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Roxane Weary #3
The Stories You Tell
A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Mackenzie, a hip young DJ he knows from the hotel bar where he works. She was drunk, bloody, and hysterical, but she wouldn’t say what was wrong. After using his phone, she left as quickly as she appeared, and Andrew is worried. That’s when he calls Roxane.
But another late-night call occurs as well: Mackenzie’s father calls the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message—Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about why there’s blood in his apartment and what he did to Mackenzie. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Mackenzie—has suddenly gone AWOL.
But another late-night call occurs as well: Mackenzie’s father calls the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message—Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about why there’s blood in his apartment and what he did to Mackenzie. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Mackenzie—has suddenly gone AWOL.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 321 reviews
May 14, 2019
Dark, Complex, and Gripping
The Stories You Tell is a complicated mystery that centers on an even more complicated Private Investigator.
Private Investigator, Roxane Weary, gets pulled into a tangled web involving a missing person, a murder, and a mobster--the main suspect happens to be her brother, Andrew. What seems like a straightforward missing persons’ investigation is much more complicated than it first seems.
The Stories You Tell is the third book in the Roxane Weary series. This can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with book one.
Roxane continuously describes wintertime in Ohio as gray--that is how I would describe the tone and atmosphere of The Stories You Tell. It is not as dark as previous installments, but there is still a lot of darkness surrounding Roxane and her family. Roxane's character has grown. She is still a mess when it comes to her love life, but she seems to have matured a bit and toned down her self-destructive behavior, for now.
This is one of my favorite series. With that being said, I didn’t love the mystery as much as I did in the earlier books in the series. The parts involving Andrew were most interesting, but when he was taken out of the equation I was a little bored. However, this is a character-driven series and my time with Roxane’s character pushed any qualms I had with the mystery to the side.
Roxane’s character is the reason to read this series. She is rough around the edges, but extremely intelligent and quick-witted. I find her voice mesmerizing. I want to know everything about her and everything about her family. There are many layers to her character and the little bits revealed about family are so intriguing.
Even though I didn't love the mystery, Roxane's voice kept me turning the pages!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.
The Stories You Tell is a complicated mystery that centers on an even more complicated Private Investigator.
Private Investigator, Roxane Weary, gets pulled into a tangled web involving a missing person, a murder, and a mobster--the main suspect happens to be her brother, Andrew. What seems like a straightforward missing persons’ investigation is much more complicated than it first seems.
The Stories You Tell is the third book in the Roxane Weary series. This can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with book one.
Roxane continuously describes wintertime in Ohio as gray--that is how I would describe the tone and atmosphere of The Stories You Tell. It is not as dark as previous installments, but there is still a lot of darkness surrounding Roxane and her family. Roxane's character has grown. She is still a mess when it comes to her love life, but she seems to have matured a bit and toned down her self-destructive behavior, for now.
This is one of my favorite series. With that being said, I didn’t love the mystery as much as I did in the earlier books in the series. The parts involving Andrew were most interesting, but when he was taken out of the equation I was a little bored. However, this is a character-driven series and my time with Roxane’s character pushed any qualms I had with the mystery to the side.
Roxane’s character is the reason to read this series. She is rough around the edges, but extremely intelligent and quick-witted. I find her voice mesmerizing. I want to know everything about her and everything about her family. There are many layers to her character and the little bits revealed about family are so intriguing.
Even though I didn't love the mystery, Roxane's voice kept me turning the pages!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.
October 13, 2022
I was already a hardcore fan of this series, but my woman crush on Roxane Weary just grew to immense proportions. Some of the best crime fiction stories are the ones featuring a quiet power; I'll gladly sacrifice flashy twists and over-the-top drama for a grounded, consistent procedural, as I'm always more drawn to the character driven plots that feature clever cases. All three books in this series are fabulous, and if you haven't read them I urge you to start from the beginning immediately and catch up, but this particular installment was remarkable.
"A mystery with a deadline-what could go wrong?"
First, let's start with the basics. Lepionka has done a spectacular job of taking the police procedural format and giving it a feel that's easily relatable to, well, people who aren't on the police force. Placing an "amateur" P.I. in the lead gives a unique flair without so much been there, done that, while still getting plenty of involvement from the police side of things. The Stories You Tell actually carries over some loose ends from the previous novel, What You Want To See, and we juggle many interlocking plot threads in this installment, but I promise it's not difficult to follow or keep track of. In fact, it's really beautifully done where, as one thing is solved, it triggers a thought process for Roxane to solve the next thread, and so on. I. Loved. This! What a unique way to tell a story, and this kept me guessing until the very end, without throwing some unbelievable twist in to do it. Follow the clues, friends, and you may guess the ending before I did.
Now, on to the portions that made this a 5 star read. Part of the reason I'm able to get swept up in this series is due to the atmospheric quality of writing that the author provides; I've never stepped foot inside Ohio state lines, but I definitely feel like I've paid Columbus a visit on three separate occasions. I've grown rather fond of, and quite attached to, the entire cast of this series, and that love just deepened upon finishing this particular installment. Roxane is hit with conflict from all sides-she, along with her brother and mother, are finally starting to grieve the loss of her father, and are finding along the way that they may not have known him as well as they thought they had. Weary is also struggling with her romantic relationship, because we all know that wherever Catherine goes, trouble follows. Up until being asked to look into the disappearance of her brother's ex-girlfriend, her cases have been slim and frustrating. We finally get to see everything come to a head, which also illuminates personal demons that other characters have been dealing with as well. *cough* TOM *cough*
If you're a part of the growing cult following of The Weary Series, do yourself a favor and start this immediately. Dust off that arc, or crack it open on pub day. I'm truly left with a book hangover, and TBH I would probably sell one of my kidneys for the fourth book that is, quite likely, not even written yet. I can't recommend this series highly enough!
*I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
"A mystery with a deadline-what could go wrong?"
First, let's start with the basics. Lepionka has done a spectacular job of taking the police procedural format and giving it a feel that's easily relatable to, well, people who aren't on the police force. Placing an "amateur" P.I. in the lead gives a unique flair without so much been there, done that, while still getting plenty of involvement from the police side of things. The Stories You Tell actually carries over some loose ends from the previous novel, What You Want To See, and we juggle many interlocking plot threads in this installment, but I promise it's not difficult to follow or keep track of. In fact, it's really beautifully done where, as one thing is solved, it triggers a thought process for Roxane to solve the next thread, and so on. I. Loved. This! What a unique way to tell a story, and this kept me guessing until the very end, without throwing some unbelievable twist in to do it. Follow the clues, friends, and you may guess the ending before I did.
Now, on to the portions that made this a 5 star read. Part of the reason I'm able to get swept up in this series is due to the atmospheric quality of writing that the author provides; I've never stepped foot inside Ohio state lines, but I definitely feel like I've paid Columbus a visit on three separate occasions. I've grown rather fond of, and quite attached to, the entire cast of this series, and that love just deepened upon finishing this particular installment. Roxane is hit with conflict from all sides-she, along with her brother and mother, are finally starting to grieve the loss of her father, and are finding along the way that they may not have known him as well as they thought they had. Weary is also struggling with her romantic relationship, because we all know that wherever Catherine goes, trouble follows. Up until being asked to look into the disappearance of her brother's ex-girlfriend, her cases have been slim and frustrating. We finally get to see everything come to a head, which also illuminates personal demons that other characters have been dealing with as well. *cough* TOM *cough*
If you're a part of the growing cult following of The Weary Series, do yourself a favor and start this immediately. Dust off that arc, or crack it open on pub day. I'm truly left with a book hangover, and TBH I would probably sell one of my kidneys for the fourth book that is, quite likely, not even written yet. I can't recommend this series highly enough!
*I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
July 9, 2019
NOW AVAILABLE!!
allow me to tell you a little secret - sometimes i round my star-ratings up. if i like an author either IRL or if i have liked their words in the past, even if i’m not feeling the deeplove towards a particular book of theirs, i’ll hoist ‘em a little closer to the light to be a pal. i never lie in my reviews, but star ratings (mine and others’) are of little consequence, so an upround here or there is no biggie.
but i have never had to upround kristen lepionka. even though she has been kind enough to send me ARCS of all her books, and inflated my vanity by thanking me in one of them and even allowed me to drag her to an indian restaurant decorated like a visual representation of madness, none of that factored into my genuine enjoyment/appreciation of her books or the resulting starmath.
roxane weary is one of my all-time favorite characters. no lie. and these books have the same kind of equal attention given to character and mystery as tana french without her writing being like tana french, which happens to be a quality i value when i’m reading genre — give me the genre-stuff i came for, but don’t give me cardboard characters thinking you can skimp because your puzzle is strong.
roxane is miles away from being cardboard. and even though she’s gone through some serious growth since the first book - a little more self-control, professionalism and even a (*gasp*) softer, more nurturing side peeking out, none of that emotional progress means that lepionka is rewarding her by cutting her any slack in her personal life, or making it in ANY WAY easy for her, and this third book has plenty of OOF in it. i am so glad it also has a lot of roxane-and-andrew time because theirs is my favorite brother-and-sister banter.
as for the mystery, it’s more like many mysteries piled on top of each other - some intersecting, some branching off. the solution(s) is (are) not predictable but totally fair, and roxane gets to be her clever and capable badass self but also calls in familiar characters owing favors for some specialist work. she even shares intel with the police because LEARNING!
love this series. will never upround this series. keep 'em coming!
*********************************************
wow. this is the best one yet. LEPIONKA IS QUEEN!
review TK
*********************************************
*koff* happy fucking friday night!! *koff*
*********************************************
ARC is en route to me - oh YEAH!!!!
come to my blog!
allow me to tell you a little secret - sometimes i round my star-ratings up. if i like an author either IRL or if i have liked their words in the past, even if i’m not feeling the deeplove towards a particular book of theirs, i’ll hoist ‘em a little closer to the light to be a pal. i never lie in my reviews, but star ratings (mine and others’) are of little consequence, so an upround here or there is no biggie.
but i have never had to upround kristen lepionka. even though she has been kind enough to send me ARCS of all her books, and inflated my vanity by thanking me in one of them and even allowed me to drag her to an indian restaurant decorated like a visual representation of madness, none of that factored into my genuine enjoyment/appreciation of her books or the resulting starmath.
roxane weary is one of my all-time favorite characters. no lie. and these books have the same kind of equal attention given to character and mystery as tana french without her writing being like tana french, which happens to be a quality i value when i’m reading genre — give me the genre-stuff i came for, but don’t give me cardboard characters thinking you can skimp because your puzzle is strong.
roxane is miles away from being cardboard. and even though she’s gone through some serious growth since the first book - a little more self-control, professionalism and even a (*gasp*) softer, more nurturing side peeking out, none of that emotional progress means that lepionka is rewarding her by cutting her any slack in her personal life, or making it in ANY WAY easy for her, and this third book has plenty of OOF in it. i am so glad it also has a lot of roxane-and-andrew time because theirs is my favorite brother-and-sister banter.
as for the mystery, it’s more like many mysteries piled on top of each other - some intersecting, some branching off. the solution(s) is (are) not predictable but totally fair, and roxane gets to be her clever and capable badass self but also calls in familiar characters owing favors for some specialist work. she even shares intel with the police because LEARNING!
love this series. will never upround this series. keep 'em coming!
*********************************************
wow. this is the best one yet. LEPIONKA IS QUEEN!
review TK
*********************************************
*koff* happy fucking friday night!! *koff*
*********************************************
ARC is en route to me - oh YEAH!!!!
come to my blog!
December 27, 2019
"Unfortunately, no one is ever wrong at the right time. If they were, no one would ever be wrong - we'd all just be right.' 'I can't tell if that's the whiskey talking or if you just said something profound."
I love Roxane Weary!!!!
Honestly this series is just great. If you like crime thrillers, do not miss out on these books. Roxane has got to be one of the most relatable protagonists - she is grumpy, disorganized, nosy and has quite the love for whiskey and in my opinion she is just great. She deserves the best!
Roxane gets a call from her brother Andrew in the middle of the night. A woman he once had a one night stand with years ago has turned up in his apartment, terrified, before suddenly fleeing again. When the woman - Addison, goes missing, Andrew is in the firing line.
Roxane has to find out what happened to Addison before her brother is set up. With a variety of characters ranging from the local crime Lord to Addison's best friends, and even people from the local gym. All the characters interlink, and it seems that everyone has secrets.
Kristen Lepionka is just so good at keeping you guessing. You'll never work out what happened, and the endings leave you shocked and definitely not disappointed!
Highly recommend!
I love Roxane Weary!!!!
Honestly this series is just great. If you like crime thrillers, do not miss out on these books. Roxane has got to be one of the most relatable protagonists - she is grumpy, disorganized, nosy and has quite the love for whiskey and in my opinion she is just great. She deserves the best!
Roxane gets a call from her brother Andrew in the middle of the night. A woman he once had a one night stand with years ago has turned up in his apartment, terrified, before suddenly fleeing again. When the woman - Addison, goes missing, Andrew is in the firing line.
Roxane has to find out what happened to Addison before her brother is set up. With a variety of characters ranging from the local crime Lord to Addison's best friends, and even people from the local gym. All the characters interlink, and it seems that everyone has secrets.
Kristen Lepionka is just so good at keeping you guessing. You'll never work out what happened, and the endings leave you shocked and definitely not disappointed!
Highly recommend!
June 10, 2019
This series is a straight forward PI series. This time the story involves a missing person. Roxane gets a weird call from her brother late at night. A gal he had a two night stand with showed up late at night at his apartment . Disheveled, frantic. She makes a phone call and then leaves. When Roxane tries to relieve his mind the next day by checking up on her, it appears the woman has gone missing. And her place of employment, a night club across the street from her brother’s apartment has closed unexpectedly.
I liked Roxane. Unlike so many PI characters, she’s fairly solid other than a tendency to sometimes drink too much, a tendency she inherited from her dead policeman father.
The plot gets twisted as we go along. There are lots of characters here, but it’s never difficult to keep track of them or of the multiplying plot lines. The book has a great dark, gritty atmosphere. This kept my interest throughout and I had no clue how it would end.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
I liked Roxane. Unlike so many PI characters, she’s fairly solid other than a tendency to sometimes drink too much, a tendency she inherited from her dead policeman father.
The plot gets twisted as we go along. There are lots of characters here, but it’s never difficult to keep track of them or of the multiplying plot lines. The book has a great dark, gritty atmosphere. This kept my interest throughout and I had no clue how it would end.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
March 11, 2024
People, in general, weren't all that mysterious. But when you looked into their lives from the outside - no background, no context - they suddenly looked that way.
Kristen Lepionka is an absolute badass. This series really does just keep getting better - like the chilli, actually. Even the first book is fantastic, complex and realistic characters layering with mystery and coming out dark and twisty and incredibly satisfying. But then you get the second, and the third book, and each time the characters have had a chance to meld, to build on the backstory, to develop and grow and it improves something that was already so good.
The mystery this time around is a little quieter, less dramatic but no less important for it. There's less in the way of direct conflict too - not that Roxane is letting anyone walk over her, she's still got some excellent shutdown lines - but she's less reactive, less trigger happy with her anger, and more likely to take a moment to clue in a police department rather than head-butt her way through whatever regulations are foolish enough to get in her way. It's character growth on the subtle scale, and it lets her (and the reader, by proxy) in on some of the characteristics of the people around her, too, now that she's got more time to stop and notice. .
I've been trying to space this series out, because there's only four so far, and they're one of the best antidotes for 2020 I've found yet, but damnit if I'm not going to move straight onto the next one. Thanks so much to karen for championing the hell out of this amazing series and leading me to find it.
Kristen Lepionka is an absolute badass. This series really does just keep getting better - like the chilli, actually. Even the first book is fantastic, complex and realistic characters layering with mystery and coming out dark and twisty and incredibly satisfying. But then you get the second, and the third book, and each time the characters have had a chance to meld, to build on the backstory, to develop and grow and it improves something that was already so good.
The mystery this time around is a little quieter, less dramatic but no less important for it. There's less in the way of direct conflict too - not that Roxane is letting anyone walk over her, she's still got some excellent shutdown lines - but she's less reactive, less trigger happy with her anger, and more likely to take a moment to clue in a police department rather than head-butt her way through whatever regulations are foolish enough to get in her way. It's character growth on the subtle scale, and it lets her (and the reader, by proxy) in on some of the characteristics of the people around her, too, now that she's got more time to stop and notice. .
I've been trying to space this series out, because there's only four so far, and they're one of the best antidotes for 2020 I've found yet, but damnit if I'm not going to move straight onto the next one. Thanks so much to karen for championing the hell out of this amazing series and leading me to find it.
July 10, 2019
Private Investigator Roxane Weary and her brother, Andrew, are night owls, but it's still never good news when she gets a call from Andrew in the middle of the night. This time, Andrew tells her that he's just had the strangest visit from Addison Stowe, a young woman who used to work with him at the hotel where he tends bar. She seemed panicked and scared, begging to used Andrew's phone, and she disappeared almost as quickly as she arrived. At Andrew's pleading, Roxane starts looking for Addison, but she quickly realizes this is not a straightforward case. Soon the police are on Addison's trail--and Andrew's too. Add a dead cop to the mix, and it looks like Andrew could be mixed up in something serious.
"Clients hired me to find lots of things, and I took them all seriously--but people, most of all."
So, I won't lie. I have a particular affinity for one Roxane Weary, our sarcastic, intelligent, bisexual PI. This is the third book in Roxane's series, and I just love them all. You know how you can give your iPhone a name? Well, one of mine (I have one for work and one for personal use, okay) is named Roxane. This gritty PI has wormed her way into my heart. And I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's just so refreshing to have a bisexual character in mainstream fiction who is real. She's not a crazy person or a murderer, she's just a smart, complex character. The main character. And when Roxane is talking, it sounds like my own friends hanging out. It makes me happy.
"The state of straight people was troubling."
This book finds Roxane on a slightly personal quest, as her search for Addison gets real fast, once it looks like Andrew could be in some big time trouble. Her searching leads her to a shady nightclub--including its shifty manager--and some of Addison's suburban friends. We also, as mentioned, have a dead cop, meaning that Tom is in full force in this one. Tom is the former partner of Roxane's late father, and Roxane's old flame. I'm happy to report that there's plenty happening in Roxane's personal life--both with Catherine and Tom. Lots of sexual tension and witty banter on a variety of fronts. (And I am the only one who would be perfectly fine if Catherine just disappeared? Roxane deserves someone who treats her properly.)
Anyway, despite a cast of recurring characters, this one will standalone just fine. That being said, if you haven't read the first two books, I highly recommend them. The conversational first-person style Lepionka uses for Roxane is amazing and draws you in from the start. I adore Roxane's voice. (Partially because I deem her my kindred spirit--see below.)
"Apparently he was one of those people who listened to and deleted messages instead of just reading the transcription and ignoring it like I did."
Roxane is a witty, awesome, complex main character, and she's nearly impossible not to love. The story itself is dark and twisted, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. No gimmicks, just a good mystery. There's lots of humor, lots of surprises, and lots of Roxane, one of the best PIs around. 4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in return for a honest review.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ PaperBackSwap ~ Smashbomb
"Clients hired me to find lots of things, and I took them all seriously--but people, most of all."
So, I won't lie. I have a particular affinity for one Roxane Weary, our sarcastic, intelligent, bisexual PI. This is the third book in Roxane's series, and I just love them all. You know how you can give your iPhone a name? Well, one of mine (I have one for work and one for personal use, okay) is named Roxane. This gritty PI has wormed her way into my heart. And I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's just so refreshing to have a bisexual character in mainstream fiction who is real. She's not a crazy person or a murderer, she's just a smart, complex character. The main character. And when Roxane is talking, it sounds like my own friends hanging out. It makes me happy.
"The state of straight people was troubling."
This book finds Roxane on a slightly personal quest, as her search for Addison gets real fast, once it looks like Andrew could be in some big time trouble. Her searching leads her to a shady nightclub--including its shifty manager--and some of Addison's suburban friends. We also, as mentioned, have a dead cop, meaning that Tom is in full force in this one. Tom is the former partner of Roxane's late father, and Roxane's old flame. I'm happy to report that there's plenty happening in Roxane's personal life--both with Catherine and Tom. Lots of sexual tension and witty banter on a variety of fronts. (And I am the only one who would be perfectly fine if Catherine just disappeared? Roxane deserves someone who treats her properly.)
Anyway, despite a cast of recurring characters, this one will standalone just fine. That being said, if you haven't read the first two books, I highly recommend them. The conversational first-person style Lepionka uses for Roxane is amazing and draws you in from the start. I adore Roxane's voice. (Partially because I deem her my kindred spirit--see below.)
"Apparently he was one of those people who listened to and deleted messages instead of just reading the transcription and ignoring it like I did."
Roxane is a witty, awesome, complex main character, and she's nearly impossible not to love. The story itself is dark and twisted, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. No gimmicks, just a good mystery. There's lots of humor, lots of surprises, and lots of Roxane, one of the best PIs around. 4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in return for a honest review.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ PaperBackSwap ~ Smashbomb
July 11, 2019
PI Roxane Weary gets a call in the middle of the night from her brother Andrew. He's worried about a visitor that showed up in the evening at his place clearly upset. All she wanted was to use his phone and then she left. He then calls Roxane to help to find the young woman, whose name is Addison, whom he seems to know vaguely. Problems arise when Addison's father calls the police after getting a distress call from his daughter. The cops seem inclined to believe that the last person that saw Addison - Andrew - is the one behind her disappearing. Now, Roxane must find Addison and clear Andrew's name.
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
February 5, 2023
When her brother calls her in the middle of the night, Roxane Weary is thrust into a web of mysteries involving a missing girl, a hookup phone app, and lots of people lying about various things.
So a few years ago, my reading time partially dried up and I mostly started reading comics and other things I didn't pay a lot of attention to. Now that my son is older and I don't lose two hours of my life to the commute, I can read actual books again.
Enough about me, though. This is the third Roxane Weary book and it's some good shit. Kristen Lepionka writes a good gritty mystery. I wouldn't exactly call it noir but it's darker than the average mystery. Lepionka has definitely read her Chandler, though.
The mystery isn't really a solvable one, although there are some pretty big hints out there. A one time hookup shows up at Roxane's brother's place and he's quickly in the soup. Roxane pokes around, uncovers a lot of unsavory things, and eventually things are set as right as they're going to get.
Roxane is a great lead character, flawed as hell but still determined. Her relationships with the other characters make this a cut above a lot of books of this type. From her toxic relationship with her girlfriend Catherine to whatever her feelings for Tom, her father's former partner are, to her somewhat motherly role with her teenage neighbors.
I don't know what else to say without giving away too much. There's a lot of catfishing in this so be careful who you're talking to online would be the core lesson of this, if there is one.
Four out of five stars. I'm going to blaze through the second one today pending unforeseen interruptions.
So a few years ago, my reading time partially dried up and I mostly started reading comics and other things I didn't pay a lot of attention to. Now that my son is older and I don't lose two hours of my life to the commute, I can read actual books again.
Enough about me, though. This is the third Roxane Weary book and it's some good shit. Kristen Lepionka writes a good gritty mystery. I wouldn't exactly call it noir but it's darker than the average mystery. Lepionka has definitely read her Chandler, though.
The mystery isn't really a solvable one, although there are some pretty big hints out there. A one time hookup shows up at Roxane's brother's place and he's quickly in the soup. Roxane pokes around, uncovers a lot of unsavory things, and eventually things are set as right as they're going to get.
Roxane is a great lead character, flawed as hell but still determined. Her relationships with the other characters make this a cut above a lot of books of this type. From her toxic relationship with her girlfriend Catherine to whatever her feelings for Tom, her father's former partner are, to her somewhat motherly role with her teenage neighbors.
I don't know what else to say without giving away too much. There's a lot of catfishing in this so be careful who you're talking to online would be the core lesson of this, if there is one.
Four out of five stars. I'm going to blaze through the second one today pending unforeseen interruptions.
July 8, 2019
I have been a huge fan of the Roxane Weary series since book one, The Last Place You Look and if you enjoy a gritty, dark yet straightforward PI procedural, then The Stories You Tell is the perfect book for you! I couldn’t wait to read more about Roxane Weary, PI because she’s one of my favorite characters because she's so not only so realistic but she's a strong, witty, intelligent, fierce, albeit flawed, female lead and I'm all about that!
Roxane gets a middle of the night phone call from her brother Andrew while she’s at her girlfriend Catherine’s house. He’s frantic but won’t tell her what happened―she just needs to get over there asap. When Roxane arrives, she hears a story of a girl named Addison who rushed, terrified, into his apartment to use the phone and then ran back out, leaving him scratched as he tried to stop her. Now she’s missing and Andrew is the last known person to have seen her.
For Roxane, finding Addison is personal since Andrew is a police suspect in her disappearance. As Roxanne searches for her, she discovers connections to a nightclub across the street that suddenly closed the same time Addison went missing, another missing person connected to the nightclub, and a former cop also looking for Addison.
Things start to get heated and tense, a little twisty, as Roxanne now has more than one mystery on her hands while at the same time working through personal problems of her own: the second anniversary of her dad’s death, romantic problems with Catherine (I’m still not a fan of crazy Cat after 3 books), and her relationship Tom, her best friend and former lover (who I love).
The mysteries are captivating and clever, and Lepionka’s writing is sharp and solid. This is a book you won’t want to put down until Roxane has solved the cases. If you haven’t read book one or book two, What You Want to See, then I encourage you to add them to your TBR or pick them up asap! However, The Stories You Tell can be read as a standalone. All I can say is I’m dying to read book four and honestly can’t recommend this book or the series highly enough.
**Thank you Minotaur Books for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.**
Roxane gets a middle of the night phone call from her brother Andrew while she’s at her girlfriend Catherine’s house. He’s frantic but won’t tell her what happened―she just needs to get over there asap. When Roxane arrives, she hears a story of a girl named Addison who rushed, terrified, into his apartment to use the phone and then ran back out, leaving him scratched as he tried to stop her. Now she’s missing and Andrew is the last known person to have seen her.
For Roxane, finding Addison is personal since Andrew is a police suspect in her disappearance. As Roxanne searches for her, she discovers connections to a nightclub across the street that suddenly closed the same time Addison went missing, another missing person connected to the nightclub, and a former cop also looking for Addison.
Things start to get heated and tense, a little twisty, as Roxanne now has more than one mystery on her hands while at the same time working through personal problems of her own: the second anniversary of her dad’s death, romantic problems with Catherine (I’m still not a fan of crazy Cat after 3 books), and her relationship Tom, her best friend and former lover (who I love).
The mysteries are captivating and clever, and Lepionka’s writing is sharp and solid. This is a book you won’t want to put down until Roxane has solved the cases. If you haven’t read book one or book two, What You Want to See, then I encourage you to add them to your TBR or pick them up asap! However, The Stories You Tell can be read as a standalone. All I can say is I’m dying to read book four and honestly can’t recommend this book or the series highly enough.
**Thank you Minotaur Books for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.**
August 8, 2019
Kristen Lepionka is a new author to me, but her third book “The Stories You Tell” caused me to immediately add her two previous books in the mystery series - “The Last Place You Look” and “What You Want” to my reading stack. Lepionka does an impressive job of bringing new readers up to speed on the happenings in the previous two books without getting bogged down in that history.
While there are a lot of detective novels with unique or troubled detectives, Roxane Weary is a fresh, well-written, and fascinating character. The supporting characters are equally as well-developed. Another stand-out feature of this book was the revealing exploration of her relationships with her family and current and previous love interests, and her devotion to all of them. This is an author I’d definitely recommend reading whether you start at the beginning of the series or with this book. Like me, you’ll probably be eager to read the entire series!
While there are a lot of detective novels with unique or troubled detectives, Roxane Weary is a fresh, well-written, and fascinating character. The supporting characters are equally as well-developed. Another stand-out feature of this book was the revealing exploration of her relationships with her family and current and previous love interests, and her devotion to all of them. This is an author I’d definitely recommend reading whether you start at the beginning of the series or with this book. Like me, you’ll probably be eager to read the entire series!
March 20, 2023
Roxane Weary is woken in the middle of the night by a frantic call from her brother, Andrew. Andrew is panicked that he might be in trouble...really big trouble, more than his stash of marijuana might get him into. He tells Roxane a story about a girl named Addison Stowe and how he had once knew her. She had come by his apartment scared to death...made a phone call...then disappeared into the night. Of course, now Addison is missing and Andrew’s the last person to have seen her. He knows he's going to need a friend...an alibi like Roxane if and when the cops come knocking on his door. He'll need to convincingly explain the suspicious scratch on his face that suggests he might’ve been more than just a safety net to Addison. Andrew claims he hadn’t seen or heard from Addison for ages before this last visit. Roxane wants to protect Andrew, whom she trusts in spite of his unconvincing story. She reaches out to Tom Heitker, a friend on the police force who was a close friend to their father, to ask for his help. Tom and Roxane had been more than mere friends, but have put a brief romantic interlude aside to pursue a less involved friendship, though Tom has shown interest in revisiting their past. Roxane and Tom connect Addison’s presence at Andrew’s to the Nightshade Club across the street, where Addison was a sometime the DJ, and to the BusPass dating app. Just as things start to go Roxane’s way in the investigation, Mickey Dillman, a former cop connected to the case, turns up dead, bringing Roxane back to square one and Andrew into police custody. The author seems to have a knack for integrating national news and technology into her characters’ and her plotlines to produce a story that’s timely in more ways than one. The Weary family story gets more complex in this book as we learn more about them. Also the plot is based on real world problems and politics that are woven into the story with a very light touch.
November 22, 2019
Another fantastic installment in the Roxane Weary PI series! This is one of my favourite ongoing series right now. There is literally nothing more that I want out of it.
I think I'm getting smarter at mystery plots cause I was able to follow the different threads of Roxane's detective work, from investigating a shady bar's finances to looking at online dating profiles and catfishing and searching for missing people with mysterious connections to each other. Roxane's sweet pot-dealing bartender brother is involved in this case, so it gets personal.
