What do you think?
Rate this book
Megan McGinn #2
Hidden Vices by C.J. Carpenter
Desperate to escape Manhattan after her last case resulted in her mother's death, NYPD Detective Megan McGinn takes an open-ended leave of absence from the job she once loved. Arriving at a rented home in a quiet lakeside town, Megan stays away from the investigation into a local judge's death . . . until his estranged daughter is arrested for murder.The hostile behavior of the police detectives prompts Megan to look deeper into the details of the case. She finds that the wealthy judge had as many skeletons in his closet as he had assets, and his monetary influence ran deep into the community's pockets. Whatever the picturesque town is hiding, there are residents who will resort to anything to keep Megan from exposing its secrets.
- GenresMystery
Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 9, 2016
Detective Megan McGinn is back! After losing both her parents during her last case (NEVER ALONE), she has decided to take a much-needed leave away from the murder and mayhem she sees on a daily basis.
She winds up renting a lake house in New Jersey .. in the middle of winter. While she is there, a missing man turns up floating under the ice. ,, and the man's deaf daughter is accused of murder.
Megan was NOT going to get involved ... but after meeting local law enforcement, she jumps in with both feet... and much to her chagrin, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a murderer once again.
I like the character of Megan McGinn. At times, she seems like a real shrew. At other times, she is more than human. Her old partner makes an appearance and she's not sure how to handle that as they came thisclose to 'something'. She runs into one of her first loves from college days, so the reader learns a bit about her earlier years.
And then there's Clyde ... who stole my heart! This huge mutt shows up and steals Megan's heart as well.
This was a solid book, well-written. I would recommend reading the first in the series .. that one sets up why Megan is taking a break from her job. NEVER ALONE was a great start of a new series.
I look forward to seeing more of Megan in the future.
She winds up renting a lake house in New Jersey .. in the middle of winter. While she is there, a missing man turns up floating under the ice. ,, and the man's deaf daughter is accused of murder.
Megan was NOT going to get involved ... but after meeting local law enforcement, she jumps in with both feet... and much to her chagrin, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a murderer once again.
I like the character of Megan McGinn. At times, she seems like a real shrew. At other times, she is more than human. Her old partner makes an appearance and she's not sure how to handle that as they came thisclose to 'something'. She runs into one of her first loves from college days, so the reader learns a bit about her earlier years.
And then there's Clyde ... who stole my heart! This huge mutt shows up and steals Megan's heart as well.
This was a solid book, well-written. I would recommend reading the first in the series .. that one sets up why Megan is taking a break from her job. NEVER ALONE was a great start of a new series.
I look forward to seeing more of Megan in the future.
Read
September 20, 2016Read it because it was set in Lake Hopatcong. Liked it because it was a compelling mystery. Be forewarned, however, that some parts are disturbing.
August 22, 2022
Good story, 2nd of a series. Have not read the first one yet. Could have been more enjoyable for me if the language had been toned down a bit.
October 19, 2015
http://openbooksociety.com/article/hi...
Hidden Vices
By C. J. Carpenter
ISBN # 9780738741987
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen
Synopsis:
Desperate to escape Manhattan after her last case resulted in her mother’s death, NYPD Detective Megan McGinn takes an open-ended leave of absence from the job she once loved. Arriving at a rented home in a quiet lakeside town, Megan stays away from the investigation into a local judge’s death . . . until his estranged daughter is arrested for murder.
The hostile behavior of the police detectives prompts Megan to look deeper into the details of the case. She finds that the wealthy judge had as many skeletons in his closet as he had assets, and his monetary influence ran deep into the community’s pockets. Whatever the picturesque town is hiding, there are residents who will resort to anything to keep Megan from exposing its secrets.
Review:
Megan McGinn is a detective with the New York Police department. After her losing both of her parents she decides she needs to get away for a while and takes a leave of absence. She needs time to come to grips with what happened, time to grieve and time to decide if she still wants to be a detective. She rents a house in New Jersey and plans on spending the winter there to see if she can heal.
While she is there a body is discovered by someone who is ice fishing. After finding out that it is the body of a judge that had gone missing, she just wants to let the local authorities handle the case. After all, she is there to relax and regroup and she does not know the judge, so it is not like it is personal for her. But when the local authorities begin acting strangely and the judge’s daughter is accused of the crime, Megan cannot help but get involved in the investigation. So much for her leave of absence. Little does Megan know that before everything is solved, she will be in the fight of her life.
I really thought that I was going to love this book. After reading the synopsis I thought all the ingredients were there for a first class suspense mystery. But that did not seem to be the case, in my opinion. I thought that Megan was an alright character but I did not really care what happened to her. I found her behavior rather aggravating and instead of feeling sympathy for her she irritated me at times. I think that if I would have been told all the events that led up to her parent’s death and why she felt the need to escape, I would have liked her a lot more. Instead there were just little snippets about the events throughout the story and I think that prevented me from caring a lot about her. I did like the fact that she took in a stray dog, that made her seem more real to me.
I thought the writing style came across choppy and did not flow as smoothly as I would have hoped for. I felt that some of the sentence structures were awkward and I found myself having to reread some sentences to get the full meaning. I did like the plot and story line and I felt like the mystery was carried on fairly well throughout the entire book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well plotted mystery. This is the first book I have read by this author and I plan to see if she has written anymore and give them a try. I liked the book but not as much as I thought I would. Again, I liked the plot and the story line and thought the book was good but I felt like some aspects good have been better.
Hidden Vices
By C. J. Carpenter
ISBN # 9780738741987
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen
Synopsis:
Desperate to escape Manhattan after her last case resulted in her mother’s death, NYPD Detective Megan McGinn takes an open-ended leave of absence from the job she once loved. Arriving at a rented home in a quiet lakeside town, Megan stays away from the investigation into a local judge’s death . . . until his estranged daughter is arrested for murder.
The hostile behavior of the police detectives prompts Megan to look deeper into the details of the case. She finds that the wealthy judge had as many skeletons in his closet as he had assets, and his monetary influence ran deep into the community’s pockets. Whatever the picturesque town is hiding, there are residents who will resort to anything to keep Megan from exposing its secrets.
Review:
Megan McGinn is a detective with the New York Police department. After her losing both of her parents she decides she needs to get away for a while and takes a leave of absence. She needs time to come to grips with what happened, time to grieve and time to decide if she still wants to be a detective. She rents a house in New Jersey and plans on spending the winter there to see if she can heal.
While she is there a body is discovered by someone who is ice fishing. After finding out that it is the body of a judge that had gone missing, she just wants to let the local authorities handle the case. After all, she is there to relax and regroup and she does not know the judge, so it is not like it is personal for her. But when the local authorities begin acting strangely and the judge’s daughter is accused of the crime, Megan cannot help but get involved in the investigation. So much for her leave of absence. Little does Megan know that before everything is solved, she will be in the fight of her life.
I really thought that I was going to love this book. After reading the synopsis I thought all the ingredients were there for a first class suspense mystery. But that did not seem to be the case, in my opinion. I thought that Megan was an alright character but I did not really care what happened to her. I found her behavior rather aggravating and instead of feeling sympathy for her she irritated me at times. I think that if I would have been told all the events that led up to her parent’s death and why she felt the need to escape, I would have liked her a lot more. Instead there were just little snippets about the events throughout the story and I think that prevented me from caring a lot about her. I did like the fact that she took in a stray dog, that made her seem more real to me.
I thought the writing style came across choppy and did not flow as smoothly as I would have hoped for. I felt that some of the sentence structures were awkward and I found myself having to reread some sentences to get the full meaning. I did like the plot and story line and I felt like the mystery was carried on fairly well throughout the entire book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well plotted mystery. This is the first book I have read by this author and I plan to see if she has written anymore and give them a try. I liked the book but not as much as I thought I would. Again, I liked the plot and the story line and thought the book was good but I felt like some aspects good have been better.
June 17, 2015
Hidden Vices 3 stars
C J Carpenter
Misses the mark
This is a crime thriller featuring an NY woman detective who is taking time out from a traumatic incident which is never fully explained – just hinted at. She decides to choose New Jersey in winter as a place to straighten out her mind just at the time when a local judge is found murdered. The scene is further set when she meets her college lover who owns a local restaurant and jumps straight back into bed with him. This girl has problems.
The thriller starts well even though the reader may well question why NJ has been chosen rather than sunny Florida but to be fair this is raised in the narrative – no explanation but it is raised. Even though this was a pre-publication edition the warning signs were flagged quite quickly by incorrect use of words and dreadful misuse of the apostrophe. Let’s hope this is properly proof-read again before publication. Calling a Range Rover a truck probably just offends my British sensibilities but having no idea as to how the parking brake works calls into question how much research has been carried out.
Although the storyline is good and the writing fair, the problem is that many of the scenes appear to have been added for effect rather than to add flesh to the bones of the characters or to help the story along. The increasing use of bad language was an irritant as it lost its effect and should be used sparsely if at all and saved for truly dramatic moments, of which there were few if any at all. The characterisation was poor and two dimensional. Few of the characters added anything to the plot and seemed to be there as padding and the immediate antagonism between the main character and the local woman investigating detective seemed to serve only to show that the NY cop was “sassy”. The denouement appeared rushed and when the perpetrator’s identity was at last revealed it is doubtful whether many readers will say to themselves “Well I didn’t see that coming”.
It barely scrapes 3 stars.
mr zorg
Best Selling Crime Thrillers were given an advanced copy of the book to review.
C J Carpenter
Misses the mark
This is a crime thriller featuring an NY woman detective who is taking time out from a traumatic incident which is never fully explained – just hinted at. She decides to choose New Jersey in winter as a place to straighten out her mind just at the time when a local judge is found murdered. The scene is further set when she meets her college lover who owns a local restaurant and jumps straight back into bed with him. This girl has problems.
The thriller starts well even though the reader may well question why NJ has been chosen rather than sunny Florida but to be fair this is raised in the narrative – no explanation but it is raised. Even though this was a pre-publication edition the warning signs were flagged quite quickly by incorrect use of words and dreadful misuse of the apostrophe. Let’s hope this is properly proof-read again before publication. Calling a Range Rover a truck probably just offends my British sensibilities but having no idea as to how the parking brake works calls into question how much research has been carried out.
Although the storyline is good and the writing fair, the problem is that many of the scenes appear to have been added for effect rather than to add flesh to the bones of the characters or to help the story along. The increasing use of bad language was an irritant as it lost its effect and should be used sparsely if at all and saved for truly dramatic moments, of which there were few if any at all. The characterisation was poor and two dimensional. Few of the characters added anything to the plot and seemed to be there as padding and the immediate antagonism between the main character and the local woman investigating detective seemed to serve only to show that the NY cop was “sassy”. The denouement appeared rushed and when the perpetrator’s identity was at last revealed it is doubtful whether many readers will say to themselves “Well I didn’t see that coming”.
It barely scrapes 3 stars.
mr zorg
Best Selling Crime Thrillers were given an advanced copy of the book to review.
September 5, 2015
Ill-judged Thriller Misses the Mark, 8 July 2015
This is a crime thriller featuring a New York woman detective who is taking time out from a traumatic incident which is never fully explained – just hinted at. She decides to choose New Jersey in winter as a place to straighten out her mind just at the time when a local judge is found murdered. The scene is further set when she meets her college lover who owns a local restaurant and jumps straight back into bed with him. This girl has problems.
The thriller starts well even though the reader may well question why NJ has been chosen rather than sunny Florida but to be fair this is raised in the narrative – no explanation but it is raised. Even though this was a pre-publication edition the warning signs were flagged quite quickly by incorrect use of words and dreadful misuse of the apostrophe. Let’s hope this is properly proof-read again before publication. Calling a Range Rover a truck probably just offends my British sensibilities but having no idea as to how the parking brake works calls into question how much research has been carried out.
Although the storyline is good and the writing fair, the problem is that many of the scenes appear to have been added for effect rather than to add flesh to the bones of the characters or to help the story along. The increasing use of bad language was an irritant as it lost its effect and should be used sparsely if at all and saved for truly dramatic moments, of which there were few if any at all. The characterisation was poor and two dimensional. Few of the characters added anything to the plot and seemed to be there as padding and the immediate antagonism between the main character and the local woman investigating detective seemed to serve only to show that the NY cop was “sassy.” The denouement appeared rushed and when the perpetrator’s identity was at last revealed it is doubtful whether many readers will say to themselves “Well I didn’t see that coming.”
It barely scrapes three stars. -- mr zorg
Rating: Three Stars.
This is a crime thriller featuring a New York woman detective who is taking time out from a traumatic incident which is never fully explained – just hinted at. She decides to choose New Jersey in winter as a place to straighten out her mind just at the time when a local judge is found murdered. The scene is further set when she meets her college lover who owns a local restaurant and jumps straight back into bed with him. This girl has problems.
The thriller starts well even though the reader may well question why NJ has been chosen rather than sunny Florida but to be fair this is raised in the narrative – no explanation but it is raised. Even though this was a pre-publication edition the warning signs were flagged quite quickly by incorrect use of words and dreadful misuse of the apostrophe. Let’s hope this is properly proof-read again before publication. Calling a Range Rover a truck probably just offends my British sensibilities but having no idea as to how the parking brake works calls into question how much research has been carried out.
Although the storyline is good and the writing fair, the problem is that many of the scenes appear to have been added for effect rather than to add flesh to the bones of the characters or to help the story along. The increasing use of bad language was an irritant as it lost its effect and should be used sparsely if at all and saved for truly dramatic moments, of which there were few if any at all. The characterisation was poor and two dimensional. Few of the characters added anything to the plot and seemed to be there as padding and the immediate antagonism between the main character and the local woman investigating detective seemed to serve only to show that the NY cop was “sassy.” The denouement appeared rushed and when the perpetrator’s identity was at last revealed it is doubtful whether many readers will say to themselves “Well I didn’t see that coming.”
It barely scrapes three stars. -- mr zorg
Rating: Three Stars.
February 27, 2015
Hidden Vices is book 2 of the Megan McGinn series.. Having really enjoyed Never Alone I was excited to read Hidden Vices. I was a bit disappointed with the way this story came together and to an end. Some of the "encounters" between Megan and her attacker just didn't seem to fit together. It seemed there were missing pieces that would have made it flow better. The story ended so abruptly it was like the author just got tired of writing and just put The End.
If there is a third book in the series I will read it and hope it will be just as good as the first book.
If there is a third book in the series I will read it and hope it will be just as good as the first book.
November 8, 2017
Hidden Vices is book 2 of the Megan McGinn series.. Having really enjoyed Never Alone I was excited to read Hidden Vices. I was a bit disappointed with the way this story came together and to an end. Some of the "encounters" between Megan and her attacker just didn't seem to fit together. It seemed there were missing pieces that would have made it flow better. The story ended so abruptly it was like the author just got tired of writing and just put The End.
September 15, 2015
The fairytale lover in me wanted a slightly different ending for this book but overall I loved it just the same. I read this book in two days, I couldn't put it down!
September 18, 2015
Entertaining mystery. Likable female detective with mysterious backstory.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews