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A Date to Die
Kay Adler is a hardworking Chicago detective who seeks justice for the victims of murder. She has one close friend, no lovers, and a difficult family. Her life is her work. If she drinks enough on her off hours, it suits her just fine.
When people she knows start dying, her team works to track down the killer. He’s a master of disguise and impossible to find, and she must look at uncomfortable parts of her past to find a suspect. She finds two. She’s removed from the case because of her personal involvement and is replaced by Detective Jamie Sidwell, a woman with whom she has a troubled relationship. Their uneasy alliance takes them places they never would have guessed, but their bond is tested when the killer turns his sights on Kay.
When people she knows start dying, her team works to track down the killer. He’s a master of disguise and impossible to find, and she must look at uncomfortable parts of her past to find a suspect. She finds two. She’s removed from the case because of her personal involvement and is replaced by Detective Jamie Sidwell, a woman with whom she has a troubled relationship. Their uneasy alliance takes them places they never would have guessed, but their bond is tested when the killer turns his sights on Kay.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 17, 2017
12 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 29, 2017
This was a good mystery/thriller, that kept me reading until the end. Entertaining, with plenty of twists and turns, that any mystery fan should enjoy. This is the second book I have read by Laughlin. While I enjoyed Veritas, I thought this book was even better.
I do want to point out, I think this book's blurb gives away a little too much. If you are interested in getting this book, you might want to just skim the blurb, not read it too closely. It doesn't give away anything huge, but this is a book with twists, it was nice to have them all unfold without me knowing much going into this book.
Kay Adler, is a hard working detective. One of the best homicide detectives in her division. She works hard to always bring the killer to justice. When she enters a new murder scene, she realizes she knows the victim. Investigating a case, when it is someone you know, is a lot harder than Kay ever though. Can she keep herself together and stop the killer before it is too late?
I love to read books where the main characters are strong, kick-ass women. Kay fits this perfectly. She is an extremely likeable main character. She is not perfect, and not a superhero, but she is tough and will do what it takes to get the killer. I know Laughlin normally writes stand-alone books, but I think this could be a great series. Kay, is strong enough to carry a series, and I would love more books with her.
I know a lot of mystery-thriller books that include romance, the romance can suffer. So much time is put to the mystery and action of the book, the romance normally takes a back seat. In a way, that is the case here, but it is not too bad. Yes, the romance is not a huge part of the book, but it is there, and it seemed more realistic considering everything that is going on. So I am actually okay with it this time, and I'm not going to complain too much. The romance is a bit of an enemies to lovers type of story, and I enjoyed it. My only real complaint, we don't get to know Kay's love interest as much as I would have liked. Kay really is the star of the book and she outshines everyone else. If Laughlin decides to turn this into a series, I would love some good POV from Kay's girlfriend.
When it comes to the mystery part of this book, it was really good. Lot's of twists and turns and I really enjoyed how everything unfolded. I have read so many mysteries over my 35 years of life, that I can normally solve the mystery very quickly. That was not the case with this book, it really kept me guessing. It was not until almost the 75% mark that I had an epiphany and figured things out. And really it was a lucky guess on my part. This mystery was well done.
If you are a mystery-thriller fan, chances are very high that you will enjoy this. It was a good entertaining read, that kept me up reading all night. I don't know if Laughlin reads reviews, but I hope she will write a sequel. Kay needs another story and I would happily read it.
An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.
I do want to point out, I think this book's blurb gives away a little too much. If you are interested in getting this book, you might want to just skim the blurb, not read it too closely. It doesn't give away anything huge, but this is a book with twists, it was nice to have them all unfold without me knowing much going into this book.
Kay Adler, is a hard working detective. One of the best homicide detectives in her division. She works hard to always bring the killer to justice. When she enters a new murder scene, she realizes she knows the victim. Investigating a case, when it is someone you know, is a lot harder than Kay ever though. Can she keep herself together and stop the killer before it is too late?
I love to read books where the main characters are strong, kick-ass women. Kay fits this perfectly. She is an extremely likeable main character. She is not perfect, and not a superhero, but she is tough and will do what it takes to get the killer. I know Laughlin normally writes stand-alone books, but I think this could be a great series. Kay, is strong enough to carry a series, and I would love more books with her.
I know a lot of mystery-thriller books that include romance, the romance can suffer. So much time is put to the mystery and action of the book, the romance normally takes a back seat. In a way, that is the case here, but it is not too bad. Yes, the romance is not a huge part of the book, but it is there, and it seemed more realistic considering everything that is going on. So I am actually okay with it this time, and I'm not going to complain too much. The romance is a bit of an enemies to lovers type of story, and I enjoyed it. My only real complaint, we don't get to know Kay's love interest as much as I would have liked. Kay really is the star of the book and she outshines everyone else. If Laughlin decides to turn this into a series, I would love some good POV from Kay's girlfriend.
When it comes to the mystery part of this book, it was really good. Lot's of twists and turns and I really enjoyed how everything unfolded. I have read so many mysteries over my 35 years of life, that I can normally solve the mystery very quickly. That was not the case with this book, it really kept me guessing. It was not until almost the 75% mark that I had an epiphany and figured things out. And really it was a lucky guess on my part. This mystery was well done.
If you are a mystery-thriller fan, chances are very high that you will enjoy this. It was a good entertaining read, that kept me up reading all night. I don't know if Laughlin reads reviews, but I hope she will write a sequel. Kay needs another story and I would happily read it.
An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.
September 29, 2017
I've been sitting on this review for a week now because I'm not sure if it's gonna do the book justice. I wanted to see if I'd feel better about the book after a while. I don't. As I see it, I think my feelings about the book, and consequently my rating is a victim of the high expectations I had based on the blurb, or this is a case of me being in a glass-half-empty mood, so excuse the rants. Anyway, here goes my thoughts from last week, immediately after reading:
The biggest reason I read lesfic is the depth of emotion I get to experience whenever I pick one up, whatever the sub-genre. Even more so than the romance and sex. It's such an intrinsic part of lesfic that I've always just assumed that it's gonna be there. It's my personal connection to the characters. Without it, I'd feel about as much pleasure as reading a fancy restaurant menu.
This book is a police procedural, and as such it is competently written. But the main character is a stoic, which, in lesfic, as I realized after the end of the book, might as well be the emotional equivalent of asexual in an erotica book :)
Let's see. Kay is a thirty something hotshot senior detective. She's legendary for having the highest rate of cleared cases. And there's a good reason for that. Aside from being smart, thorough and dogged, she's fiercely stubborn and can be downright reckless in the pursuit of bad guys. However, Kay picks up a case where her relatives and friends are being targeted. The only connection seems to be Kay herself. The usual suspects are the exes in her life. In this case, an ex-husband and an ex-felon she helped put away.
The police procedures are commendably thorough as clues and suspects are methodically chased down and eliminated. The wiliness of the perpetrator also helped to put the detectives and the reader constantly on their toes. I could see why Kay had to be so emotionally detached as the victim count kept rising and case spiraled closer and closer to her. However Kay is so stoic every time her emotions well up or she finds herself on the verge of tears, the walls come up and the reader is effectively shut out of her psyche. I know she is written like that but there's no fun (and character development) if the ice queen never thaws. Not even when she was hit by love from the most unexpected direction. It might be because that the love interest is another stoic, as Kay wryly observed. These two ladies are the epitome of cool and hardass. No histrionics, no tears, no vulnerability. At least, none that lasted longer than a sentence or two.
What was perplexing (for me) was the racecar-like speed with which their romance went--from zero to 100 mph in like, 4 seconds flat. From intense rivalry to grudging coop to....bed. Fast enough to cause whiplash on lesfic readers like me used to a more realistic pace. And these two are supposed to be stoic! I guess the silent ones do run the deepest. Or in this case, the fastest. :)
On paper, I should have loved the two ladies. The idea of cool, sexy, knight in shining armor Jamie swooping in to rescue proud, independent, stubborn Kay from the many dragons in her life is the stuff of which great romance is made of. But this is first and foremost a crime thriller. The dry, serious tone employed in the storytelling was just too matter-of-fact and well, too flat. Still, even assuming this was intended as a crime thriller with an understated romance, it would have been nice if reader could feel some emotional connection with the characters. In addition, we are told both Kay and Jamie come with lots of baggage but there was never any serious attempt to resolve or explore their issues. There are occasional touches of wry humor, though the moments are rare.
The case itself, while generally believable, felt a bit like it's....I don't know... rigged, somehow. But very subtly. Contrived seems too strong a word. You know, like it's been carefully plotted by an invisible hand to be just bad enough but not too horrific. For example,
Bottom line, this book had a lot of potential to be a good read or at least, an entertaining one. But the execution just fell flat for me. Read as a straight police procedural though, it's solid.
3.4 stars
ARC from Netgalley and BSB
The biggest reason I read lesfic is the depth of emotion I get to experience whenever I pick one up, whatever the sub-genre. Even more so than the romance and sex. It's such an intrinsic part of lesfic that I've always just assumed that it's gonna be there. It's my personal connection to the characters. Without it, I'd feel about as much pleasure as reading a fancy restaurant menu.
This book is a police procedural, and as such it is competently written. But the main character is a stoic, which, in lesfic, as I realized after the end of the book, might as well be the emotional equivalent of asexual in an erotica book :)
Let's see. Kay is a thirty something hotshot senior detective. She's legendary for having the highest rate of cleared cases. And there's a good reason for that. Aside from being smart, thorough and dogged, she's fiercely stubborn and can be downright reckless in the pursuit of bad guys. However, Kay picks up a case where her relatives and friends are being targeted. The only connection seems to be Kay herself. The usual suspects are the exes in her life. In this case, an ex-husband and an ex-felon she helped put away.
The police procedures are commendably thorough as clues and suspects are methodically chased down and eliminated. The wiliness of the perpetrator also helped to put the detectives and the reader constantly on their toes. I could see why Kay had to be so emotionally detached as the victim count kept rising and case spiraled closer and closer to her. However Kay is so stoic every time her emotions well up or she finds herself on the verge of tears, the walls come up and the reader is effectively shut out of her psyche. I know she is written like that but there's no fun (and character development) if the ice queen never thaws. Not even when she was hit by love from the most unexpected direction. It might be because that the love interest is another stoic, as Kay wryly observed. These two ladies are the epitome of cool and hardass. No histrionics, no tears, no vulnerability. At least, none that lasted longer than a sentence or two.
What was perplexing (for me) was the racecar-like speed with which their romance went--from zero to 100 mph in like, 4 seconds flat. From intense rivalry to grudging coop to....bed. Fast enough to cause whiplash on lesfic readers like me used to a more realistic pace. And these two are supposed to be stoic! I guess the silent ones do run the deepest. Or in this case, the fastest. :)
On paper, I should have loved the two ladies. The idea of cool, sexy, knight in shining armor Jamie swooping in to rescue proud, independent, stubborn Kay from the many dragons in her life is the stuff of which great romance is made of. But this is first and foremost a crime thriller. The dry, serious tone employed in the storytelling was just too matter-of-fact and well, too flat. Still, even assuming this was intended as a crime thriller with an understated romance, it would have been nice if reader could feel some emotional connection with the characters. In addition, we are told both Kay and Jamie come with lots of baggage but there was never any serious attempt to resolve or explore their issues. There are occasional touches of wry humor, though the moments are rare.
The case itself, while generally believable, felt a bit like it's....I don't know... rigged, somehow. But very subtly. Contrived seems too strong a word. You know, like it's been carefully plotted by an invisible hand to be just bad enough but not too horrific. For example,
Bottom line, this book had a lot of potential to be a good read or at least, an entertaining one. But the execution just fell flat for me. Read as a straight police procedural though, it's solid.
3.4 stars
ARC from Netgalley and BSB
September 26, 2017
This was quite an enjoyable read. There is lots of action and even some surprises. I am notorious for being easily fooled while reading...and I was fooled more than once. There is some romance but it is secondary to the police investigation.
The main character is a unapologetic badass and respected for it. Her love interest, while not quite as bitchy, is hard core in her own right. I enjoyed them bouncing off each other.
All in all a book that grabbed me from the beginning and kept me interested the whole way through.
A solid 4 star read.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main character is a unapologetic badass and respected for it. Her love interest, while not quite as bitchy, is hard core in her own right. I enjoyed them bouncing off each other.
All in all a book that grabbed me from the beginning and kept me interested the whole way through.
A solid 4 star read.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 28, 2017
A Date to Die is a solid police procedural. Kay Adler is a no-nonsense detective determined to track down the person responsible for killing people she knows and threatening those close to her heart. When she is pulled off the case due to a conflict of interest, another detective, Jamie Sidwell is tasked with finding the killer. She may not be part of the official investigation team but Adler does not sit idly by and continues her own investigation into the murders.
I enjoyed following the investigation and guessing who had their sights set on Kay. Adler is larger than life and well developed unlike her love interest, Jamie Sidwell. She is one dimensional and relies on Kay to help her hunt down the killer. The ending was telegraphed and not as suspenseful as it could have been.
ARC received with thanks from BSB via NetGalley for review,
I enjoyed following the investigation and guessing who had their sights set on Kay. Adler is larger than life and well developed unlike her love interest, Jamie Sidwell. She is one dimensional and relies on Kay to help her hunt down the killer. The ending was telegraphed and not as suspenseful as it could have been.
ARC received with thanks from BSB via NetGalley for review,
November 6, 2017
I'll admit, I finished this book 5 days ago but I found I couldn't write a review immediately. So I left it til now and honestly I'm still thinking about it. Now a book that provokes thought is a good thing right? The book is a mystery thriller with plenty of twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. Laughlin keeps you interested throughout. Now, this is my first book by this author so I didn't have any comparisons. The synopsis that accompanies this book is maybe a little too revealing. But it did catch my attention and need to read it.
Kay Adler is a kick ass detective. She isn't hard to get to know and she is a very strong character. I liked her a lot. When she entered the crime scene and found it was someone she actually knew made her kind of step back. It's harder to investigate when you know the victim. But Kay is good at her job and always finds the killer. The police procedural side of the book is written excellently. However, her love life is a lot to be desired. I digress, she does have a girlfriend but true to crime drama it took a back seat.
It is a good read and the mystery only gets revealed the more you read. Yes, I would recommend this book and I guess I'm only hoping when I say I'd like to get to know Kay more. Maybe a sequel? Enjoy!
*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
Kay Adler is a kick ass detective. She isn't hard to get to know and she is a very strong character. I liked her a lot. When she entered the crime scene and found it was someone she actually knew made her kind of step back. It's harder to investigate when you know the victim. But Kay is good at her job and always finds the killer. The police procedural side of the book is written excellently. However, her love life is a lot to be desired. I digress, she does have a girlfriend but true to crime drama it took a back seat.
It is a good read and the mystery only gets revealed the more you read. Yes, I would recommend this book and I guess I'm only hoping when I say I'd like to get to know Kay more. Maybe a sequel? Enjoy!
*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
September 24, 2017
Kay Adler is a total bitch and I fucking love her! In some ways she's a bit of a stereotypical cop in that she's seriously committed to her job and somewhat warped by the fact that she accidentally killed a suspect's wife when a bullet went through a wall during an arrest early in her career. Despite all of this she's not a clichéd alcoholic and is a highly respected homicide detective.
One reason I loved this book is that it constantly managed to surprise me, I consistently failed to predict what would happen next and I genuinely did not see the endgame playing out the way it did. There is a romance element to it, however, it takes a back seat to the murder investigation, which is compelling and extremely well written.
I haven't read any of Anne Laughlin's other books but I will soon be rectifying this. As far as I know, all of her other novels are standalones but I really hope that Detective Adler gets a series.
One reason I loved this book is that it constantly managed to surprise me, I consistently failed to predict what would happen next and I genuinely did not see the endgame playing out the way it did. There is a romance element to it, however, it takes a back seat to the murder investigation, which is compelling and extremely well written.
I haven't read any of Anne Laughlin's other books but I will soon be rectifying this. As far as I know, all of her other novels are standalones but I really hope that Detective Adler gets a series.
November 7, 2017
This is the first book I read by this author and was pleasantly surprised. It's an entertaining mystery with a bit of sweet romance in the background. It's got all the ingredients for an enjoyable read: mystery, plot twists and romance. Even though there are some gruesome parts they are well balanced with humour. The plot revolves around Kay, a murder detective who finds herself stalked by a serial killer targeting her relatives and friends. When she's removed from the murder investigation and replaced by detective Jamie Sidwell, their initial antagonism develops into something else. Will they be able to stop the killer before it's too late?
Overall, a light and entertaining mystery with a bit of romance. 4 stars.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See my other reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
Overall, a light and entertaining mystery with a bit of romance. 4 stars.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See my other reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
September 30, 2017
Detective Kay Adler is a solid and believable character with an interesting dynamic between her and her parents. Kay is focused and determined to be the best. This read is about how she handles people she loves and cares about being pursued. Detective Jamie Sidwell is a determined and caring person with baggage of her own. If you like strong capable leads with a dogged determination to catch people doing wrong, this is the read for you. I thought the storyline itself was interesting as well as engaging. The hook up was quick which to some extent I can understand but the ending was not very satisfying. Generally speaking, I expected more detail and background about the main characters.
Read provided via Netgalley from Bold Strokes Books.
Read provided via Netgalley from Bold Strokes Books.
dnf
November 22, 2018Raising and waiving the white flag - You win, book.
I can't connect with the main character and since I'm in her head up to 23%, I might as well give up now before I vomit words.
I can't connect with the main character and since I'm in her head up to 23%, I might as well give up now before I vomit words.
October 4, 2017
ARC from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books
I liked the premise and the blurb of the book but the story itself kind of left me disappointed. I couldn’t connect with the main character, Kay, from the beginning and she annoyed me. For someone who was pro trained over and over as not having relationships or dating or even liking people, she was awfully quick with both romantic encounters. First Diana- she didn’t even know her and there was a strong bond between them? And Jamie, their relationship went from hating each other to love in like 4 seconds. All of that seemed odd to me and made it so that I didn’t really enjoy the book.
I liked the premise and the blurb of the book but the story itself kind of left me disappointed. I couldn’t connect with the main character, Kay, from the beginning and she annoyed me. For someone who was pro trained over and over as not having relationships or dating or even liking people, she was awfully quick with both romantic encounters. First Diana- she didn’t even know her and there was a strong bond between them? And Jamie, their relationship went from hating each other to love in like 4 seconds. All of that seemed odd to me and made it so that I didn’t really enjoy the book.
January 21, 2018
This book lands firmly in the "meh" category for me. It's a thriller/mystery/procedural with some lesbian romance mixed in. Right off the bat, the main story line of a cop being targeted by a killer, with said killer going after the loved ones of the cop has been so many times before. At least if the author took some new spin it may have been a little more interesting but everything down to the possibly alcoholic, loose canon, doesn't play by the rules, obsessed with the job detective is just verbatim from nearly any other procedural tv show or book. The "romance" therein is near-laughable in terms of non-development, chemistry, or just flat out sense. First the protagonist, Kay, meets a woman on a blind date and fairly literally fantasizes about the full relationship they'll have together in the three-hour date. Later in the book, another detective is suddenly introduced as a woman Kay is in competition with and thus hates for no good reason, but then they quickly jump in bed and we're treated to essentially the U-Haul joke playing out.
The thriller part didn't do it for me because it's a tired and cliched plotline and the romance part interested me even less because absolutely no time was spent on character development or chemistry between those characters. I didn't find Kay likable in the least, which further took away from any real interest I had in the book. I'm just looking for original stories with great characters, is that too much to ask?
ARC provided by NetGalley
The thriller part didn't do it for me because it's a tired and cliched plotline and the romance part interested me even less because absolutely no time was spent on character development or chemistry between those characters. I didn't find Kay likable in the least, which further took away from any real interest I had in the book. I'm just looking for original stories with great characters, is that too much to ask?
ARC provided by NetGalley
November 9, 2017
The first half of this book dragged for me, but I kept reading because I’ve really enjoyed other books by this author. The last half was great and I couldn’t wait to see what happened.
This is the third book I’ve read in the last couple of weeks in which the main character has complete and utter assholes for parents. What’s even worse is that they are intentionally cruel. It’s just bugging me that we have these strong (albeit flawed) female characters who allow anyone to treat them that way. Being family doesn’t give you a pass to be abusive. Whew, I needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening. Appreciate it. Carry on.
This is the third book I’ve read in the last couple of weeks in which the main character has complete and utter assholes for parents. What’s even worse is that they are intentionally cruel. It’s just bugging me that we have these strong (albeit flawed) female characters who allow anyone to treat them that way. Being family doesn’t give you a pass to be abusive. Whew, I needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening. Appreciate it. Carry on.
August 20, 2018
I was blown away with this fast paced and captivating story! Nothing could have prepared me for the many twists and turns that I encountered throughout this book. Kay and Jamie are both feisty women who are hell bent on finding the people who are wrecking havoc on the lives of people who are close to Kay. I really admire and adore Kay and Jamie’s tenacity in the face of some really daunting situations. I am now a huge fan of this author’s writing and I look forward to reading more from her.
March 15, 2023
That ending twist was really good. I felt like it would come and I am really glad it did. Though, I still doubt the emotional connection between Jamie and Kay. Both had bad parents and that happens. The scenes when the bad guy was revealed needed a little more angst and tension to it.
Otherwise, an interesting book.
Otherwise, an interesting book.
October 4, 2017
This is the first book I've read by the author and look forward to more. A Date to Die has several good twists, a few moments when I wondered why the main character was being so stupid, and then even more twists. A very enjoyable read that grips you and moves at a fast pace.
November 4, 2017
I enjoy reading books full of mystery, suspense and thrills; this book did not disappoint. What happens when there is death at every step and no one knows if they are safe? This book keeps you at the edge of your seat, guessing and wondering until the end. I enjoy reading books with strong female leads and Detective Kay Adler is not a disappointment. Thank you NetGalley and Anne Laughlin for allowing me to read this book and write a honest review.
January 10, 2018
this was a fast paced enjoyable read thanks Netgalley
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews