Crash and Burn

Moreno & Hart Mysteries #1

by Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin

New York Times bestselling and award winning authors Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin team up for this exciting new series featuring the unforgettable Southern California detective duo, Moreno & Hart.

Trial by Fire …
Three years ago LAPD Detective Scarlet Moreno and rookie cop Krista Hart were nearly killed during a botched sting operation. Now, they’re best friends and partners in the Orange County private investigation firm of Moreno & Hart. But their routine assignments are anything but safe …

Crash …
Scarlet Moreno has her hands full with a cheating spouse case when the bartender at her favorite pub becomes a murder suspect. Worse, the detective in charge of the investigation threatens to arrest Scarlet for obstruction—even when she tries to give him valuable information. Scarlet risks her PI license and her life to find out the truth, absolve her friend, and track down a killer—with or without the help of the arrogant, mysterious Detective Alex Bishop.

And Burn …
Krista Hart is burned out on catching deadbeat dads and philandering husbands when a big-time criminal defense attorney hires her for a choice assignment: find the sole witness to murder the day before the trial. The case could be a boon for Moreno & Hart, but the witness is in hiding, someone is following Krista, and her own client is withholding information. The last person she wants help from is sexy investigator R.J. Flynn, but he claims he’s willing to share intel—for a price. If she can solve this case, it’ll elevate Moreno & Hart above being divorce voyeurs, but first she has to survive, with her life and heart intact.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Crime

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2013

About the author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five children and writes three books a year.

In 2019, Allison relocated from Northern California to Arizona with her family and assorted pets. She loves baseball, hiking, family game night, and (of course) reading.

RT Book Reviews called Allison “a master of suspense” and her books “haunting,” “mesmerizing,” “pulse-pounding” and “emotionally complex.” She's been nominated for many awards, and is a three time winner of the Reviewer's Choice award winner for RT Book Reviews as well as the Daphne du Maurier award. Most recently, she was nominated for Best Paperback Original by International Thriller Writers.

With over 45 books and dozens of short stories, Allison is writing multiple series and the occasional stand alone thriller. Her most recent book out now is THE MISSING WITNESS, part of the Quinn & Costa series. In June Allison is launching a new Phoenix-set series about a family of private investigators starting with YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME.

You can reach Allison through Goodreads or her website.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two former LAPD police officers Scarlet Moreno and Krista Hart open a private investigations agency. Their investigations are told in two separate novellas.

Crash...
Scarlet Moreno investigates the murder of several college students. A bartender who had an argument with the students earlier in the evening is the prime suspect. Scarlet knows him and sets out to prove he is not the killer.

Burn...
Krista Hart is hired by well-known Criminal Defense Attorney Drake Walker. Walker's latest trial begins tomorrow and one of his witnesses hasn't been seen in days. He wants Krista to find Lily Daniels and bring her to the courthouse to give her testimony.

I've had this book on my kindle for a few years and decided to give it a try. I'm usually not a fan of novellas since the stories are usually short on character development. But I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Both are fast-paced stories with lots of action. There is also a romantic interest included in both stories. I will be searching for the other books in the series. My rating: 5 Stars.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crash & Burn
4 Stars (3.5 for "Crash" and 4 for "Burn")

Three years ago, LAPD Detective Scarlet Moreno and Officer Krista Hart were almost killed in a sting operation that went wrong. Now partners in a private investigation firm, Moreno & Hart find themselves in two very different, but just as deadly situations. Scarlet investigates the murders of several college students while Hart is hired to locate a missing witness.

This is the first writing collaboration between romantic suspense authors, Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin. While the stories are linked by setting and characters, they can also be read as separate novellas.

As short stories are not really my cup of tea, my expectations for this book were not all that high. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the solid characterization and entertaining suspense plots although Griffin’s contribution, Burn, has a slight edge on Brennan’s Crash for a couple of reasons.

First, Crash is comprised of two unrelated subplots and there is simply too much going on all at once. In contrast, the story in Burn is more cohesive and intense, which results in a more gripping reading.

Second, the romantic element in both installments have similar love-hate relationships, but Krista and rival PI, RJ Flynn, have better chemistry than Scarlet and detective Alex Bishop.

All in all, the premise is compelling, the characters are well-developed within the format and the mysteries are interesting. I look forward to seeing what is up next for Moreno & Hart.

[Elvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Not bad. Of the two ex-cops turned PI's, Scarlet Moreno is the better drawn character and story but the Krista Hart tale was fast paced and kept the reader on edge with the deadlines Hart was working under. Novella length stories are not my favourites and I had hoped that the two authors would write one story with the two characters.
Enjoyable enough that I will read the next installment of Moreno and Hart.

