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Britt Montero #2
Miami, It's Murder
Pulitzer Prize-winner Edna Buchanan has seen the dark side of paradise, first-hand. And now she propels her heroine-tough Miami newspaperwoman Britt Montero -- into a steamy suncoast world of lethal sex and sudden death...toward a violent head-on collision with a vengeful rapist who dabbles in the occult.
307 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
53 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Edna Buchanan
55 books161 followersEdna Buchanan knew she wanted to be a writer since she was 4 years old. She moved to Florida where she got a job at a small newspaper. Ms. Buchanan became a reporter for the Miami Beach Daily Sun in the late 1960s.
In 1970, she was hired as a general assignment and police-beat reporter at the Miami Herald. In 1973, Ms. Buchanan became a police beat reporter, which coincided with the rise of Miami as a center of the international drug trade.
Winning a Pulitzer Prize, Ms. Buchanan became one of the best-known crime reporters in the U.S. She discussed some of her assignments in the books, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face (1991) and Never Let Them See You Cry (1993). She has retired from journalism and writes mystery novels. The main character in her crime mystery series is Britt Montero.
In 1970, she was hired as a general assignment and police-beat reporter at the Miami Herald. In 1973, Ms. Buchanan became a police beat reporter, which coincided with the rise of Miami as a center of the international drug trade.
Winning a Pulitzer Prize, Ms. Buchanan became one of the best-known crime reporters in the U.S. She discussed some of her assignments in the books, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face (1991) and Never Let Them See You Cry (1993). She has retired from journalism and writes mystery novels. The main character in her crime mystery series is Britt Montero.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 17, 2017
This novel was pretty good, even though I saw one of the big revelations about a mile away. Other twisty turns were not quite so broadcasted, and actually surprised me. Not bad for a writer who can be a little melodramatic occasionally.
3.5 stars, and recommended.
3.5 stars, and recommended.
March 18, 2020
I've read many of Edna Buchanan's stories, I especially enjoyed the Britt Montero series, I think this one was my all time favorite. While I don't remember the story (I read it over twenty or probably closer to thirty years ago).
I always finished each one eagerly anticipating what would be released next. I was sure to read it hot off the presses.
I always finished each one eagerly anticipating what would be released next. I was sure to read it hot off the presses.
July 24, 2018
Another excellent Britt Montero mystery, perfect for a heatwave. Too bad the covers are hideous - I would never have picked this up had I not read an article about Edna Buchanan.
January 31, 2009
So very vivid. You feel like you are right there in the middle of all the action of Britt Montero. Edna Buchanan writes in a way that makes you feel so comfortable and when you least expect it WHAM!!! she completely surprises you. In this novel every emotion that Britt feels, you feel.
September 21, 2022
The sick minds of people are real. Thank God for people willing to put their lives on the line to take them out!
July 1, 2018
I ran across the name Edna Buchanan in a review of a book by an author I follow. The review said the author was reminiscent of Edna Buchanan. I had never heard of her before. She is a fantastic writer.
Britt Montero covers the police beat for the Miami News. She is a seasoned writer with various contacts and friends in the police department. She becomes suspicious when several suspected murderers coincidentally die in murders reminiscent of the crimes they committed. Well plotted, fast-moving, full of action.
Britt Montero covers the police beat for the Miami News. She is a seasoned writer with various contacts and friends in the police department. She becomes suspicious when several suspected murderers coincidentally die in murders reminiscent of the crimes they committed. Well plotted, fast-moving, full of action.
August 13, 2015
#2 in the Britt Montero series. Finalist 1995 Edgar Award for Best Mystery.
Britt Montero, Miami newspaper reporter, reports about the Downtown Rapist and gets both the rapist and Miami PD upset with her. There is a rash of deaths affecting men who may have gotten away with murder years ago; is the leading gubernatorial candidate next ? Britt gets invited on a midnight cruise by the handsome Captain of a Miami harbor cruise ship.
Britt Montero, Miami newspaper reporter, reports about the Downtown Rapist and gets both the rapist and Miami PD upset with her. There is a rash of deaths affecting men who may have gotten away with murder years ago; is the leading gubernatorial candidate next ? Britt gets invited on a midnight cruise by the handsome Captain of a Miami harbor cruise ship.
September 25, 2012
Britt Montero, a newspaper reporter and sleuth, is a likable character, and Buchanan's plots are expertly paced and well crafted.
Personally, I'd favor them a lot more if she would lose the anti-Cuba rhetoric. The right-wing spin she puts on an otherwise charming series starts to wear on a person if they don't buy her perspective.
Personally, I'd favor them a lot more if she would lose the anti-Cuba rhetoric. The right-wing spin she puts on an otherwise charming series starts to wear on a person if they don't buy her perspective.
January 15, 2015
Loved, Loved, Loved this book. The main character is a female newspaper report working the police beat - but she is tough!
Erin Bennett the reader of the audio book is excellent. I will be listening to more of this series immediately. This is actually Book 2, so will now find and listen to book 1!
Erin Bennett the reader of the audio book is excellent. I will be listening to more of this series immediately. This is actually Book 2, so will now find and listen to book 1!
September 28, 2016
First time reading this author. Will definately pick up another of her books. Characters were well written and established without hanging up the story. Fast paced whodunnit with a serial rapist thrown in to boot.
August 26, 2009
Very Good; Continuing Character: Britt Montero; reporter is terrorized by serial rapist while coming to the realization that a retired cop has turned vigilante
November 29, 2010
I guess the fact that I read this book in less than 24hrs says a lot. It is an easy-reading, entertaining book, and I love the setting. Buchanan's Miami is intoxicating.
August 28, 2014
So glad to be reading this series again. Just wish there were more than a handful of the Britt Montero books
July 29, 2017
This is a nice cozy mystery and very enjoyable. This is the second reading of this book.
September 1, 2023
DNF- the topic made me physically ill and I really tried but couldn’t finish it.
November 11, 2013
Miami is a city teeming with life and with a restless energy that is undeniable. A city where the skies are always blue and life and death are seldom simple. Miami is also the home of Britt Montero, a feisty, charismatic Cuban-American crime reporter.
In Miami, It's Murder, Britt is investigating a series of bizarre deaths involving sex, electrocution, and freshly poured concrete. With a retired, terminally ill detective as her friend and source, Britt probes the unsolved rape and murder of a little girl, which ultimately may implicate the rich and powerful front-runner in the governor's race. She also follows the trail of a terrifying serial rapist who ambushes career women in the bathrooms of the gleaming downtown skyscrapers that spear the Miami skyline.
This quest takes her from the sterile and antiseptic police crime lab with its forensic experts, into the dark heart of Santeria - a blood-fueled religion linked to spells, symbols, sacrifice, and the occult. Enraged by Britt's stories, the rapist escalates his violence and focuses his obsession on her. Stalked by the shadowy rapist, on the trail of a serial killer, Britt comes ever closer to learning the shocking truth as tensions mount and the stories intersect with edge-of-the-seat suspense and an astonishing conclusion.
This may be the second or third book that I've read by Edna Buchanan and I've enjoyed them all. In my opinion, this book was very well-written, with likable characters; and an action-packed, intricate plot that led in directions that I wasn't expecting. I give this book an A+! Edna Buchanan certainly knows her stuff as an author.
In Miami, It's Murder, Britt is investigating a series of bizarre deaths involving sex, electrocution, and freshly poured concrete. With a retired, terminally ill detective as her friend and source, Britt probes the unsolved rape and murder of a little girl, which ultimately may implicate the rich and powerful front-runner in the governor's race. She also follows the trail of a terrifying serial rapist who ambushes career women in the bathrooms of the gleaming downtown skyscrapers that spear the Miami skyline.
