Stay of Execution

Detective Cancini Mysteries #2

by K.L. Murphy

Perfect for fans of Making a Murderer, a novel about a man exonerated of heinous crimes returning to a town that can’t let go of his bloody legacy

Little Springs was just a small college town, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and crime was virtually nonexistent—until a series of rapes and murders at the college shook the community to its core. Only the arrest and conviction of Leo Spradlin, the “Coed Killer,” could end the terror.

Years later, Spradlin is suddenly cleared based on unshakable DNA evidence, and no one is more surprised than Detective Mike Cancini. As new questions arise about the true identity of the murderer, Cancini struggles to accept his role in the conviction of an innocent man.

But when the attacks begin again, Cancini is not the only one who worries a mistake has been made. Cancini is drawn back to Little Springs, caught in a race against time to uncover the real “Coed Killer” before the next girl dies…

Genres: Mystery

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

K.L. Murphy is the author of The Great Forgotten (January 2026) as well as the award-nominated Her Sister’s Death, a January 2023 Once Upon a Book Club Pick. Of Her Sister’s Death, Publishers Weekly said, “Murphy keeps the tension high…” and “readers will eagerly turn the pages” and Library Journal called the book “[A] riveting tale…”

In addition, she is the author of the Detective Callie Forde Mysteries: Last Girl Missing and the forthcoming The Murderer’s Girl (August 2025) and the Detective Cancini Mystery Series featuring A Guilty Mind, Stay of Execution, and The Last Sin. Her short stories are featured in Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder and Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead. She also co-edited and is featured in Crime in the Old Dominion. K.L. makes her home in Richmond, VA, where she loves spending time with her family, friends, and two amazing dogs.

Reviews

[Lit with Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book outlet read #7... I was not lucky.

Writing: 4/5 tbh | Plot: slow as a snail/5 | Ending: oh thank FUCK we're here/5

THE PLOT

20 yrs ago, Leo Spardlin was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of five college girls in Blue Springs. Just before his execution day he is given a writ of innocence due to exonerating DNA evidence. He decides to return to Blue Springs and SURPRISEEEE girls start showing up dead again.

MY OPINION

Unfortunately I was waaaaayyy past my 20% DNF checkpoint before I stopped and asked myself: BRO why are you still torturing yourself? What started off as an intriguing read nosedived like Tom Daley at the Olympics. I super speed read the last 30% or so and then read the ending in full to see how this shitshow comes together.

As you can see, I gave the writing 4/5 because the quality itself is good. The content and the story structure though? Keep it. I am usually #TeamShortChapters but these chapters had dwarfism. It just doesn't work when you have 3 alternating POVs and each chapter is like 1-3 pages long MAX. You can't really grasp their character and each storyline loses steam as you make your rounds with the others. I needed more MEAT (sorry PETA).

Not only were the chapters shorter than Vine videos (showing my age?) but a lot of them were spent going in circles. OK Mike... we know Blue Springs deserves answers... but we're at page 103 bro so either investigate or haul ass back to Washington.

And Julia. Oh Julia. If there's a Razzies for journalists, she deserves one. You're in a town of like 3,000 (half of those racoons) and 2 murders occur but you don't know until your editor IN WASHINGTON calls you and is like hey btw did u hear???? Do. Your. Job. Also when you spend such sparse time with characters, why is half the page dedicated to thinking about her cheating ex who never makes an appearance???? Are we catching a killer or are we thinking about a grown adult named Jack ffs.

Anyways. The writing quality saved this from being a one star but this isn't anything to write home about. Thank you next.

PROS AND CONS

Pros: writing quality

Cons: chapters were way too short, very repetitive, slow moving plot, didn't like any of the characters, also LOL @ spoon fed ending. Love when one killer is talking to another killer like: hey so why did you do it? Did you kill those girls in Florida? just a normal chat between brosefs

[D.A. Bale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel opens in a world of chaos as an imprisoned killer is released when the DNA evidence in the case initially used to convict him is retested and unmistakably exonerates him. The media feeding frenzy begins. The political points are pursued.

And a small town is once again shaken to its core.

Not to mention the detective who almost single-handedly placed this supposed killer behind bars, launching him into the nation's eye. Now Mike Cancini calls into question every case, every lead, and returns to the small town to retrace his steps and pick up the cold trail of a murderer - even though his boss has forbidden him to do so.

So what does Mike do? Takes vacation and returns to the hamlet of Little Springs, Virginia, revisiting old haunts, old acquaintances, and the ghosts of a gruesome past he'd thought long buried.

Until the murders start all over again.

Once again, we have a novel well plotted and paced, with characters you at times want to love AND strangle. Detective Cancini is still a bit of an enigma with challenges, self-doubt, and personal family issues that help connect this reader to him. However, I had trouble connecting with Julia Manning, the intrepid reporter inserting herself into this story. She didn't feel fully fleshed out and did some things that just made me roll my eyes. She seemed inconsistent, though will perhaps return as a love interest for Cancini in the following novel. There also was an overabundance of pronoun usage and quite a few more editing errors that jumped out and bit me - mainly a lot of missing small words and punctuation.

But the tension at times was thick. You could feel Cancini's absolute frustration. The fear of the townspeople was palpable. The sneers and snide sense of "justice" on the part of certain media personalities and politicians was almost visible and made me want to slap someone - emotion is always good in a novel. The details in the police procedure (like the minutiae in the DNA testing) was very interesting.

After being so pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end of A GUILTY MIND, I'd hoped to get something similar in STAY OF EXECUTION. However, before I even hit the 20% reading mark on my Kindle, I had every detail figured out, which left me a little deflated by the end. I'd hoped I was wrong. I'd prayed I was wrong. But everything was exactly as expected when I turned the final electronic page.

Then again, I'm just a little weird that way.

Will most readers have it all figured out by the end? Maybe not. Is this a well-crafted story? Yes. Can you get a good sense of the fear permeating the atmosphere? Absolutely! And for that I'll give STAY OF EXECUTION four stars.

Content Warning: There is occasional use of strong language in STAY OF EXECUTION. Some subject matter may be offensive or disturbing to some readers, including the rape and murder of a couple of victims (though these are not drawn out to the extreme).

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for review and was not financially compensated for my opinion.

[Jackie kauth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the characters.

Not any huge surprises but it was still good enough not to want to put it down. I would recommend it.

[Monta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel guilty even rating this one, since it's not at all ringing a bell, even after refreshing myself with reading a summary. For awhile I did a kind-of book "club" thing --called Bookbub--where an email sent me good deals on books. I tended to buy a few a month for a few months until I decided I was literally throwing away money because I was buying random books, not books I bought because they looked especially good to me. So, bottom line, I don't remember this book at all.

[Phillips J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly griping story

Cleaver twists, good characterizations and crisp writing all make this novel an all nighter with the lights brightly shining. If you really can figure out the ending, I’ll bet you can’t. This is a very well constructed story.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a twist

This is the second Cancini story I have read. I tend to read mystery novels much of the time. Both books have had interesting twists at the end. Time to start book three, I like reading series.

[Cat Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stay of execution was a really good read! You had me going and I could NOT figure out 'whodunnit'. I recommend this Cancini Mystery to everyone who likes a good mystery. There wee so many twist and turns. Very well written and a great premise.

[Chuck Clowdis · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Daishell Hammett or Raymond Chandler or certainly not Spillane , but i

But I found in the end Cancini to be the third most interesting character...after Nikki and Julia. I look forward to more K. L. Murphy works.

[Ginny A. Kashmiry · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOOD READ

Enjoyed the entire story line. I felt i knew things that were going on but was totally shocked when everything fell into place.

[Cynthia A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evil is well hidden

The story was a little wordy, but a great story line. The author was able to keep me reading. I liked Detective Cancini.

[Janet Roland · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was well written and kept my interest even though I figured it out early on (happens all the time) but I did stay up to finish it. Good characterizations, scary villain, good plot.

[Yawatta Hosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review***

I loved this mystery novel. It was placed in Washington D.C. and Virginia. I love reading books that are near my area, especially if I can recognize the scenery and public places with the author’s description.

Detective Cancini was one of the main characters. As a reader, I respected his problem-solving skills, stubborn yet efficient. He reminded me of Gibbs. Leo Spradlin, the townies, and the Mayor were other main characters.

Spradlin was an innocent man on death row. He had been convicted of raping and murdering female students of Blue Hill College. But was he the true “Co-Ed Killer”? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

There were some repetition areas in interior monologue, especially when Cancini found out Spradlin was released from prison. But, I guess it fit because Cancini was obsessed with finding out the truth, never once believing Spradlin was innocent.

Julia, an ambitious reporter determined to get out of the shadows of her husband’s career, was another character I enjoyed. My favorite scenes were of her investigating in the small town and any scene with her and Spradlin.

My favorite lines: 1) He understood his role. 2) “Mike, the evidence says Spradlin’s innocent. Let it go.” 3) Was it really that something didn’t feel right? Was it really about truth and closure, or was it his own bruised ego?

When Julia started reading Spradlin’s morher’s diary entries, I figured out the mystery. It was fun watching the story unfold to see if I was right. The ending was definitely keeping me on the edge of my seat.

I RECOMMEND this book to read.

[Star]

In STAY OF EXECUTION, the town of Little Springs breathed a sigh of relief when Leo Spradlin, the so-called ‘Co-Ed Killer’, was locked up for a series of heinous rape-murders. However, years later due to one a group like the Innocence Project, the DNA evidence was re-examined and Leo Spradlin was cleared of involvement in the crimes. Spradlin is released and instead of moving to another town, he goes back to Little Springs, where he is definitely not wanted. Detective Mike Cancini who was a rookie when the ‘Co-Ed Killer’ was active and was instrumental in Spradlin’s capture has also come back to Little Springs. Cancini is not convinced of Spradlin’s innocence, no matter what the DNA evidence has to say. Once Spradlin is pardoned and released, the rape-murders start up again convincing a lot of towns people Spradlin’s not as innocent as he and the evidence state. Cancini decides it’s up to him to find the evidence to finally solve the ‘Co-Ed Killer’ murders once and for all. STAY OF EXECUTION is a well-paced and well-written mystery novel. The characters were fully fleshed out and the author truly captured the atmosphere of a town gripped by fear and panic. The evidence of the previous murders and the new murders were described in such a way to be informative, but not overly gory. STAY OF EXECUTION is written in multiple voices, which actually works very well. I enjoyed STAY OF EXECUTION better than the first book in the Detective Mike Cancini series, A GUILTY MIND, as the writing was sharper and the characters much more well-rounded.

[Diane Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced, well-designed plot, short chapters, and suspense place this novel on the "must-read" list. Murphy's no-nonsense style of writing suits the mystery genre well. Enough clues, as to who the perpetrator is, are provided to keep the mystery buff reading until the last page. Character development flows adequately throughout the novel, and the reader waits to learn more about the protagonist, Mike Cancini, in future novels. Murphy provides all the twists and turns that mystery readers require to be satisfied. I read the book in one day, not wanting to put the book down, and that is a testament to the author. Hope Murphy continues writing this series and fleshes out Mike Cancini's character in depth. I also plan to read her first novel, A Guilty Mind. Can't wait until her next novel comes out.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author. I didn’t read the other book in the series, but I may have to now. This is an intense book and at times difficult to read. I don’t read a lot of murder mysteries because I think the world is bad enough without reading about rape and murder in fiction, but this book was worth reading. I especially enjoyed that the women, even the victims, were strong, capable people.



Some parts of this book were difficult to read. Some parts were sweet. I was kept guessing for quite a while, although I was somewhat surprised at who the perp was, I wasn’t as surprised at the relationship. I hope that in the third book that Cancini gets the girl.

I give this book 4 out of 5 clouds.

[Isabeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent but not great

The writing is fairly solid; unfortunately for the plot, I figured out the major twists very early on, so there wasn't much suspense. (With stories like this I don't try hard to guess, preferring to just take the ride as it comes, but I couldn't help it in this case. Maybe I've been watching too much Law and Order or something.)

I don't regret reading this, but it won't be a reread, or high on any recommendation lists. It's not bad, it just ... I wish it had been better.

[Dianne]

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[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not enough stars to rate this book with! Fast paced... edge of the seat type of book! You don't know what to expect next, especially once you think you have it all figured out! I haven't read from this author before so it was diffidently a honor to be able to! She knows just how to capture the readers attention! This is a highly suggest to be read book from Undercover Book Reviews!


*Received for an honest review*

[Mike Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable; literary lobotomies unpalatable

Though Murphy has a good writing style, and an intriguing plot, his method of getting two supposedly intelligent women into vulnerable positions were to make them brain dead. It didn't fit, even though he tried to make it palatable. It not only didn't work, I was almost disgusted enough to quit the book. Totally beyond the realm of literary possibility.

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars but it's really 3 1/2. It took the author way too long to bring the storyline and the climax together. For so long it was empty space and I was waiting on something to happen.

[Andrea Montack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

I enjoyed the book,except f o r a few F***words that didn't add anything to the book.
Story was engrossing ..with a good,but slightly predictable plot

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Tightly plotted and well-written. Even though I figured out some of the twists, there were still plenty of surprises! Fantastic series!