[Lisa Filipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already addicted....I need me more Moreno and Hart!!

As most of you know, I am a HUGE Laura Griffin Fan, her Tracers Series is one of the best Romance Suspense Series out there, but I am new to Allison Brennan, and after reading CRASH AND BURN, I know I will be going back to grab a few of her other releases.



This book was so much fun! The Two In One Story-line, was awesome, since we got to see both heroines in each, but each starred in her own story. These are two BAD-ASS ladies and I loved every minute of it. The aren't afraid to stick their noses where they aren't welcome, and they aren't afraid to kick some serious ass when needed.



Yes, there is a Building Romance for each Moreno and Hart, and I am dying to see where the next storyline will take these ladies...Hopefully into the arms (beds) of Alex and R.J.....cause I HAVE NOT had enough of that!!



These are quick, fast-paced reads and you will become so addicted, you will look down and see that you have finished when you felt like you just started. Laura and Allison pull out all the stops with CRASH AND BURN, from Murder, to Infidelity, to CRAZY Stalker Ex-Girlfriends and More....Be prepared to take a RIDE and you might want to hold on tight!



Definitely a Must-Read for my RS ladies, and Fans of Laura Griffin will NOT be disappointed.



Happy Reading and Enjoy!!

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 2.75 Stars

Crash and Burn is a book about two ex-police turned private investigators, Scarlet Moreno and Krista Hart.  The backstory from the prologue gives us the events of three years ago when Scarlet is almost killed on a mission--somehow, she surmised that someone had set her up for dead, and in the meantime, there was no back up to come bail her out.  Rookie cop Krista is the only other officer willing to jump into the chaos to save Scarlet.

Gunfire ensues and we skip ahead to three years into the present when Scarlet and Krista have both left the LAPD to become private investigators in Newport.  The events of three years prior had bonded the two women, turning them from a senior and rookie cop partnership into best friends, practically like sisters.  At the present moment in this book, the two are struggling to make ends meet by taking every divorce and marital battle case they can get their hands on just to build a client base.

The book is formatted like an anthology, based around these two main characters where Crash is Scarlet Moreno's story, written by Allison Brennan, and Burn is Krista Hart's story, written by Laura Griffin.

To be totally honest, I picked up this book mainly because I'm a fan of Laura Griffin's Tracers series.  I have read something by Allison Brennan before, but couldn't really get into it, and was hoping that this second chance would fare better, especially with only half the book to get through before getting to Laura Griffin's part.


Crash
by Allison Brennan

This first part of the book is very abrupt and bite-sized, but still manages to run two story tangents within this little bit.

The Story:
Scarlet chances upon a traffic accident, which ends up landing her in the middle of some domestic dispute involving two rich young adolescents, one of whom might be a bit mentally unstable.  They both contact her to help them with something to do with the other, and Scarlet questions why and how she got herself into this situation when things start getting out of control--apparently between these two clients, there is stalking, death threats, and some crazy-crazy involved.

Meanwhile, she also manages to insert herself into a murder investigation involving a group of college kids.  The chaos begins after an attempted date rape drugging is thwarted by Scarlet's friend, Isaac, who is the bartender of Diego's, a local bar--Scarlet lives in the little hovel over the establishment.

That night after the little college group leaves, a gunshot is fired, waking Scarlet, and she soon finds one young man dead, one critically injured, and one of the girls who'd been at the bar earlier disoriented, drugged, and a possible rape victim.  The incident soon escalates when another girl is found in critical condition, dropped off at a hospital, with an overdose of the new designer date rape drug in her system--her boyfriend is dead in his own home with a knife in his back, and the other college kids who'd been at Diego's in the same group are missing.

The case is being investigated by Alex Bishop, a new detective in Newport, who seems to have gotten the wrong impression of Scarlet, either based on hearsay or something, because he is hostile towards her the moment they meet.

My Thoughts:
Again, this particular portion of Crash and Burn was quite short and abrupt.  While the investigation was done decently, the ending felt kind of like it was quite sudden.  I'm not really complaining, since with only a little less than two hundred pages to present Scarlet's part of the story, it was actually quite detailed and well-written.

In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Brennan was able to include two separate story lines in this bite-sized piece, and am kind of impressed that both had quite well-rounded conclusions following a well-outlined story.

The only complaint I have is that I would have liked to see more of the story on Bishop's side of things, and that this first part of the book could have been a little bit longer.  Instead, it felt incomplete and unsatisfying, even with the well-rounded ending of both cases.  We get little chance to get to know all the major players in this story, especially Detective Bishop, even though we are told quite a bit of backstory about Scarlet.

For instance, I would have liked to know why Bishop was so hostile towards Scarlet in the beginning.  What did he know about her that had him calling her a "disgraced cop" without preamble?  His antagonism against her is much more extreme than even I would have expected towards a private investigator, even knowing that, as a rule, law enforcement officers typically don't care for P.I.s.  And then what changes his mind later on?  And why did he bring up Scarlet's brother?  I didn't see what that had to do with anything.

There are a lot of unanswered questions.

And on top of that, the romance kind of happened as a snap action--one moment Bishop is still glaring at Scarlet, the next moment he's kissing her?  Is this just part of the story because we expect romance?  Because it felt out of place.

There was just so much more that could have been covered had this been a full length novel instead, really.

But it was still quite enjoyable nonetheless, and I'm reconsidering my impression of Brennan's work.

Crash receives a fairly meh 3.5 Stars.  But only because I can feel that it has a lot of potential to lead into a good story.


Burn
by Laura Griffin

Burn was... forgettable.  Truth be told, I'm a little disappointed.

The Story:
Amidst working a marital cheating case wherein the husband confronts her with homicidal tendencies, Krista Hard finds herself drawn into a missing persons case where said missing person's life may be in jeopardy.  An infamous criminal defense attorney offers her a job to locate one of his witnesses who has dropped off the face of the planet--the trial is coming up soon and he needs this girl to testify.  But as Krista investigates the disappearance of Lily Daniels, she soon realizes that there is something more going on with Lily.

Meanwhile, Krista also learns that she wasn't the only private investigator hired to locate Lily Daniels.  It's a dog-eat-dog world in a career as a P.I., and Krista is again reminded of just how hard things can get when people like defense attorney Drake Walker and rival P.I. R.J. Flynn do what they can to keep her out of the game.

My Thoughts:
There was a lot of potential to this short section of Crash and Burn if only because it's an exciting premise, and because it's written by Laura Griffin and I'm a big fan.  As is with most Laura Griffin books, Burn doesn't hold back anything, jumping straight into the action.  We even get private investigator politics, crossed with pissing contests, and gender inequality issues.

So much could have been covered just with those little factors and side tangents.

But unfortunately, the execution of the rest of the story kind of felt monotonous and unoriginal.  Burn gave me a sense of "been there, done that," and I can't help but to think that it could have been developed a bit better if it had been a full-length novel, just like Crash.  Instead, we get a bite-sized teaser of what might be forthcoming in the rest of the series as the authors try their best to introduce these two wonderfully crafted main characters.

Nonetheless, this novella-sized half of a book was written well.

The romance between R.J. and Krista had all the makings of a potentially likable "Bickering Couple Romance," between their rivalry.  But there were moments when R.J. went a little overboard on the teasing and the butting in--he reminds me of an elementary school boy who likes the tough girl on the playground, but shows his affection by pulling her pig tails and throwing staples in her hair, unapologetically.  Or taking her glue and crayons and refusing to return them, only to use them for his own means.  Or taking her project ideas and claiming them for his own.

Really, he's just that popular and cool asshole in school whom all the girls tend to fall for anyway.

And Krista is the tough girl who rises to the teasing, which just makes the boy want to tease her some more.

In a way, it could have been a cute romance until the ending came around and did something that I found a little bit distasteful.  In fact, I plain did not like the way R.J. decided to resolve their romantic conflict, as well as the issue concerning Krista's involvement in the missing witness case.  It pissed me off, and days later, it still pisses me off.

This book would have been a higher rating if not for that ending.

Meanwhile, the rest of the story was kind of exciting, but at the same time, entirely forgettable.  I still like that Krista is shown as capable and good investigator, if a little hot-headed and reckless.  I don't like that there were still so many loose ends, and that, like the first story by Allison Brennan, Griffin tries to cram too much material into the short, novella-length story.

For instance:  How does the little cheating husband with homicidal tendencies side-tangent resolve itself?  Did I miss it somehow?  It's a small tangent and I kind of forgot about it for a while, but it's still there and feels like a very big loose end.

Burn receives an even more 'meh' 2.5 Stars.  To be honest, I might have expected too much and felt the sting of disappointment when things didn't turn out the way I wanted it to turn out.  That's probably my fault.


Overall Thoughts
One of the things I DID appreciate about Crash and Burn was how realistic it was in portraying the life of a private investigator.  Not that I know what the life of a private investigator entails.  Granted, it was still chalk full of excitement, but our authors DO take pains to emphasize how not-so-glamorous being a P.I. really is.  Moreno & Hart have spent the past two years since leaving the police force trying to build a client base and a reputation, but even as they've managed to sustain a living with their agency, they admit that the majority of their cases involve jilted spouses, divorce cases, and the like.  The majority of their time is spent waiting for a cheating husband or wife to slip up so that they can take that money-making photo to show their clients.

There's a lot of waiting involved for these two women: waiting for a picture to be taken, waiting for their target to do what they need to do, waiting for a client to hire them...

And then there are more private investigators out there just waiting to pick up that first exciting case that attorneys would be willing to hand them.

While I don't like how things end up for Krista in Burn--where she does almost all the work, but gets no credit for it; where she just knows that she's going to get screwed over on her pay by a hotshot client she's not willing to antagonize--it's something that DOES happen in real life, whether you're a private investigator or not.

I'm hoping we'll see more action and less bite-sized snippets in the next few installments of Moreno & Hart.  While this book was pretty enjoyable, neither of the two stories included in it felt like it was fully complete.  These were teasers at best, and I'm hoping we'll get better with the next book.


***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Reading Assignment Challenge
• Mount TBR Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice start to a new series with a different kind of format. AB writes one character story and LG writes the other, but they are tied together through the PI agency. Wish we would have known what Krista's answer to RJ was though. Can't wait for the nexst book in the series.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun. Two short novels, each by one of the authors, each narrated by one half of the eponymous PI duo. Sets the scene and sets up the romances that I suspect will follow in the next installments in the series. If you like the authors, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you like one of the authors but don’t know the other, this could act as a decent introduction.

[Suspense Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two gripping stories told by a pair of amazing talents merge into one fantastic book with “Crash and Burn” by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin. Familiar with Brennan’s smooth and flowing style, but initially less sure of Griffin’s voice, the writing by this duo was magical.
Scarlet Moreno—a hardened, former LAPD detective and now co-owner of the investigative firm of Moreno & Hart—has baggage. At death’s door, three years prior, Moreno found herself in a warehouse with multiple gunshot wounds, waiting for a killer to finish her off and knowing that this had been a set-up. Had it not been for a spunky, wet-behind-the-ears, rookie cop named Krista Hart, Moreno would have died. Now they’re partners and their bread-and-butter is hunting down errant spouses. Not what they’d planned.
When Moreno—who lives above a Newport Beach bar—steps in to break up a fight between the ex-con bartender and a delinquent college kid, she believes that she’s done her duty for bar owner, Diego Hernandez. It’s already been a trying day, so when a shot rings out after two a.m., that old saying “nothing good ever happens after midnight,” is only too true. Moreno, still a cop at heart, rolls out of bed, grabs her gun, and falls smack dab into a murder investigation. An investigation where newly hired, by the book detective, Alex Bishop doesn’t want her treading.
Determined to broaden the Moreno & Hart client base, Krista Hart jumps at the chance to put a bit of extra cash in their coffers and takes a nearly impossible assignment from a top defense attorney. She has twenty-four hours to beat her competition—smug investigator R.J. Flynn—to the prize of locating a missing witness and cash in. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. Hart soon discovers that this case is layered like an onion and smells just as bad.
Impossible to put down, the realistically flawed characters and sparks aplenty remind me exactly why I love this genre.
Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense Magazine

[Saly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.25 stars
Two small novella's written by two different authors slated to be a series and my impression was mostly positive.

Crash by Allison Brennan was about Scarlet who doesn't like being a PI and is trying to find out who tried to set her up to die three years ago. We are introduced to someone that could be a possible love interest.

Burn is by Laura Griffin and about Krista, Scarlet's partner. I liked Krista a bit more, she was a bit more open I guess. Here too we are introduced to RJ, a possible love interest.

Overall I am curious to see what the other books will bring because the short novellas were good enough to get my interest up.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two different stories that this private eye team are involved with.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crash and Burn is actually 2 crossover novellas covering cases with private investigators Moreno and Hart. I love all books Laura Griffin and really enjoy Allison Brennan. When I saw this series was co-authored by two giants, I just had to see what the outcome would be. I have to say, I am so happy! Brennan and Griffin take the readers on a creative and awesome murder-y thrill ride coupled with some other PI cases sprinkled throughout. I work adjacent to law enforcement so I really enjoyed the mix of cases and personalities the authors were able to balance and weave in and out of the novels.

Allison Brennan writes Crash and we follow PI Moreno with appearances by Hart. Crash is a creative and awesome murder mystery thriller investigation coupled with some other private detective cases sprinkled throughout, including a “fun” stalker case.

Laura Griffin writes Burn and we follow PI Hart with appearances by Moreno. PI Hart is tasked with finding a missing witness for a big murder trial. What started as an apparent locate and pick up turns into a complicated, pulse pounding cat and mouse game to find the missing witness before she is murdered and more bodies come up dead in the process.

There is enough background subtly discussed or hinted at, surrounding Scarlett Moreno especially, that it enhances the deeper plot and my interest for a longer series, to read and know more about the characters beyond the current story. What happened? Why isn’t she a cop anymore?! I need the next book!

[Sherry Steveson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when I stumble across a favorite author who has cowrote a series with another of my favorite authors deep down in the early depths of their catalog of novels. I really loved this book written with two different main characters and two different story lines that are piggy backing one another. Each character gets their own main story with the other one featured as a cameo. Scarlet's story was a little stronger in the content and the love story seemed to come more naturally but I am enjoying that they both had a little romance mixed into the thriller/suspense plot. Both female main characters feature strong leads who don't back down. I really love it when we have badass FMC's. I've already downloaded the next in the series. A little disappointed that the third book in the series doesn't come in audio form but I'm willing to sit down with it on Kindle and get more of the action. It appears the series is 4 books with a novella between 2 and 3. Since it's been out for awhile I'm guessing that this is the entirety of the series but I'll enjoy it while I can.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this from a deal on Audible. I really enjoy Allison Brennan and some Linda Griffin so I was curious to try this series.

Crash and Burn is like two parts put together. Moreno & Hart are private investigators, two women who were with LAPD. Crash is Scarlett Moreno's POV. It has a bit of her history and then the current cases she is working. There is a bit of romance for her. Burn is from the POV of Krista Hart. The focus here is on her cases. She also has a bit of a romantic interest who is a competition for case work. I did NOT like him at all.

The narrators are ones I have enjoyed previously and I was comfortable with the voices and listening at 1.5x speed.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

Two separate cases and kind of two desperate stories, but one set of partners with a shared background of betrayal from their brothers in blue. Both stories are engaging and have a great blend of action, intrigue and a dash of romance. There is a slight Stephanie Plum component to the stories as humor is present, but the talent and problem solving make it very different. The two women are strong and sassy. I also thought the male characters were well developed and intriguing. Can’t wait to see what is next for the partners, their work and potential relationships.

[Misti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve been eyeing this one for a while now and finally bit. It was ok. The BURN story was better than CRASH. I did like Scarlett and Krista but Alex was almost non-existent and RJ was an ass. I’m not invested enought to read the next book. Unless it’s free. Maybe.

[K C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really two separate stories and totally unrelated. Moreno’s story by Alison Brennan was much better in my opinion and kept me invested. 4 stars. Hart’s story by Laura griffin was 3 stars. Just couldn’t get into it.
Not sure if I will read more of these two part stories.

[Cynthiaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice two in one for the drive to/from work. Crash was a bit better than Burn I thought, but I would be willing to try #2 in the series.

[Judy Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Moreno & Hart

Have read two Moreno and Hart stories and can't wait for the next one! Alex and RJ complement the girls well.

[Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters and the two writers gave an excellent change of viewpoint that managed to be true to the other writers perspective.

[Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book was good. The second was really slow

[Ann-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars for Allison Brennan's story, 4 stars for Laura Griffin's story. I enjoyed it enough to try the next in the series :)

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My new Brennan investigation team.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories - one detective agency. I particularly liked the Scarlet Moreno story (probably pushing a 4) tho the Hart story was ok. I will probably read volume 2.

[HatGirl8]

9/16/2013

[Kelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit this is not what I thought it would be. I love Allison Brennan and of course the writing is great. I just thought the stories would cross at some point. But overall good.

[Dewey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two novellas telling their stories. I liked Crash better because had more dialogue & character involvement.

[halima · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a fast and engaging read

[Rebecca Metzger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start to a series. I always enjoy Laura Griffin, not sure about Allison Brennan, I think it’s the first I’ve read of hers.

[Kristine Davila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 crashed and burned stars!

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first in this series. An interesting way to write a crime novel, with two partners that work semi independently.