This quest takes her from the sterile and antiseptic police crime lab with its forensic experts, into the dark heart of Santeria - a blood-fueled religion linked to spells, symbols, sacrifice, and the occult. Enraged by Britt's stories, the rapist escalates his violence and focuses his obsession on her. Stalked by the shadowy rapist, on the trail of a serial killer, Britt comes ever closer to learning the shocking truth as tensions mount and the stories intersect with edge-of-the-seat suspense and an astonishing conclusion.
This may be the second or third book that I've read by Edna Buchanan and I've enjoyed them all. In my opinion, this book was very well-written, with likable characters; and an action-packed, intricate plot that led in directions that I wasn't expecting. I give this book an A+! Edna Buchanan certainly knows her stuff as an author.
April 26, 2016
My memory of the other Britt Montero mysteries is that they were more interesting and more fun than this one turned out to be. But I listened to them a long time ago, I guess. It is fascinating the way technology has dated details in books. Her photog friend Lottie is still using a darkroom in this one, and there are no cell phones. still payphones. Shades of Gov. McCrory! a rapist dons women's clothes, waits in women's restrooms, puts an out of order sign on the door when a victim comes in, and he rapes them in privacy. Britt surprises him when still in drag, and she manages to bop him good with a toilet seat. But the big issue is her old friend Dan, retired now from the cops, but still working to take care of old cases--like, say, kill guys he thinks got away with murder from a technicality. Big disappointment to her and to Dan: the shitbag running for governor really didn't kill the little girl when he was a teen.
A recorded book, adequately read, with few voice intonations. Few good Miami ambiance jokes, and Britt's peril (she is tied up, put in her trunk and her beloved T-bird is sunk in a canal--but she of course escapes) is both predictable and dull.
I'll remember that I thought the rapist would be scared off when he saw the santeria charm her aunt pinned to Britt's underwear, but he never gets that far.
A recorded book, adequately read, with few voice intonations. Few good Miami ambiance jokes, and Britt's peril (she is tied up, put in her trunk and her beloved T-bird is sunk in a canal--but she of course escapes) is both predictable and dull.
I'll remember that I thought the rapist would be scared off when he saw the santeria charm her aunt pinned to Britt's underwear, but he never gets that far.
November 27, 2013
Another 4.5-star read from Buchanan. First of all, Britt (reporter) and Lottie (photographer) are excellent characters, with a lot of personality but dedicated to their jobs and their friendship. Although I cringe at reporters in general who get into people's faces during crises, I can certainly appreciate the difficulty of their jobs. In this story Britt is following a 22-year-old cold case that her friend, retired cop Dan Flood, was never able to solve, involving a local politician. At the same time, she's covering the search for the Downtown Rapist who has decided that he doesn't like what Britt has written about him and wants to make her a target. What I like about Buchanan's books is that she provides not one, but two twists, surprising me both times with her cleverness. I really never saw them coming, nor did I guess the ending until it was revealed to me. Having just visited Miami a couple of weeks ago, it was fun to read about some of the places I had just been, especially the boat tour and the tour guide who told many of the same stories as in the book. I guess the tourist trade doesn't change much because this book was written about 20 years ago! Looking forward to reading more in this series.
April 28, 2013
No writer is better than Edna Buchanan in writing about Miami where she commanded the Miami Herald for eighteen years.She reported 3,000 homicides and won the Pulitzer in 1986. In 1992, she introduced Britt Montero, the heroine of fourteen novels. This novel opens with the cold case murder of eight-year-old Mary Beth Rafferty. Her friend and Detective Dan never give up on unsolved cases. A politician running for Governer was a tenage boy when he found Mary's body. Now, Britt and Dan try to prove he is a murderer before he can be elected. Since her plots are so intricate, there is also a serial rapest,a man electocuted, the dark Santeria blood-fueled religon linked to spells, sacrifice, amd the occult, bullets exploding from a van on fire on the freeway and general mayhem.
August 14, 2015
A good mystery showcasing the life of a newspaper reporter and her relations with the police and criminals. Interesting how her story about a serial rapist makes her the target of the rapist. Lots of other deaths are found to be connected. The aspirations of a politician are also brought to light along with his involvement in a long ago murder.
Britt's friendships with a retired homicide detective helps her a bit but then she finds out he has connections to some old cases with connections to some recent murders.
Britt's friendships with a retired homicide detective helps her a bit but then she finds out he has connections to some old cases with connections to some recent murders.
October 28, 2016
I thought this book was going to be intense. Like the last one I read by this author. I put off reading it so long I decided to bite the bullet and read it. I started all over again a couple days ago. She is a good writer. The protagonist get herself in trouble twice, but, it is a big one, she does not do it intentionally. There is none of: gee I should not do this because it is really stupid, but i'll do it anyway and then I am surprised when I almost get killed and I did not let anyone know I know I am walking into danger. Gee wiz. She is just doing her job. It is a good book.
September 26, 2008
Miami, It's Murder - VG+
Buchanan, Edna - 2nd in Britt Montero series
The tough Cuban-American crime reporter, Britt Montero, is back and investigating a series of bizarre deaths. With a dying detective as her friend and source, Britt probes the unsolved sex murder of a small girl which may implicate the rich and powerful front-runner in the governor's race.
Love the character of Britt. This was a great book in a very good series. I'll certainly read more of these.
Buchanan, Edna - 2nd in Britt Montero series
The tough Cuban-American crime reporter, Britt Montero, is back and investigating a series of bizarre deaths. With a dying detective as her friend and source, Britt probes the unsolved sex murder of a small girl which may implicate the rich and powerful front-runner in the governor's race.
Love the character of Britt. This was a great book in a very good series. I'll certainly read more of these.
January 15, 2015
Loved, Loved, Loved this book. Erin Bennett the read of the audio book is excellent. I will be listening to more of this series immediately. This is actually Book 2, so will now find and listen to book 1!
July 16, 2018
Can't put it down once I start to read it
December 31, 2025
Britt Montero is highly likable, and her portrayal of the newspaper world in the late 20th century feels spot-on. I appreciate these mysteries because, troubled as the industry was even then, it didn’t face today’s very real threat of AI news gatherers supplanting humans.
Britt, a 32-year-old single Cuban American woman fresh off a hard breakup with a cop, covers Miami’s police beat for the “Herald.” Someone the cops and the press call “the downtown rapist” is terrorizing Miami’s women, and Britt finds herself at the center of the story as she covers the case. She takes pressure from every direction: the city’s fear is palpable, the cops feel it and urgently want a solution, and her editors demand stories yesterday. Britt works fast, but she won’t get loose with the facts, and facts take time to pin down.
This book runs hot with tension. Britt isn’t a cozy knitter who runs a tiny charming library and happens to stumble into a murder. She’s driven by an unswerving love for Miami and its people. This isn’t just a paycheck; it’s how she immerses herself in her beloved city and gives residents the best information she can. That immersion comes at a price, because she sees Miami’s dark, seamy underside up close. The cops know she won’t flinch when a gruesome scene appears, and they begrudgingly respect her quiet tenacity—even as they resent what her job represents. This isn’t a gentle mystery, and Buchanan doesn’t keep danger at arm’s length.
And Miami itself becomes a major character. Buchanan has a real gift for using place names, and Britt reads the city the way she reads a crime scene—feeling its pulse, its heat, and its sheer unpredictability.
She’s also indirectly working another story involving a glib politician who wants Florida’s governorship, and she’s not convinced he deserves the position. When he was a teenager, the cops suspected he killed an eight-year-old girl, but they never found enough evidence to put him away for it. With help from a retired, dying cop, Britt pieces together that cold case. It’s a strong subplot alongside the main case.
This book deserves all four stars. Some people hand out five-star ratings like candy at a parade, but I’m stingy with mine. If you get five stars from me, it’s because the book changed something—it made me think differently about my life or my circumstances, or it taught me something I couldn’t have found elsewhere. I get emotionally involved in books, but a true five-star read has to pull me all the way in. I suspect plenty of readers would give this five stars, and it may even deserve them; it just doesn’t quite cross that threshold for me. Four stars from me is high praise; my five-star shelf is small by design.
There’s a suspenseful scene involving Britt in a public bathroom at a dental office, and the rapist is in there with her—knife, muscle, and all. Let’s just say my pacemaker almost called home to report mysterious battery depletion. (Okay, that part was a human hallucination.) But the point stands: Britt’s risk feels high and memorable.
One more reason to read this: Britt’s photographer friend, Lottie. She’s the sister Britt never had. The two of them can talk about anything, and nothing feels off-limits. They share love-life woes and successes, and Lottie would run personal errands for Britt if she needed it. They simply show up for each other and quietly stand together under all kinds of circumstances. Her presence adds a steadying warmth when the rest of the story turns tense.
Start with book one if you can. It lays the foundation for who Britt is: you learn her background, you learn about her dead father and why he’s dead, and you learn about her complex, rocky relationship with her mother. By the time you reach this second book, you already feel like you’ve made friends with her, and that’s hugely helpful.
Buchanan ends things in one of my favorite ways: she gives you a wrapped ending that doesn’t feel abrupt, then leaves a figurative door cracked open—an enigmatic figure quietly beckoning you into the next book.
If you’re here for a smart, working-reporter heroine and a city that feels alive, you’re in the right place. If you love heroines who get the job done with calm efficiency and zero fanfare, Britt is your kind of lead. And if you’re okay with some vivid, memorable descriptions of crimes, you can read this and be just fine. But if all you read are cozy mysteries or romances, this may not be the best way to fling yourself into the world of darker, more vivid mysteries.
Britt, a 32-year-old single Cuban American woman fresh off a hard breakup with a cop, covers Miami’s police beat for the “Herald.” Someone the cops and the press call “the downtown rapist” is terrorizing Miami’s women, and Britt finds herself at the center of the story as she covers the case. She takes pressure from every direction: the city’s fear is palpable, the cops feel it and urgently want a solution, and her editors demand stories yesterday. Britt works fast, but she won’t get loose with the facts, and facts take time to pin down.
This book runs hot with tension. Britt isn’t a cozy knitter who runs a tiny charming library and happens to stumble into a murder. She’s driven by an unswerving love for Miami and its people. This isn’t just a paycheck; it’s how she immerses herself in her beloved city and gives residents the best information she can. That immersion comes at a price, because she sees Miami’s dark, seamy underside up close. The cops know she won’t flinch when a gruesome scene appears, and they begrudgingly respect her quiet tenacity—even as they resent what her job represents. This isn’t a gentle mystery, and Buchanan doesn’t keep danger at arm’s length.
And Miami itself becomes a major character. Buchanan has a real gift for using place names, and Britt reads the city the way she reads a crime scene—feeling its pulse, its heat, and its sheer unpredictability.
She’s also indirectly working another story involving a glib politician who wants Florida’s governorship, and she’s not convinced he deserves the position. When he was a teenager, the cops suspected he killed an eight-year-old girl, but they never found enough evidence to put him away for it. With help from a retired, dying cop, Britt pieces together that cold case. It’s a strong subplot alongside the main case.
This book deserves all four stars. Some people hand out five-star ratings like candy at a parade, but I’m stingy with mine. If you get five stars from me, it’s because the book changed something—it made me think differently about my life or my circumstances, or it taught me something I couldn’t have found elsewhere. I get emotionally involved in books, but a true five-star read has to pull me all the way in. I suspect plenty of readers would give this five stars, and it may even deserve them; it just doesn’t quite cross that threshold for me. Four stars from me is high praise; my five-star shelf is small by design.
There’s a suspenseful scene involving Britt in a public bathroom at a dental office, and the rapist is in there with her—knife, muscle, and all. Let’s just say my pacemaker almost called home to report mysterious battery depletion. (Okay, that part was a human hallucination.) But the point stands: Britt’s risk feels high and memorable.
One more reason to read this: Britt’s photographer friend, Lottie. She’s the sister Britt never had. The two of them can talk about anything, and nothing feels off-limits. They share love-life woes and successes, and Lottie would run personal errands for Britt if she needed it. They simply show up for each other and quietly stand together under all kinds of circumstances. Her presence adds a steadying warmth when the rest of the story turns tense.
Start with book one if you can. It lays the foundation for who Britt is: you learn her background, you learn about her dead father and why he’s dead, and you learn about her complex, rocky relationship with her mother. By the time you reach this second book, you already feel like you’ve made friends with her, and that’s hugely helpful.
Buchanan ends things in one of my favorite ways: she gives you a wrapped ending that doesn’t feel abrupt, then leaves a figurative door cracked open—an enigmatic figure quietly beckoning you into the next book.
If you’re here for a smart, working-reporter heroine and a city that feels alive, you’re in the right place. If you love heroines who get the job done with calm efficiency and zero fanfare, Britt is your kind of lead. And if you’re okay with some vivid, memorable descriptions of crimes, you can read this and be just fine. But if all you read are cozy mysteries or romances, this may not be the best way to fling yourself into the world of darker, more vivid mysteries.
March 3, 2020
Edna Buchanan earned the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 1986 - General News Reporting - "for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting." She worked as a writer of The Miami Herald police beat for eighteen years, during which she won scores of awards. Then, she turned her attention to writing suspense stories, using Miami as the background for her stories.
Britt Monterro, Cuban-born Miami police beat journalist, is looking into a 22-year-old cold case. Mary Beth Rafferty, an 8-year-old, was murdered after sexual assault. The teen who found her dead body is now running for governor of the state and many believe he murdered the girl years ago and got away with it. At the same time, Monterro is following a serial rapist who suddenly turns his attention around to his pursuer.
Before long, Monterro notices that some old unsolved police cases are suddenly being resolved when the person thought to be the perp (but with insufficient evidence to prosecute them) die under strange circumstances. Unfortunately, Britt starts to see a pattern. The author uses her knowledge of Miami to good effect in this book. I thought this book moved quickly and kept my attention throughout the book.
This novel earned Edna Buchanan a nomination for the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1995. Britt Monterro Series
1.Contents Under Pressure (1992)
**2. Miami, It's Murder (1994)
Britt Monterro, Cuban-born Miami police beat journalist, is looking into a 22-year-old cold case. Mary Beth Rafferty, an 8-year-old, was murdered after sexual assault. The teen who found her dead body is now running for governor of the state and many believe he murdered the girl years ago and got away with it. At the same time, Monterro is following a serial rapist who suddenly turns his attention around to his pursuer.
Before long, Monterro notices that some old unsolved police cases are suddenly being resolved when the person thought to be the perp (but with insufficient evidence to prosecute them) die under strange circumstances. Unfortunately, Britt starts to see a pattern. The author uses her knowledge of Miami to good effect in this book. I thought this book moved quickly and kept my attention throughout the book.
This novel earned Edna Buchanan a nomination for the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1995. Britt Monterro Series
1.Contents Under Pressure (1992)
**2. Miami, It's Murder (1994)
May 29, 2020
Pulitzer prize winner Buchanan wins again
Somehow a Britt Montero book I didn't read! I was delighted when going through the series to find there were two I had somehow missed. What a great to know you get to read a book by an author that you've loved everything she's written, from articles in the Miami Herald to the Montero series to the standalone historical fiction. This second entry in the Montero series didn't disappoint. Plenty of characters you knew and liked from the series. Twists to the plot so it's not predictable. New people to snag your interest. Buchanan covered the Miami police beat for years with the Herald. She brings the ring of truth, the authenticity that often is the unafraid missing element in genre work. You take the trip with a knowledgeable guide and you can feel the difference. Recommend strongly.
Somehow a Britt Montero book I didn't read! I was delighted when going through the series to find there were two I had somehow missed. What a great to know you get to read a book by an author that you've loved everything she's written, from articles in the Miami Herald to the Montero series to the standalone historical fiction. This second entry in the Montero series didn't disappoint. Plenty of characters you knew and liked from the series. Twists to the plot so it's not predictable. New people to snag your interest. Buchanan covered the Miami police beat for years with the Herald. She brings the ring of truth, the authenticity that often is the unafraid missing element in genre work. You take the trip with a knowledgeable guide and you can feel the difference. Recommend strongly.
January 31, 2022
I was in the mood for a thriller and this book gave me my wish. I am in a second book club, and found this novel while searching online for an author who lives and writes in Florida. Edna Buchanan has lived
in Miami her whole life. Another discovery was that I read her books
back in the 80's and then lost track of her. I am so glad that I found
her again.
Edna Buchanan was an Investigative Reporter for the Miami Herald
until she began writing full time.
Miami, It's Murder is about the main character, Britt Montero, who is also an Investigative Reporter in Miami. Britt writes about homicides.
She and the Miami-Dade Police Department often clash because Britt
invariably finds herself in their territory. In this book, Britt is trying to
solve murders done by a serial killer. I liked the book. It is fast
paced . I read it in one day.
in Miami her whole life. Another discovery was that I read her books
back in the 80's and then lost track of her. I am so glad that I found
her again.
Edna Buchanan was an Investigative Reporter for the Miami Herald
until she began writing full time.
Miami, It's Murder is about the main character, Britt Montero, who is also an Investigative Reporter in Miami. Britt writes about homicides.
She and the Miami-Dade Police Department often clash because Britt
invariably finds herself in their territory. In this book, Britt is trying to
solve murders done by a serial killer. I liked the book. It is fast
paced . I read it in one day.
November 23, 2025
This is a 3.5 star read but I rounded down because that's the mood I'm in. I like Britt Montero and her friend, Lottie. Working at a 90s-era newspaper makes it plausible that they would have a hectic lifestyle and routinely find themselves in dangerous situations. Miami comes to life on these pages.
But this book was too much. Too much happened to one woman in too short a period of time. I don't mean the stories Britt worked on. I believed that. It was the physical peril she found herself in over and over again, day after day. The final plot twist – which I appreciated – could have been accomplished without it.
Coco Chanel said, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." I would have advised Edna Buchanan, "Before you send this to your editor, review your action sequences and cut one out."
But this book was too much. Too much happened to one woman in too short a period of time. I don't mean the stories Britt worked on. I believed that. It was the physical peril she found herself in over and over again, day after day. The final plot twist – which I appreciated – could have been accomplished without it.
Coco Chanel said, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." I would have advised Edna Buchanan, "Before you send this to your editor, review your action sequences and cut one out."
August 23, 2021
I gave up on the first book in this series---but, for some reason I found this story more compelling and the heroine interesting. Beyond intrepid. . . .a wee bit hard to imagine a reporter this pro-active and head-strong, but it was a great read.
The novel contained several stories within it and the serial rapist was chilling, but interesting to follow. The other plot, centering around decades old unsolved crimes was perhaps more predictable and less satisfying in the end.
But, it was interesting to follow Britt Montero through the seamier side of Miami life and, as a former resident of the area, I enjoyed the adventure.
The novel contained several stories within it and the serial rapist was chilling, but interesting to follow. The other plot, centering around decades old unsolved crimes was perhaps more predictable and less satisfying in the end.
But, it was interesting to follow Britt Montero through the seamier side of Miami life and, as a former resident of the area, I enjoyed the adventure.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews