THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (2023) - Review

The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
On Sale: January 17, 2023

P. J.Tracy's "The Devil You Know" introduces Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Margaret Nolan to a death that threatens the foundation of Hollywood and its upper echelon. The book is #3 in The Detective Margaret Nolan Series ("Desolation Canyon" #1 and "Deep into the Dark" #2) It is recommended that you read the books in order.

FIRST SENTENCE: "The ocean was singing in the hushed, undulating tones of low tide on this still, damp night."

THE STORY: Well-known actor Evan Hobbes is found dead in the rubble of a Malibu rock slide a day after a fake video ruins his career. 'Is it an accident, a suicide; or a murder?' With more deaths, Detective Nolan has a difficult case to solve.

WHAT I THOUGHT: P. J. Tracy is a good mystery writer with lots of readers, but don't start with "The Devil You Know" without reading the first two books. There are lots of characters to try to keep straight and bits and pieces of past stories revealed but not explained.

Descriptive words accentuate every thought and every event, seeming too pretty for a police procedural. If you are more interested in a story than in the fancy writing and if you aren't comfortable with wordy writing, this might not be a book for you.

BOTTOM LINE: RECOMMENDED If you are a fan of the Monkeewrench Series, you need to read copies of the first two books in The Detective Margaret Nolan Series and then read "The Devil You Know". P. J. Tracy is a pseudonym for the American mother-daughter writing team Patricia and Traci Lambrecht. They became New York Times bestselling authors in the process. Patricia died in 2016.

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of "The Devil You Know" by P. J. Tracy from NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for my honest review.

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