Another winner from Karen Rose...

This book is part of Rose's Baltimore series. It begins with attorney Thomas Thorne being found in bed with a murdered woman, both on high quantities of drugs and the woman carved up. Thorne, who has been accused and tried for murder in the past but was acquitted now has a feeling of deja vu. He can't help but think that this has something to do with that other case from his long ago high school days.
This is a lengthy book with many characters. Rose's books generally introduce a new character and will carry them forward to the next book so you now have a whole cast of characters to keep track of. Everyone if off working on the case and doing something different. These books are all stand alone however, I would suggest listening to these books in order so you will understand characters and relationships.
I have read or listened to everything by Karen Rose and love her writing style. Her books are classified as romantic mysteries. I am not particularly interested in romance and will fast forward through the love scenes, these take up maybe 1% of the book overall and you are left with an outstanding mystery.
Marguerite Gavin does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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22 people found this helpful

Good book, good narrator

Lots of suspense, lots of background, and (very important) good narrator. The only complaint I would have is language. I'm not a prude. I've been known to have a potty mouth. But I think Karen Rose, and this is unusual for her, used foul language by every character in the book...I'd call it gratuitous cursing...when it added nothing. Even the women. It's not necessary that it be so constant.

3 people found this helpful

Another great Karen Rose book!

This book is another wonderful story by Karen rose. It investigates the life of Thomas Thorne. The story takes us through the The life of Thomas Thorne . With the many twists and turns the plot keeps us going and it is a wonderful read.

1 person found this helpful

I love Karen rose, so excited for this latest one!

I love these Karen rose series and the characters she develops. this was true to her writing, so emotional and heartfelt. the story was so involved and sometimes confusing you can't miss a second!

1 person found this helpful

A game of cat & mouse

-Whodunit at its best.
-Love story, murder& mayhem - doesn't get any better.
-Some storylines are wrapped in this book and HEAs all around.
-I love the Baltimore world, the cast of characters is intriguing, well defined and our heroes are strong.
-Thorne & Gwen are in effect the gentle giant and the teeny fairy , it works.
-Romance & suspense indeed.

Now I continue the Cincinnati series. It is my 2nd read of Karen Rose's books and she gives me chills.The bad guys are really really bad. Some are narcissist or power hungry or deluded but all have 1 thing in common they scare the beejezus out of me.
Well done.

The narrator is spectacular she brings these books to life. I highly recommend the audiobooks for a fuller immersion into this world.

Gavin delivers a fine performance!

We’re back in Baltimore and this time the focus is on Thomas Thorne and Gwyn Weaver. You may recall that they are both Lucy Fitzpatrick’s partners in Sheidalin, the nightclub they jointly own. He’s a defense attorney and she’s the club manager. It’s been four years since the attacks on Lucy and Gwyn and Thorne is finally gathering up the courage to express his true feelings to Gwyn. Before that happens, she discovers him unconscious in his bed with another woman. The problem is the woman is dead and her blood is all over him. His last memory doesn’t include her at all.

As with most of the stories in this series, the answers aren’t made clear initially but this one is a bit different in that we get the villain’s point of view early on though not the identity. I love this approach as it keeps the mystery going but we don’t quite have all the information. Just about every earlier character from the previous books set in Baltimore have active roles here, which I really like as we get updates on what’s going on in their lives.

The person behind Thorne’s problems is beyond diabolical and the attacks are brutal. I just wanted the team to solve this thing but it wasn’t easy. Entanglements from Thorne’s childhood are a major factor so it got gnarly. The focus wasn’t entirely on Thorne as the prickly Gwyn got equal page time. I really liked getting to know her and her backstory. The romance didn’t take a backseat but the mystery certainly was what captivated me. Be prepared for the usual high body count as this wasn’t pretty. It’s a huge cast of characters with intriguing secondary storylines. Marguerite Gavin narrated this one and she delivered a fine performance, especially with so many to give distinctive voices. I continue to love listening to this series and being back here, no matter what city!

While this book can stand alone pretty well, the better experience is to read it in order. Also, there are spoilers from the earlier Baltimore book so if you plan to go back and start from the beginning, which I highly recommend, don’t begin here. Quite frankly, there are connections throughout the entire 21 books.

Two much bad language.

Good story, it would have been better without the over use of fowl mouths, professional people don't use the f word nearly as much.

Karen Rose

I can’t say enough how much I really enjoy listening to these books. Book after book connects together and I just love it. This is the 15th book of Karen Rose’s that I’ve listened to in about 4 months thanks

The book

The book was good overall. The book kept missing, I don't know if it was a download problem or what. It is the only one of the books that did that so far.

This Gets Added to My Favorites

This was great, and it “almost” earned a 5-star rating from me overall. But I deducted one full star because, even though I loved Thorne and was thrilled that he finally admitted his feelings out loud to Gwen, I didn’t feel their “connection” like I have with so many other characters from previous books. Outside of this small annoyance, I loved the story, loved that many of my favorite characters from previous books were there to help clear Thorne. Even though the villains were not as bad as depicted in previous books, this did not deter my overall enjoyment. Kudos to you Ms. Rose. Even in book 21, you’re still bringing it. Keep it up!

This gets added to my favorites shelf!