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Detective Sarah Spillman #1
Deadly Connections
For Denver Homicide detective Sarah Spillman, a secret from her past haunts each new investigation and could derail her hard-earned career.
A missing boy’s body is found in a dumpster in a seemingly idyllic Denver neighborhood, and the list of suspects includes the boy’s mother and father. Sarah barely begins her investigation when a man who lived nearby is also discovered dead, an apparent suicide.
Sarah continues to dig deeper, looking for a link between the two deaths, only to find the lies are piling up.
Everyone has secrets they don’t want exposed, and she must unravel the deadly connections between her suspects to find a killer.
A missing boy’s body is found in a dumpster in a seemingly idyllic Denver neighborhood, and the list of suspects includes the boy’s mother and father. Sarah barely begins her investigation when a man who lived nearby is also discovered dead, an apparent suicide.
Sarah continues to dig deeper, looking for a link between the two deaths, only to find the lies are piling up.
Everyone has secrets they don’t want exposed, and she must unravel the deadly connections between her suspects to find a killer.
312 pages, ebook
First published August 5, 2020
3296 people are currently reading
887 people want to read
About the author
Renee Pawlish
113 books346 followersFrom the time she was ten and tried to write her own detective series in the fashion of the Hardy Boys, Renée Pawlish has been developing her craft. Along with creative writing classes, Renée studied great writers like Dashiell Hammett, Rex Stout, Stephen King, Sue Grafton and many more. Once Renée graduated from college, she began her first novel. Now, all these years later, she has penned numerous books in a variety of genres.
Renée was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she's not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers. She also has some middle grade novels waiting to be published.
Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents' cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.
The Reed Ferguson Mystery Series
This Doesn't Happen In The Movies
Reel Estate Rip-off
The Nephilim Trilogy
Nephilim Genesis of Evil
Books Two and Three soon to be released
The Noah Winter YA Adventure Series
The Emerald Quest
Take Five
A short story collection that includes a Reed Ferguson tale.
The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within
A non-fiction book about one of the most haunted houses in America.
To learn more you can follow her on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/reneepawlish....
on her blog:
http://tobecomeawriter.wordpress.com/
on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/reneepawlish
Renée was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she's not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers. She also has some middle grade novels waiting to be published.
Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents' cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.
The Reed Ferguson Mystery Series
This Doesn't Happen In The Movies
Reel Estate Rip-off
The Nephilim Trilogy
Nephilim Genesis of Evil
Books Two and Three soon to be released
The Noah Winter YA Adventure Series
The Emerald Quest
Take Five
A short story collection that includes a Reed Ferguson tale.
The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within
A non-fiction book about one of the most haunted houses in America.
To learn more you can follow her on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/reneepawlish....
on her blog:
http://tobecomeawriter.wordpress.com/
on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/reneepawlish
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
July 18, 2022
Well, y’all, this was quite a ridiculous read. One or more of this author’s friends/beta readers/ editors ought to be ashamed of themselves for greenlighting this project.
Never have I ever read such a derivative, awkwardly written and poorly plotted excuse for a police procedural.
Rife with shallow characters, editing gaffs and tropes and cliches that are as careworn as they are irritating, Rene Pawlish’s Deadly Connections tops the list of some of the worst police procedurals I’ve ever read.
The book is dry, moves painfully slow and is almost completely devoid of tension.
There are huge, sticky piles of telling where showing would be more appropriate. Add to that the strings of random and insignificant details (do we really need to know how Sarah gets dressed and/or eats her Wendy’s?) and you’ve got what probably amounts to 50 pages of padding. Apparently, no one told the author how to build scenes or craft natural transitions.
To continue, I spent so much time cringing in vicarious embarrassment at all of the awkward dialogue and continuity errors that I could hardly concentrate on what was supposed to be happening.
LOL! Characters made references to other characters they knew, only to have Sarah introduce them by first and last name within a matter of seconds!
Example: one of the mothers Sarah questions advises her that she hasn’t told her child about a neighbor’s apparent suicide. They take seats seconds later and Sarah is introducing this person to this mother by first and last name! LOL!
Even worse than that were all of the obvious statements (I asked him again because I thought he was lying). And of course, no one needs to be told that being spotted while surveilling a suspect is a bad thing.
Oh, and remember what I said about random and insignificant details? Well, the details you might, correction, should expect, particularly from a freshman installment of a series, are conspicuously absent. There aren’t physical descriptions of the protagonist or the world in which she moves. We don’t know her build or stature (these things are critical to helping readers understand the package the protagonist presents in the field as a cop) or whether or not she elects to exude or eschew traditional femininity. These details can contribute to readers’ expectations. For example, what is the difference between the kind-faced petite blonde who rocks heels and sundresses on the job and to the muscular brunette standing at six feet and rocking a serious face, jeans, boots and a scoop neck T shirt?
And what is Denver like? We’re told this is Denver but there is no feel for the rhythm or topography of the town. We’re told nothing about what the communities comprising this city are like. What distinguishes this setting from Anywhere USA?
As for the protagonist herself, at times I found myself wishing we were dealing with J. D. Robb’s Eve Dallas, someone who wouldn’t let suspects get away with stonewalling and outright lying. Sarah knows the person is lying but doesn’t push, doesn’t probe and has zero experience in extracting truth. She is kind and accommodating to murder suspects and manages to validate many of the biggest reasons people scoff at women on the force.
As for the tropes and cliches, we’ve got butthurt, highhanded and overprotective male colleagues, parental love interests and “I’m a woman in a time-consuming field who is wracked with guilt over not being there for my man and family” wangst. Top all that off with the requisite and very, very typical and yawn-worthy “dark past” and you’ve got little more than a pastiche of female cop protagonists trying and failing to compete.
And yeah, it’s very, very hard to find a well-written, female-led police procedural that doesn’t remind readers that womanhood and physical/sexual/emotional vulnerability are mutually inclusive concepts. That said, even the better written ones that reiterate this "universal truth" make some attempt at originality.
Ultimately, this was very poorly done, and I strongly encourage skipping this one in favor of something, anything else. Two stars.
Never have I ever read such a derivative, awkwardly written and poorly plotted excuse for a police procedural.
Rife with shallow characters, editing gaffs and tropes and cliches that are as careworn as they are irritating, Rene Pawlish’s Deadly Connections tops the list of some of the worst police procedurals I’ve ever read.
The book is dry, moves painfully slow and is almost completely devoid of tension.
There are huge, sticky piles of telling where showing would be more appropriate. Add to that the strings of random and insignificant details (do we really need to know how Sarah gets dressed and/or eats her Wendy’s?) and you’ve got what probably amounts to 50 pages of padding. Apparently, no one told the author how to build scenes or craft natural transitions.
To continue, I spent so much time cringing in vicarious embarrassment at all of the awkward dialogue and continuity errors that I could hardly concentrate on what was supposed to be happening.
LOL! Characters made references to other characters they knew, only to have Sarah introduce them by first and last name within a matter of seconds!
Example: one of the mothers Sarah questions advises her that she hasn’t told her child about a neighbor’s apparent suicide. They take seats seconds later and Sarah is introducing this person to this mother by first and last name! LOL!
Even worse than that were all of the obvious statements (I asked him again because I thought he was lying). And of course, no one needs to be told that being spotted while surveilling a suspect is a bad thing.
Oh, and remember what I said about random and insignificant details? Well, the details you might, correction, should expect, particularly from a freshman installment of a series, are conspicuously absent. There aren’t physical descriptions of the protagonist or the world in which she moves. We don’t know her build or stature (these things are critical to helping readers understand the package the protagonist presents in the field as a cop) or whether or not she elects to exude or eschew traditional femininity. These details can contribute to readers’ expectations. For example, what is the difference between the kind-faced petite blonde who rocks heels and sundresses on the job and to the muscular brunette standing at six feet and rocking a serious face, jeans, boots and a scoop neck T shirt?
And what is Denver like? We’re told this is Denver but there is no feel for the rhythm or topography of the town. We’re told nothing about what the communities comprising this city are like. What distinguishes this setting from Anywhere USA?
As for the protagonist herself, at times I found myself wishing we were dealing with J. D. Robb’s Eve Dallas, someone who wouldn’t let suspects get away with stonewalling and outright lying. Sarah knows the person is lying but doesn’t push, doesn’t probe and has zero experience in extracting truth. She is kind and accommodating to murder suspects and manages to validate many of the biggest reasons people scoff at women on the force.
As for the tropes and cliches, we’ve got butthurt, highhanded and overprotective male colleagues, parental love interests and “I’m a woman in a time-consuming field who is wracked with guilt over not being there for my man and family” wangst. Top all that off with the requisite and very, very typical and yawn-worthy “dark past” and you’ve got little more than a pastiche of female cop protagonists trying and failing to compete.
And yeah, it’s very, very hard to find a well-written, female-led police procedural that doesn’t remind readers that womanhood and physical/sexual/emotional vulnerability are mutually inclusive concepts. That said, even the better written ones that reiterate this "universal truth" make some attempt at originality.
Ultimately, this was very poorly done, and I strongly encourage skipping this one in favor of something, anything else. Two stars.
March 5, 2021
Called this a day at 34% so gave it a fair crack. It's written in quite a peculiar way and it just gave me the hump in the end.
She gave us 2 policemen called Spats and Flatts which annoyed me for starters. But these strange passages or lines....'"You don't know of anyone who would want to hurt him ?"
"He's....was, just a little boy." The words came out in a stutter. "Now ?" she said after a long pause.' I mean, what was that final line all about ??? Again with, "He works as a photographer, both with a small company in Wheat Ridge that contracts with a lot of the schools in the Metro area." AND ?? Then Sarah left to attend the scene of another dead body and upon her return her partner at the police station says, "You're serious ? When you left here, I didn't believe it." Why not ? That was a nonsensical thing to say as why would she make it up ??
She also did that thing where she wrote as they spoke, "If this hadn't of happened" then we were told twice in a couple of pages that Terrell heard a car backfire and then that there were photos on a fridge.
Quite strangely too is she didn't refer to Sarah's chap till we were 25% in.......and then just as some sort of afterthought. Then in a murder investigation Sarah kept asking if people had noticed if either parent had a drinking problem apropos of nothing !!
I got to a passage where the second dead body had been found and the police were going to visit a girl who'd been a witness in the first body's investigation and the mother said to the police, "I heard that Ivan killed himself but Bev doesn't know." There was no reason she should or why she would care-she didn't know him !! It was pretty bonkers and just aggravated me, I'm afraid.
There weren't many mistakes, just a misplaced comma I spotted which was good going but the baffling parts just wore me down.
She gave us 2 policemen called Spats and Flatts which annoyed me for starters. But these strange passages or lines....'"You don't know of anyone who would want to hurt him ?"
"He's....was, just a little boy." The words came out in a stutter. "Now ?" she said after a long pause.' I mean, what was that final line all about ??? Again with, "He works as a photographer, both with a small company in Wheat Ridge that contracts with a lot of the schools in the Metro area." AND ?? Then Sarah left to attend the scene of another dead body and upon her return her partner at the police station says, "You're serious ? When you left here, I didn't believe it." Why not ? That was a nonsensical thing to say as why would she make it up ??
She also did that thing where she wrote as they spoke, "If this hadn't of happened" then we were told twice in a couple of pages that Terrell heard a car backfire and then that there were photos on a fridge.
Quite strangely too is she didn't refer to Sarah's chap till we were 25% in.......and then just as some sort of afterthought. Then in a murder investigation Sarah kept asking if people had noticed if either parent had a drinking problem apropos of nothing !!
I got to a passage where the second dead body had been found and the police were going to visit a girl who'd been a witness in the first body's investigation and the mother said to the police, "I heard that Ivan killed himself but Bev doesn't know." There was no reason she should or why she would care-she didn't know him !! It was pretty bonkers and just aggravated me, I'm afraid.
There weren't many mistakes, just a misplaced comma I spotted which was good going but the baffling parts just wore me down.
October 8, 2020
A boring police procedural
I enjoyed several of the author's earlier books featuring detective Reed Ferguson. But this one attempts to feature a different protagonist---a female cop named Sarah Spillman. The book is a disaster. Pawlish assumes that we have read all her earlier books and are already familiar with the new lead character, who had a secondary role in the Ferguson stories. So there is no characterization of Spillman until we are well into the book. We don't even learn her name until the middle of the first chapter (which is really the second chapter because there is a prologue), and then we only get her surname. So the first few chapters are very confusing until the author gets into the groove. But then we just have a routine police procedural about a good detective. This is not a thriller or mystery, and there are no rogue cops, no humor, no twists and no surprise ending. We don't get to meet the perpetrator until just before the big reveal---so perhaps that could be called a "surprise ending".
To add to the confusion at the beginning of the book, the writing was really sloppy. For example, one whole paragraph (shown below) contained a multitude of unidentified pronouns that made it difficult to figure out who was doing what to whom:
He shook his head. “Nothing so far. We’re getting pictures and video.” He shrugged. He’s about thirty, but looks ten years younger. He’s good at his job, though, and he’d alert me if he found anything significant.
Though I enjoyed Pawlish's earlier books, I hated this one. And I don't think I'll be buying any more.
I enjoyed several of the author's earlier books featuring detective Reed Ferguson. But this one attempts to feature a different protagonist---a female cop named Sarah Spillman. The book is a disaster. Pawlish assumes that we have read all her earlier books and are already familiar with the new lead character, who had a secondary role in the Ferguson stories. So there is no characterization of Spillman until we are well into the book. We don't even learn her name until the middle of the first chapter (which is really the second chapter because there is a prologue), and then we only get her surname. So the first few chapters are very confusing until the author gets into the groove. But then we just have a routine police procedural about a good detective. This is not a thriller or mystery, and there are no rogue cops, no humor, no twists and no surprise ending. We don't get to meet the perpetrator until just before the big reveal---so perhaps that could be called a "surprise ending".
To add to the confusion at the beginning of the book, the writing was really sloppy. For example, one whole paragraph (shown below) contained a multitude of unidentified pronouns that made it difficult to figure out who was doing what to whom:
He shook his head. “Nothing so far. We’re getting pictures and video.” He shrugged. He’s about thirty, but looks ten years younger. He’s good at his job, though, and he’d alert me if he found anything significant.
Though I enjoyed Pawlish's earlier books, I hated this one. And I don't think I'll be buying any more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2020
This book marks a new series for Renee Pawlish featuring Sarah Spillman, the Denver police detective in the Reed Ferguson series. It's nice to get to know this character better and find out a bit more about her personal life as well as professional.
What an intriguing début. An eight year-old boy is missing, but there's no ransom demand. Is either of the parents, who are divorced, involved? Tragically, the child's body is discovered in a dumpster a few days later. There are a few more possibilities added to the suspect list. Spillman works the case through to a surprising conclusion.
Pawlish handles a couple of sensitive issues extremely well. I greatly admire her as an author who can deal with topics in a manner that presents a gripping mystery and sticks to the story. There is no graphic violence, sex or bad language, but this is definitely not a fluffy romance tied up with cookies and puppies and a slight puzzle thrown in. I realize there is a segment of readers who enjoy that type of reading, and I'm not criticizing that, but "cozy mystery" is too broad for a category that does not throw in blatant sex and a foul mouth to represent a strong woman detective. Spillman comes across as a good detective on her own merits, who doesn't have to belittle her colleagues to hold her own. She is intelligent and stays focused on the case at hand, but she's also very real with hints at issues from her past that will hopefully be revealed in coming books so the reader will know and understand her better.
I am excited about this new series as I am already a fan of the other two mystery series, especially Dewey Webb. I look forward to more books featuring Sarah Spillman and highly recommend this one. I just wish Ms. Pawlish could write as fast as I can read.
What an intriguing début. An eight year-old boy is missing, but there's no ransom demand. Is either of the parents, who are divorced, involved? Tragically, the child's body is discovered in a dumpster a few days later. There are a few more possibilities added to the suspect list. Spillman works the case through to a surprising conclusion.
Pawlish handles a couple of sensitive issues extremely well. I greatly admire her as an author who can deal with topics in a manner that presents a gripping mystery and sticks to the story. There is no graphic violence, sex or bad language, but this is definitely not a fluffy romance tied up with cookies and puppies and a slight puzzle thrown in. I realize there is a segment of readers who enjoy that type of reading, and I'm not criticizing that, but "cozy mystery" is too broad for a category that does not throw in blatant sex and a foul mouth to represent a strong woman detective. Spillman comes across as a good detective on her own merits, who doesn't have to belittle her colleagues to hold her own. She is intelligent and stays focused on the case at hand, but she's also very real with hints at issues from her past that will hopefully be revealed in coming books so the reader will know and understand her better.
I am excited about this new series as I am already a fan of the other two mystery series, especially Dewey Webb. I look forward to more books featuring Sarah Spillman and highly recommend this one. I just wish Ms. Pawlish could write as fast as I can read.
August 6, 2020
Deadly Connections (Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series Book 1), my forty-first read from author Renee Pawlish and the first in the Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series. Detective Spillman finally gets her due in her first full-length police procedural book. I read it in just a few hours. Great characters, great storyline, a must-read! Yeah, it is that good! I'm a character reader, I get into the characters, their story, who/what they are, why they do the things they do. I received an advance reader copy of this book from the author, Pawlish absolutely crushes this one. Move over Reed Ferguson Sarah Spillman has hit the big time. A Renee Pawlish book is like a visit with an old friend. I was given a Kindle copy of this book & am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. I look forward to the next book in this series when it's published. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
August 11, 2020
Ok, but slow reading
I live the Reed Ferguson series and have read every one of them. I enjoyed Sarah Spillman as a character in them. But this one was rather dry and slow.
I live the Reed Ferguson series and have read every one of them. I enjoyed Sarah Spillman as a character in them. But this one was rather dry and slow.
March 21, 2021
A unique story of kidnapping, murder and suicide with an intriguing twist at the end.
Pawlish creates mystery and interest from the get go by having us see what is happening through the victim's eyes only. Then she keeps presenting different ways the deadly deeds could have been done and potential evil doers. For this genre it is well done and keeps you turning pages.
Pawlish creates mystery and interest from the get go by having us see what is happening through the victim's eyes only. Then she keeps presenting different ways the deadly deeds could have been done and potential evil doers. For this genre it is well done and keeps you turning pages.
January 8, 2022
Nicely written detective novel involving a female detective and a missing boy who turns up dead in a dumpster. The book hints at something Detective Spillman did in her past to cover up for her sister, something that could end her career, but that secret stays a secret in this first of a series.
I've enjoyed two other series by Renee Pawlish, Reed Ferguson and Dewey Webb. This one looks promising, too.
I've enjoyed two other series by Renee Pawlish, Reed Ferguson and Dewey Webb. This one looks promising, too.
March 1, 2021
Not bad, but....
This is the first book that Pawlish has slated for her protagonist "Sarah Spillman," but after reading but through I'm not so sure it will enjoy the extended success of her Dewey Webb series. Written in the first person, it took about a third of the book to figure out that the protagonist was a woman! Never mind that the novel says it's a "Detective Sarah Skillman Mystery," there was nothing early on to indicate her sex. To be fair, that first third was devoted to the plot: a boys has been kidnapped, is killed when trying to escape and his body is found, and Silverman investigates. Then another body is found - a single adult male - who appears to be a suicide and has connections to the boy.
Perhaps I'm used to too many other authors' who have written female detectives who always seem to remark on how they get treated differently as women on a police force, but Sarah seems to lack what I consider a woman's point of view. For most of the book, the narrator could have been a man of a woman from the tone. As a matter of fact, it took reading the two chapter preview of the next book to realize that was missing. It was as if a switch had been thrown and a light came on! Sarah was a woman in a relationship, with a family and a past and issues beyond finding out who done it.
As for the mystery - Pawlish set out to write a good one and there she succeeded. Lots of parts and pieces to the puzzle, and all of Sarah's fellow cops have pieced together a narrative that doesn't quite fit after a second boy disappears. The reader knows they don't know as Pawlish drops in vignettes written from the Miller's point of view. The fellow cops don't really stand out as individuals with distinct personalities, but one would think that's coming in future books.
I actually think this deserves another half star and I'm not sure how to be the software to give a half star. It's a solid story, and I guess the protagonist isn't one that appeals to my penchant for kick-butt heroes. At least not from what I've seen in the first of a series.
This is the first book that Pawlish has slated for her protagonist "Sarah Spillman," but after reading but through I'm not so sure it will enjoy the extended success of her Dewey Webb series. Written in the first person, it took about a third of the book to figure out that the protagonist was a woman! Never mind that the novel says it's a "Detective Sarah Skillman Mystery," there was nothing early on to indicate her sex. To be fair, that first third was devoted to the plot: a boys has been kidnapped, is killed when trying to escape and his body is found, and Silverman investigates. Then another body is found - a single adult male - who appears to be a suicide and has connections to the boy.
Perhaps I'm used to too many other authors' who have written female detectives who always seem to remark on how they get treated differently as women on a police force, but Sarah seems to lack what I consider a woman's point of view. For most of the book, the narrator could have been a man of a woman from the tone. As a matter of fact, it took reading the two chapter preview of the next book to realize that was missing. It was as if a switch had been thrown and a light came on! Sarah was a woman in a relationship, with a family and a past and issues beyond finding out who done it.
As for the mystery - Pawlish set out to write a good one and there she succeeded. Lots of parts and pieces to the puzzle, and all of Sarah's fellow cops have pieced together a narrative that doesn't quite fit after a second boy disappears. The reader knows they don't know as Pawlish drops in vignettes written from the Miller's point of view. The fellow cops don't really stand out as individuals with distinct personalities, but one would think that's coming in future books.
I actually think this deserves another half star and I'm not sure how to be the software to give a half star. It's a solid story, and I guess the protagonist isn't one that appeals to my penchant for kick-butt heroes. At least not from what I've seen in the first of a series.
April 1, 2025
Denver detective Sarah Spillman catches the case of a missing boy found dead in a dumpster. Then another boy disappears, and a school photographer is found dead of a possibly self-inflicted gunshot to the head. The dead boy’s parents, going through an ugly divorce, are suspects, as is the dead photographer. Add in a possible connection to a local militia, and Spillman has her hands full, especially since several of the prime persons of interest aren’t being truthful.
I have read some of the author’s other work and liked it, but this series was new to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sarah is a strong female character, with good instincts, good communication skills, and a dogged pursuit of the truth. She’s not easily intimidated, which is a good thing, particularly when she takes stupid chances. (Normally stupid chance taking really irritates me, but I like this character enough that I’m willing to overlook it). The writing is clean, the dialogue crisp, and the violence is off-screen. The author does a good job of keeping up the tension. I will read more in this series.
The author also writes the Reed Ferguson mysteries, a mix of cozy/traditional PI which feature a wisecracking, movie enjoying detective (highly recommend).
I have read some of the author’s other work and liked it, but this series was new to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sarah is a strong female character, with good instincts, good communication skills, and a dogged pursuit of the truth. She’s not easily intimidated, which is a good thing, particularly when she takes stupid chances. (Normally stupid chance taking really irritates me, but I like this character enough that I’m willing to overlook it). The writing is clean, the dialogue crisp, and the violence is off-screen. The author does a good job of keeping up the tension. I will read more in this series.
The author also writes the Reed Ferguson mysteries, a mix of cozy/traditional PI which feature a wisecracking, movie enjoying detective (highly recommend).
August 9, 2020
Detective Sarah Spillman has been one of my favorite characters - although not a major one - in Renée Pawlish's very popular Reed Ferguson series. I was delighted to see that Spillman was getting her own story told. This story begins with the body of a young boy being found in a dumpster. He had been missing for several days. When a man who lived near the dumpster where the body was found apparently committed suicide, Sarah found that he was loosely connected to the boy. WHen another young boy is abducted from the same neighborhood, Spillman is really under pressure to solve this case before they find another body. With all her books, Pawlish gives you many twists and turns and really keeps the reader guessing. You don't have to read the Reed Ferguson series first, but I suggest you do check it out. She also makes her characters flawed and totally believable. I recommend this book and this author very highly
February 20, 2021
A good intro to a new series and author
At least I hope the rest of the series is as good as the first and the author is consistent in her other series.
The protagonist Detective Sarah
Spillman took some chapters
to warm up to. To me she jumped to conclusions with
very little
reason, but I guess it could be the cop gut instinct thing.
There were several ‘clues’ that those gut instincts were not going to pan out, if they did than it would have been made it a much less good read.
I’ll read the next ‘Deadly Invasion’ and hopefully it won’t take a turn for the worse. It seems of then when I give praise for a book, being clean of sex, vulgar langue, gore and other turn offs the next book is a complete opposite.😝
Renee Pawlish has a couple of other series worth checking out Reed Ferguson Mysteries a d Dewy Webb Historical Mysteries. If all her books are on par with Deadly Connections I’ll have good number of good reads, coming my way 🤓
At least I hope the rest of the series is as good as the first and the author is consistent in her other series.
The protagonist Detective Sarah
Spillman took some chapters
to warm up to. To me she jumped to conclusions with
very little
reason, but I guess it could be the cop gut instinct thing.
There were several ‘clues’ that those gut instincts were not going to pan out, if they did than it would have been made it a much less good read.
I’ll read the next ‘Deadly Invasion’ and hopefully it won’t take a turn for the worse. It seems of then when I give praise for a book, being clean of sex, vulgar langue, gore and other turn offs the next book is a complete opposite.😝
Renee Pawlish has a couple of other series worth checking out Reed Ferguson Mysteries a d Dewy Webb Historical Mysteries. If all her books are on par with Deadly Connections I’ll have good number of good reads, coming my way 🤓
October 21, 2020
I love, love, love, loved this book!!!!
10++++++stars!!!!
While i read this book, i thought i had it figured out about 6 or 7 times.
Sarah had a mess to figure out and so many stories and motives to go with them. I like the guys in her unit, her boss Rizzo sounds so cool!!!!
Sarah, Spats and Ernie and Lara the computer geek did an excellent job digging out info and the amount of people they had to question was crazy.
Sarah got involved with this investigation (like a dog with a bone).
I also like her man Harry, that tries to keep her healthy and sane when she gets deep in her work.
This story was kind of hard to read, but the more i read i had to find out how it was going to come out.
I almost had it figured in chapter 36.
I am not going to say what this book is about, because you have to experience for yourself.
YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!
10++++++stars!!!!
While i read this book, i thought i had it figured out about 6 or 7 times.
Sarah had a mess to figure out and so many stories and motives to go with them. I like the guys in her unit, her boss Rizzo sounds so cool!!!!
Sarah, Spats and Ernie and Lara the computer geek did an excellent job digging out info and the amount of people they had to question was crazy.
Sarah got involved with this investigation (like a dog with a bone).
I also like her man Harry, that tries to keep her healthy and sane when she gets deep in her work.
This story was kind of hard to read, but the more i read i had to find out how it was going to come out.
I almost had it figured in chapter 36.
I am not going to say what this book is about, because you have to experience for yourself.
YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!
September 21, 2021
I wasn't aware this was a character from a previous series. Maybe it's better if you're a fan but it most definitely doesn't stand on its own.
The characters were bland and indistinguishable. The main character constantly hints at her deep secret past but I honestly just didn't care. Because forget her deep past - I don't know anything about her at all.
The mystery itself is a mess. There's militia groups and pedophiles and abusive parents and none of it really leads anywhere. I get that the author is trying to make the crime complex but there's complex and there's disaster and unfortunately this one falls under disaster.
I finished but I was counting pages. I love a good female detective but I don't think this will be a series I continue with. 1.5 stars.
The characters were bland and indistinguishable. The main character constantly hints at her deep secret past but I honestly just didn't care. Because forget her deep past - I don't know anything about her at all.
The mystery itself is a mess. There's militia groups and pedophiles and abusive parents and none of it really leads anywhere. I get that the author is trying to make the crime complex but there's complex and there's disaster and unfortunately this one falls under disaster.
I finished but I was counting pages. I love a good female detective but I don't think this will be a series I continue with. 1.5 stars.
March 5, 2023
Plenty of red herrings!!
This story line has quite a few leads, most circling back to the main crime theme of the book. There are so many threads woven throughout, I had to back up a couple times to refresh who was which! I appreciate the police teamwork rather than the current trend of 1970's women's rights, or the sex discrimination and foul language. Whodunnit is certainly a surprise. My biggest criticism would have to be in grammar usage,a pet peeve. Sit/sat vs set is simple to get right but so many misuse these as interchangeable. Just use basic 4th grade grammar. Otherwise there were very few grammatical errors, which generally jump out at me. I look forward to reading more from Renee Pawlish.
This story line has quite a few leads, most circling back to the main crime theme of the book. There are so many threads woven throughout, I had to back up a couple times to refresh who was which! I appreciate the police teamwork rather than the current trend of 1970's women's rights, or the sex discrimination and foul language. Whodunnit is certainly a surprise. My biggest criticism would have to be in grammar usage,a pet peeve. Sit/sat vs set is simple to get right but so many misuse these as interchangeable. Just use basic 4th grade grammar. Otherwise there were very few grammatical errors, which generally jump out at me. I look forward to reading more from Renee Pawlish.
September 2, 2023
A young boy goes missing them found I’m a dumpster. The parents are on the suspect list. A man is found dead near the crime scene. Is it coincidental or does it have something to do with the young boys murder? Detective Sarah Spillman is the the investigator and she will not stop working until she finds out what happens to the young child.
I enjoyed this book. It was a slow read and I have it four starts because I felt as if it took too long to get to the point lol. Too much time was spent on characters that had nothing to do with the investigation at all but I did like this book overall. It gives you insight into how an investigation of a crime can start slow, with no leads and work how to try to put the pieces together.
I enjoyed this book. It was a slow read and I have it four starts because I felt as if it took too long to get to the point lol. Too much time was spent on characters that had nothing to do with the investigation at all but I did like this book overall. It gives you insight into how an investigation of a crime can start slow, with no leads and work how to try to put the pieces together.
August 17, 2020
Great debut of a new detective!
This is a homicide detective that you need to keep your eyes on. Sarah Spillman is a great detective dealing with bad guys (and girls) in Colorado. She has family issues, but tries to avoid them. Crime? She meets head-on. This introduction to Spillman and her crew is a whooper. A young boy is missing and there are no accurate clues found. Then the worse happens and there seems to be nothing but false leads. More bloodshed and another kidnapping for Spillman. A chance occurrence leads to the solution of the crimes. WOW!! I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one.
This is a homicide detective that you need to keep your eyes on. Sarah Spillman is a great detective dealing with bad guys (and girls) in Colorado. She has family issues, but tries to avoid them. Crime? She meets head-on. This introduction to Spillman and her crew is a whooper. A young boy is missing and there are no accurate clues found. Then the worse happens and there seems to be nothing but false leads. More bloodshed and another kidnapping for Spillman. A chance occurrence leads to the solution of the crimes. WOW!! I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one.
August 18, 2020
Detective Spillman gets her own series and I'm thrilled! She has been featured all throughout Ms. Pawlish's Reed Ferguson series as they crossed paths on his cases. She quickly became one of my favorite characters in his books.
In this new series we see a new twist in Renee's writing and its quite delicious... Sarah's story is somewhat more dark, gritty and hard, so the new characters and world building were a joy to read as it all unfolded.
Her skilled writing in the this dark mystery had me intrigued and reading late into the night. I've read all of her books and this book has highlighted a hidden talent that I can't wait to read more of.
In this new series we see a new twist in Renee's writing and its quite delicious... Sarah's story is somewhat more dark, gritty and hard, so the new characters and world building were a joy to read as it all unfolded.
Her skilled writing in the this dark mystery had me intrigued and reading late into the night. I've read all of her books and this book has highlighted a hidden talent that I can't wait to read more of.
September 8, 2020
Really good mystery.
One thing that was off and annoyed me was when they had someone that they were interested in talking with in regards to the disappearance of the boy, they never ran the license plate of the man that could have had information. Sarah followed the guy and watched him but it never occurred to her to run a plate to figure out his name or maybe who owned the vehicle. The same thing with a police officer that was railing him while in the gun range.
Other than that it was a good storyline. Characters that were believable. It definitely wasn’t a cliffhanger but the story could continue somewhere with the part of the anti-government groups that the suspects belonged to.
One thing that was off and annoyed me was when they had someone that they were interested in talking with in regards to the disappearance of the boy, they never ran the license plate of the man that could have had information. Sarah followed the guy and watched him but it never occurred to her to run a plate to figure out his name or maybe who owned the vehicle. The same thing with a police officer that was railing him while in the gun range.
Other than that it was a good storyline. Characters that were believable. It definitely wasn’t a cliffhanger but the story could continue somewhere with the part of the anti-government groups that the suspects belonged to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2021
Not a bad police procedural for $.99. A solid story but nothing unusual or too exciting. Det. Sarah Spillman, the main character, is drawn vaguely as a basic homicide detective who has caught a missing child case that turns into a homicide investigation. The remainder of the book details the ensuing investigation with a fair amount of thoroughness that became a little more tedious than it was enticing. It was enough to finish reading the book but not enough for me to want to read any more books in the series.
February 14, 2021
I've never read anything else by Renee Pawlish and at first I thought I was in for a very poorly written. The first chapter was confusing and sloppy, and since when is the next of kin not required to identify the body, no matter how sure the police are? The story did pick up, but the relationship between the 3 detectives was a bit messy. Was Sarah in charge or was it each doing their own thing and just hoping it would all come together? There was a lot of talk about militia groups, but in the end that had no bearing on the outcome at all. About 2.5 stars.
June 4, 2021
Giant plot holes. If you can strain to suspend reality then you may enjoy this book - obviously many people can - but I found the contradictions of what real life would be like too distracting to be entertaining. It starts on page one: she's called to a body of a child found in a dumpster and somehow she is the first of all the people at the scene to identify him as a boy who went missing a few days ago. Nope! A missing kid and a found body - any cop would have made the connection. And it just goes on from there.
June 19, 2021
I have read other Series written by Renee. So far this was somewhat disappointing. She was pretty terrible at her job by
Bullying Gary and his friends. Absolutely no finesse to get answers, by portraying compassion, empathy, and logic. She just poked at everyone involved. I did not appreciate her political jabs. I don’t think that other series was petty, and had more class about relationships between she and Harry. Also, disrespecting her team most of the time was not impressive at all. Hope next book in series is much better.
Bullying Gary and his friends. Absolutely no finesse to get answers, by portraying compassion, empathy, and logic. She just poked at everyone involved. I did not appreciate her political jabs. I don’t think that other series was petty, and had more class about relationships between she and Harry. Also, disrespecting her team most of the time was not impressive at all. Hope next book in series is much better.
August 5, 2020
A (not) new detective is in town
This story takes a minor character from tne Reed Furgeson stories and gives them a chance to shine. And she does.
The story takes on child abduction as an issue, so do not expect a feel-good story. It is an excellent analysis of how police detectives persue a case and the difficulties they encounter.
I enjoyed the story and think you will, too.
This story takes a minor character from tne Reed Furgeson stories and gives them a chance to shine. And she does.
The story takes on child abduction as an issue, so do not expect a feel-good story. It is an excellent analysis of how police detectives persue a case and the difficulties they encounter.
I enjoyed the story and think you will, too.
August 5, 2020
Dedicated police detective Sarah Spillman (formerly from the Reed Ferguson mysteries) has her own series. She's a tough cop who tirelessly works to get to the bottom of a nasty murder of a young child.
With twists and turns, it becomes impossible to predict how everything will turn out! One of those books you want to race to the end, but really don't want to have it be over.
Interesting to see a minor character developed into a commanding main character.
With twists and turns, it becomes impossible to predict how everything will turn out! One of those books you want to race to the end, but really don't want to have it be over.
Interesting to see a minor character developed into a commanding main character.
August 11, 2020
this was a new author to me and I am pleased to say its one that I will be returning to. in this new series we learn more about Detective Sarah Spillman's character. Renee has a lovely way of introducing her characters and the plot flows really easily that you get caught up with the story and don't want to put it down.
we get involved with a child's murder and join the Denver police department in the mystery surrounding the death and I can't wait for book 2!
we get involved with a child's murder and join the Denver police department in the mystery surrounding the death and I can't wait for book 2!
August 19, 2020
Interesting start to new series
I enjoyed Renee's Reed Ferguson series and tries her new Sarah Spillman book. It was good but I missed the humor from the Earle's series. She also doesn't share a lot of Sarah's earlier life. Something happened between her and her older sister that is referenced several times UT never fully disclosed. She seems to be saving that for another book. All in all not a bad bok but not a five star either.
I enjoyed Renee's Reed Ferguson series and tries her new Sarah Spillman book. It was good but I missed the humor from the Earle's series. She also doesn't share a lot of Sarah's earlier life. Something happened between her and her older sister that is referenced several times UT never fully disclosed. She seems to be saving that for another book. All in all not a bad bok but not a five star either.
January 23, 2021
Solid
A determined detective is on the case of a missing then murdered child. When a local photographer seemingly commits suicide it seems like the case will be closed. But Sarah did not make detective by being lazy. This case takes her to a twisted reality that may just cost her her life.
This was a good novel. It is taut and suspenseful and unfolds believably. Could have lived without all the right wing/,militia minutiae but overall a solid police procedural.
A determined detective is on the case of a missing then murdered child. When a local photographer seemingly commits suicide it seems like the case will be closed. But Sarah did not make detective by being lazy. This case takes her to a twisted reality that may just cost her her life.
This was a good novel. It is taut and suspenseful and unfolds believably. Could have lived without all the right wing/,militia minutiae but overall a solid police procedural.
January 30, 2021
Detective Spillman makes quick assumptions about people that border on harassment in her quest to find the guilty party. The information she gathers eventually comes around to assist in her solving the crime but how she digs this stuff up is rather interesting. The damage she does to peoples reputations is questionable. In her process she discovers other potential crimes but they go on with no resolution or follow up.
In any case a good tead
In any case a good tead
February 5, 2021
I guess I liked this, but it is filled with very familiar tropes: the woman who is dedicated to her job and unable to commit to her totally supportive partner (ie gender bending stereotypes, oh my), the woman who insists on putting herself into dangerous situations without backup (bad policing which is supposedly heroic), and the suspecting everyone, even when there is no real reason to. Oh my indeed. But an easy read and I did not guess the culprit until close to the reveal.
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