Sherida Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so vibrant as the tension mounts between Jamison and Michele as they test their past love for each other. A criminal is threatening families living at Fort Rickman, and you can feel the ticking toward disaster as the end looms. As is his duty, Jamison tries to protect Michele, a colonel’s daughter, and others at the Army post.
I enjoyed experiencing the close-knit community of the families stationed at Fort Rickman, as they cared for each other. This story gives an extra appreciation for what military families sacrifice when loved ones serve in the military.
I was completely involved with the characters while reading this book. It is filled with suspense and sweet love, along with a sustaining thread of faith. An exciting story!

[Kim]

I enjoyed this book very much.

[Judine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book much better than the other two in the Military Investigations series because I appreciated how Giusti brought a separated couple back together. While I like both Michele and Jamison, they feel a bit too angsty throughout the book. The build up to the climax was quite good, but I almost laughed out loud at Jamison's use of his latent high school discus skills, which I don't think was the intended response.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debbie Giusti just keeps getting better with The Colonel's Daughter! I was up reading until 2AM because I couldn't put it down! So much action with CID agent Jamison who is determind to find out who is targeting the soldier's wives and protect Michele who stumbled upon the murderer and the killer will stop at nothing to end her life. Can Jamison catch the killer in time? Read The Colonel's Daughter to find out!

[John Hanscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a little less. Rarely has the "perp" in a mystery ben so blatantly obvious. The author has forgotten the mystery solver's dictum that, if a person keeps showing up, but has no real relationship to the development of the story, that person should be suspected immediately.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have enjoyed the Military Investigations series. Debby Giusti does a fine job of keeping you in suspense about what is going on. I thought I knew who the bad guy was pretty quickly into the story but then I kept having doubts because her twists and turns in the plot were so good.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, but couldn't connect well to the characters. I have no military people in my life at all, which I think is part of the reason.
I was flipping to get to the end more to be done with the book, not because I loved it.
It was suspenseful though. :)

[Nancy Badger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice inspirationsl romance with a solid mystery surrounded by the military family theme. Death, attempted murder, and shades of sexual tension add to the heart-warming story. It keep me up late reading it!

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Military Investigations
Category: Inspirational Romance

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Military Investigations
Category: Inspirational Romance

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I figured out who did it, but not why or how.

[Judine Brey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked how giusti brought Michele and Jamison back together, they both felt a bit too angsty for my tastes. Also, I almost laughed at the climactic moment where Jamison uses his latent high school discus skills, which I don't think was the intended response.