I LOVE the characters and the gritty Columbus, Ohio setting. Some very interesting developments in Roxane's love life too in the third book 😉. I got super pissed with Catherine in this one but also teared up when Roxane told some people she had just met when they asked who Tom was "He's my best friend."
I think I'm getting smarter at mystery plots cause I was able to follow the different threads of Roxane's detective work, from investigating a shady bar's finances to looking at online dating profiles and catfishing and searching for missing people with mysterious connections to each other. Roxane's sweet pot-dealing bartender brother is involved in this case, so it gets personal.
I LOVE the characters and the gritty Columbus, Ohio setting. Some very interesting developments in Roxane's love life too in the third book 😉. I got super pissed with Catherine in this one but also teared up when Roxane told some people she had just met when they asked who Tom was "He's my best friend."
August 28, 2021
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The Stories You Tell will quite likely by one of my biggest reading disappointments of 2019. This third instalment featuring PI Roxane Weary has made the characters established in book 1 and 2 sketches of their former selves. What is perhaps even worse is that much of The Stories You Tell is a blatant rip-off of .
In many ways The Stories You Tell negates the characters' dynamics and developments that occurred in The Last Place You Look and What You Want To See. Roxane's personality, which so strongly dictated the storylines of book 1 and 2, has receded into a mere parody of her former self. While previously she struck me as headstrong and resilient in spite of her troubles, in The Stories You Tell she was annoying, self-centred, and rude. Most of her interactions with the various individuals connected to disappearance of this Mackenzie seemed to follow the same formula: she poses stupid questions, makes poorly veiled accusations, and does not advance the case.
The 'story' as such is made up by scenes in which Roxane 'interrogates' various people...these dialogues were for the most part boring so much so that you could predict the way the would conclude (spoiler: nothing much would be revealed).
Then we have Roxane whining about her relationship to her deceased father, whining that her girlfriend doesn't demonstrate her love for her (and yet for Roxane it is okay to keep her gf at a distance...double standards much?), whining some more about this and that. The suspects and persons of interest were so forgettable that I kept confusing them for one another.
Roxane joined the trend of constantly dismissing the men she encounters as 'ugh those straight men', 'ugh those white men'. Let's keep in mind that I am 1) a woman 2) not straight, and yet, this constant and obvious 'haha men suck' banter was really cheap. If the story and the characterisations of these men could have conveyed that they were 'bad' good, but being told time and again 'they suck' isn't reason enough why I should dislike them.
Roxane's girlfriend is dismissed early on in the narrative and, rather predictably, she turns into
The 'twist' was both laughable and unimaginative. There are a few lines that can be found in a lot of 'domestic thriller' novels:
Roxane is made to seem this iconic woman who takes no shit from anyone but is actually unable to act like an adult or do her job properly.
With great sadness I bid this series goodbye as I won't be following Roxane's journey into mediocrity.
The Stories You Tell will quite likely by one of my biggest reading disappointments of 2019. This third instalment featuring PI Roxane Weary has made the characters established in book 1 and 2 sketches of their former selves. What is perhaps even worse is that much of The Stories You Tell is a blatant rip-off of .
In many ways The Stories You Tell negates the characters' dynamics and developments that occurred in The Last Place You Look and What You Want To See. Roxane's personality, which so strongly dictated the storylines of book 1 and 2, has receded into a mere parody of her former self. While previously she struck me as headstrong and resilient in spite of her troubles, in The Stories You Tell she was annoying, self-centred, and rude. Most of her interactions with the various individuals connected to disappearance of this Mackenzie seemed to follow the same formula: she poses stupid questions, makes poorly veiled accusations, and does not advance the case.
The 'story' as such is made up by scenes in which Roxane 'interrogates' various people...these dialogues were for the most part boring so much so that you could predict the way the would conclude (spoiler: nothing much would be revealed).
Then we have Roxane whining about her relationship to her deceased father, whining that her girlfriend doesn't demonstrate her love for her (and yet for Roxane it is okay to keep her gf at a distance...double standards much?), whining some more about this and that. The suspects and persons of interest were so forgettable that I kept confusing them for one another.
Roxane joined the trend of constantly dismissing the men she encounters as 'ugh those straight men', 'ugh those white men'. Let's keep in mind that I am 1) a woman 2) not straight, and yet, this constant and obvious 'haha men suck' banter was really cheap. If the story and the characterisations of these men could have conveyed that they were 'bad' good, but being told time and again 'they suck' isn't reason enough why I should dislike them.
Roxane's girlfriend is dismissed early on in the narrative and, rather predictably, she turns into
The 'twist' was both laughable and unimaginative. There are a few lines that can be found in a lot of 'domestic thriller' novels:
Roxane is made to seem this iconic woman who takes no shit from anyone but is actually unable to act like an adult or do her job properly.
With great sadness I bid this series goodbye as I won't be following Roxane's journey into mediocrity.
July 31, 2019
The Stories You Tell is part of the Roxane Weary series and is my first read by the author. I wasn't familiar with the character of Roxane, but I quickly got a feel for who she is. Roxane is not perfect, and the story only benefits from her imperfections. She drinks, is too nosy for her own good and struggles with relationships; however, she has good qualities as well. Roxane is a natural at detective work with great instincts. She loves her family and wants to protect them. She is not afraid of confrontation or its consequences. I felt both respect and sympathy for Roxane and found her relatable in many ways. Because I didn't read the series in order, I was confused about Roxane's relationship with Tom and about Tom's involvement with her father, especially her father's death. A satisfactory explanation is given but not until near the end of the story. Tom is an interesting character. He's obviously carrying a good amount of grief and guilt, but he's hard to read otherwise. Honestly, the entire dynamic between Roxane and Tom is difficult to pin down because it's just not clear how they really feel about each other. My biggest complaint about the story, though, is Roxane and Catherine. They are romantically involved, but it's an odd pairing. They are nothing alike, and by the end of the story, it's crystal clear that Catherine is nothing but a narcissistic b***h. Now, as for the actual story, it's a convoluted look into the lives of seemingly normal people, and I felt disgusted about the things people will do. There are plenty of lies, evil doings, dead ends and betrayal here. This story is also an excellent example of the unstoppable all encompassing power of social media. Roxane wonders at one point if any of this would have happened without social media. I think definitely not. The anonymity of it is too alluring. You can be anybody and do things you would never really do as yourself. The mystery here centers around an app called BusPass, like Tinder, and a missing girl. Roxane digs deep into this digital world, and the results are shocking. Is anyone who they appear to be? The Stories You Tell is a psychological thriller with an unforgettable heroine. I was on the edge of my seat until the end, and I highly recommend, especially if you like a strong female lead. It's a must read for your tbr!!
April 11, 2019
Love these. Each one better than the last. Roxanne Weary is a brilliant protagonist.
Full review to follow
Full review to follow
August 6, 2019
This one, Book 3, while not perfect, is probably the best in the series.
Thoughts to come.
Thoughts to come.
July 14, 2019
I can always count on this series to deliver some addictive entertainment. I enjoyed this a lot, but after reading a few 5-star rave reviews, I hyped myself up for it a lot and was left a tiny bit disappointed. It was still very enjoyable, just not quite as amazing as I was hoping for. Anyways, the mystery was well done, even if the story telling felt a little unfocused at times. I didn't really guess the ending, so that's always fun. Some of the characters that were involved in the mystery of the last book show up, but since it's been a long time since I read it, I couldn't really remember who they were and there wasn't really any recap info to remind me. Catherine is still the literal worst and I am Team Tom all the way. The romance aspect definitely took a backseat in this installment, though, and that was fine with me. I also always have to mention that this series is set in Columbus, which makes it extra fun, since I'm from Ohio.
July 2, 2020
I love this series! Seriously, there is something about this author that I truly enjoy. The characters are all complex and each story is intriguing. I really liked how this one revolved around a group of people as opposed to just focusing on only one. I hope there are more to come.
August 14, 2019
In the third novel of this promising series featuring P.I. Roxane Weary, Roxane is hired by her brother Andrew to discover the whereabouts of a former girlfriend of his who was working at a seedy nightclub as a D.J. Things turn serious when a couple of her colleagues also go missing. The whole mystery seems to be linked to a local dating app called BusPass and the novel explores the numerous dangers of social media in general.
On top of this, Roxane is also hired by a high-end leggings manufacturer who claims someone is producing cheap knock-off copies of her brand. Then, of course, there is Roxane's continuing on/off relationship with her partner Catherine, which definitely seems as if it's heading in the off direction.
Once again, I found Roxane's tough yet vulnerable character highly engaging and I also liked the way that Kristen Lepionka is injecting some welcome fresh air into the private eye genre.
On top of this, Roxane is also hired by a high-end leggings manufacturer who claims someone is producing cheap knock-off copies of her brand. Then, of course, there is Roxane's continuing on/off relationship with her partner Catherine, which definitely seems as if it's heading in the off direction.
Once again, I found Roxane's tough yet vulnerable character highly engaging and I also liked the way that Kristen Lepionka is injecting some welcome fresh air into the private eye genre.
August 19, 2019
There's a gritty realism about the Roxane Weary books that I really enjoy. This is the 3rd in the series with Roxane having to deal with a very complicated case which has led to her brother Michael being arrested and held in jail after a young woman disappeared following a late night visit to his apartment. It's a story that involves the dangers of social media and people who are not who they seem to be. After many twists and turns, Roxane uncovers a story of bitterness and jealousy that threatens to end in tragedy.
April 29, 2019
Welcome back, Roxane Weary! It's always a great time returning to a beloved character and Roxane is certainly one of my favorite flawed heroines! We return to our favorite PI once again finding herself enmeshed in a case due to personal factors - this time concerning her brother Andrew and a missing girl. As Roxane tries to navigate her relationship with her girlfriend, Catherine and also her feelings for Tom, her late father's partner, she remains utterly unapologetic about the person she is - one of my favorite things about her!
In The Stories You Tell, both Roxane's life and the mystery kept me completely captivated until the very end. I'm now ready for the fourth installment in this series!
Thank you to St. Martins Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
In The Stories You Tell, both Roxane's life and the mystery kept me completely captivated until the very end. I'm now ready for the fourth installment in this series!
Thank you to St. Martins Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
July 16, 2019
What. A. Ride. I definitely had to hang on while navigating all of the twists and turns in The Stories You Tell! I love Roxane (With one n!). She has a hard time with relationships but she's an excellent private investigator. Her wry observations about the world enhance the tense story with moments of levity, which makes this series fun to read - although there is plenty of serious intrigue, as well. I find Roxane to be flawed, yet utterly compelling. (I seem to be on a flawed PI/detective kick in 2019!) There was some of today's technology in this book, which made the book even more enjoyable. But back to the twists and turns. They led to a conclusion I did not see coming!! This is my favorite book of the series, so far.
May 2, 2021
I love this series. This book wasn't as hard core as the first one but I'm all in for any adventure Roxane goes on. I have over a hundred ARCs in my kindle and ADE apps to catch up but I keep ordering this series through inter-library loan because they're just such great reads.
August 15, 2021
I love this series. Roxane is a wonderful character, very real. And I'm super into this particular book for reasons I can't spoil.
July 7, 2020
I actually really like Roxane Weary mysteries. They are very well crafted and written in a way you can't get bored. Here we have another interesting plot, that starts with Roxane brother getting a night visit from an old colleague.
I love how side characters from previous books keep coming back, it is good that they are not forgotten, and they make a series something more wholesome than just random episodes. What I don't like are love triangles and here, unfortunately Roxane still struggles between two people she is or was involved with. I just hope that in the next novel she will have a stable relationship and maybe she'll be happy just for a while. The end of that installment certainly gives us hope for that.
I love how side characters from previous books keep coming back, it is good that they are not forgotten, and they make a series something more wholesome than just random episodes. What I don't like are love triangles and here, unfortunately Roxane still struggles between two people she is or was involved with. I just hope that in the next novel she will have a stable relationship and maybe she'll be happy just for a while. The end of that installment certainly gives us hope for that.
November 5, 2019
Finally a solid mystery!
July 18, 2019
Yay!! Third in the series and just as good as the first two, or maybe even better!
Roxane is back in her usual swirl of events. A missing girl, a brother in trouble, personal life falling apart, a few odd personalities hanging around, nothing clear and nothing simple... What not to like?
I love the writing style that Kristen Lepionka employs for her stories. It is not as intense at times yet it never loosens the grip.
Roxane is back in her usual swirl of events. A missing girl, a brother in trouble, personal life falling apart, a few odd personalities hanging around, nothing clear and nothing simple... What not to like?
I love the writing style that Kristen Lepionka employs for her stories. It is not as intense at times yet it never loosens the grip.
August 1, 2019
This is a series I've followed from book #1. And the ratings here lead me to believe that it was superior- their star ratings; I didn't read the whole reviews. Well for me! Nope, I liked and enjoyed this one the least of the three. Both aspects of form as a whole, and of plot direction, neither was above a 3 star read.
It's so women cat "fightish" (I know that is not a word) in all lengths. And it goes way, way too long for both the sense of the characterizations and the numbers of players AND of the reveal portions. And the further you get into the book the more frequent the swearing cascades too. At times it's just juvenile dumb. Not from people this age over such nonsense factors either. Very YA.
Maybe that's why the younger and especially the very young seem to love this one? It's just a guess. Female against female kinds of deceptions and undercuts all around? And taking out the competition or upping "better" on it?
Regardless, the tech paragraphs and so much of the Catherine ploys and intersect sections were just more and more monotonous to me. The same record (you know the vinyl kind) playing over and over again.
And the tension finding Addy? It was high during the first 1/2 and then got swallowed among all the various bad boy brother, Tom, Mickey and other tangent plots. And I didn't want to hear/ read about leggings any longer either.
This one was more like real life detective work. Wait and sit. Wait and walk. Nasty places, both personal and public. And I didn't think her teen age tenant space mate was in it at all enough on top of it. But it's a guess to know where that is going!
Regardless, I think I'm about done with Roxane. She's developed enough for interest but also way too much a "hater" type for me too. I cringe how there are always men put downs- nearly continually in each daily circuit "observations". Especially against her brother Matt or any particular person's husband or just met character. Too much put down superiority over nothing more valid than a different interest/ affect/ pursuit, IMHO. That's such a turn off. Especially within this plotting of circular redundancies that revolve around and around minutia for the middle 250 pages. With jumping topics seemingly going off for 30 or 50 pages as kinds of "side lines". Who pays for all this time and side tracks off of the search? Her (Addy's) father? He's hardly given more than 3 paragraphs in a couple of places? The proportions to this entire story as a whole are off.
It's so women cat "fightish" (I know that is not a word) in all lengths. And it goes way, way too long for both the sense of the characterizations and the numbers of players AND of the reveal portions. And the further you get into the book the more frequent the swearing cascades too. At times it's just juvenile dumb. Not from people this age over such nonsense factors either. Very YA.
Maybe that's why the younger and especially the very young seem to love this one? It's just a guess. Female against female kinds of deceptions and undercuts all around? And taking out the competition or upping "better" on it?
Regardless, the tech paragraphs and so much of the Catherine ploys and intersect sections were just more and more monotonous to me. The same record (you know the vinyl kind) playing over and over again.
And the tension finding Addy? It was high during the first 1/2 and then got swallowed among all the various bad boy brother, Tom, Mickey and other tangent plots. And I didn't want to hear/ read about leggings any longer either.
This one was more like real life detective work. Wait and sit. Wait and walk. Nasty places, both personal and public. And I didn't think her teen age tenant space mate was in it at all enough on top of it. But it's a guess to know where that is going!
Regardless, I think I'm about done with Roxane. She's developed enough for interest but also way too much a "hater" type for me too. I cringe how there are always men put downs- nearly continually in each daily circuit "observations". Especially against her brother Matt or any particular person's husband or just met character. Too much put down superiority over nothing more valid than a different interest/ affect/ pursuit, IMHO. That's such a turn off. Especially within this plotting of circular redundancies that revolve around and around minutia for the middle 250 pages. With jumping topics seemingly going off for 30 or 50 pages as kinds of "side lines". Who pays for all this time and side tracks off of the search? Her (Addy's) father? He's hardly given more than 3 paragraphs in a couple of places? The proportions to this entire story as a whole are off.
July 19, 2019
4.5 stars. I'm so envious of anyone who hasn't started this series and has the chance to discover it by binging all three books at once. I read another book on the middle of this one, not because it wasn't engaging me, but because I didn't want it to be over and to begin another year-long wait for the next one. All that to say--I love Roxane Weary with all my heart and I want more!
In this book, we find Roxane embroiled in another mystery, not for a paying client, but for her brother, after he calls her panicked on the middle of the night, when a girl disappeared after being at his house. The case is full of layers and twists, and while it wasn't my favorite mystery of the series, it kept me completely engaged.
In her personal life, Roxane is dealing with issues that arise for her brother, Andrew, as a result of the disappearance, and still experiencing some Catherine vs Tom drama (if those are the choices I'm Team Tom all the way, but I'd love to see a new love interest in future books!). I love that Roxane is fucked up, and self aware about it, and that she grows throughout the series, but at a realistically slow pace. Kristen Lepionka writes Roxane with such a clear and distinctive voice, and I just cannot stop gushing about what a fantastic character she is. I'd recommend this series to anyone who enjoys mysteries or even just loves strong, authentic female characters that make your want to root for them. Can't wait for the next book!
In this book, we find Roxane embroiled in another mystery, not for a paying client, but for her brother, after he calls her panicked on the middle of the night, when a girl disappeared after being at his house. The case is full of layers and twists, and while it wasn't my favorite mystery of the series, it kept me completely engaged.
In her personal life, Roxane is dealing with issues that arise for her brother, Andrew, as a result of the disappearance, and still experiencing some Catherine vs Tom drama (if those are the choices I'm Team Tom all the way, but I'd love to see a new love interest in future books!). I love that Roxane is fucked up, and self aware about it, and that she grows throughout the series, but at a realistically slow pace. Kristen Lepionka writes Roxane with such a clear and distinctive voice, and I just cannot stop gushing about what a fantastic character she is. I'd recommend this series to anyone who enjoys mysteries or even just loves strong, authentic female characters that make your want to root for them. Can't wait for the next book!
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