I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Dancing Girls by M.M. Chouinard Also by this author: Taken to the Grave, Her Daughter's Cry, The Other Mothers, Her Silent Prayer
Series: Detective Jo Fournier #1
Also in this series: Taken to the Grave, Her Daughter's Cry, The Other Mothers, Her Silent Prayer
Published by Bookouture on 15th May 2019
Genres: Crime, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 329
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
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The light in her wide brown eyes dimmed as she drew her last breath. She might have been beautiful lying there on the floor, if it wasn’t for the purple marks on her neck and the angry red line on her finger where her wedding band used to be…
When Jeanine Hammond is found dead in a hotel in the picture-perfect town of Oakhust, newly-promoted Detective Jo Fournier is thrown into a disturbing case. Who would murder this shy, loving wife and leave her body posed like a ballerina?
Jo wants to know why Jeanine’s husband is so controlling about money, and where Jeanine’s wedding ring is, but before she and her team can get close to the truth, another woman is found strangled in a hotel, arms placed gracefully above her head like a dancer.
While digging through old case files, Jo makes a terrifying link to a series of cold cases: each victim bears the same strangulation marks. But the FBI won’t take Jo seriously, and if she disobeys direct orders by investigating the killings outside of her jurisdiction, it will mean the end of the career she’s already sacrificed so much for, even her relationship.
Just as Jo is beginning to lose hope, she finds messages on the victims’ computers that make her question whether these small-town women were hiding big lies. Jo thinks this is the missing link between the victims, but she knows the killer is moments away from selecting his next victim. Will it lead her to the most twisted killer of her career in time, or will another innocent life be lost?
An absolutely unputdownable and brilliant new crime thriller series that fans of Robert Dugoni, Lisa Regan and Melinda Leigh will devour in one sitting.
Thank you to bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I love a good crime novel and this one looked very intriguing. The blurb drew me in as did the cover (which has now changed but I do like the new one too).
I have to say I would have liked to have seen more of Detective Jo Fournier in this book. I feel like she was more of a side character than the main character. What I did see of Jo was quite interesting. I think she is going to make a great main character and I look forward to seeing how she develops.
The real main character in this book was the killer. We see how he lures in his victims, how he plans his kills, how he executes his plan and finally how he reacts afterwards. We also get to learn a lot about our murderer. We learn his back story which is quite horrific. I wouldn’t say this made me sympathise with him but it did make me understand him a lot better.
I have to say that I am still not sure how I feel about the ending of this book. I don’t want to ruin the book so I am thinking very carefully about how I word this but I’ll just say I have very mixed feelings on it. I wasn’t expecting it at the beginning of the book but I did guess it before it happened.
Chouinard doesn’t like to play it safe which I liked so I am looking forward to seeing what Chouinard brings next!
About M.M. Chouinard
M.M. Chouinard’s first fiction story was published in her local paper when she was eight, and she fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. While pursuing a Ph.D in psychology and helping to found the first U.S. research university of the new millenium, the stories kept rattling around inside her skull, demanding to come out. For sanity’s sake, she released them. She’s currently at work on her seventh novel.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
@m_m_chouinard Thanks, Emma! 🤗👏🏻
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it! <3 <3 <3