Ruthless by Susan Kiernan-Lewis - #review

Ruthless (Book 6 ) the Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries by Susan Kieran lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is not the first book I've read by Susan Kiernan-Lewis. That spot goes to Murder in the Latin Quarter part of the "Maggie Newberry" mysteries. I've also 'met' Mia Kazmaroff before. Ms. Kiernan-Lewis writes multiple series of mysteries, so I know I won't be out of books I know I'll enjoy for...oh, the foreseeable future.



In the case of Ruthless, our heroine's tendency to engage in parallel investigations to the police department, might just get her step-sister Mindy killed. Mindy has been kidnapped, presumably by the 'Weekend Killer', a serial offender. Kidnapping is on a Friday, a personal item from the victim is sent to the police, and a body part at sometime after that. On Sunday, if no progress has been made, the police will get an email with a location of the (now deceased) victim.

What concerns Mindy's family is that she did not come home on Friday. On Saturday, Mindy's engagement ring is sent to the police. Then police catch a man with DNA ties to the previous two kidnapping/murders. So the tension eases somewhat. Then the police receive Mindy's finger, and it is heart-in-throat time again.

Mindy and Mia are step-sisters, and have a tolerance-dislike-tolerance relationship. But at the beginning of the book, Mindy is making a website for Mia and Jack's private investigation firm. Mindy's interpersonal relationship skills would make a sheet of metal look like rusted lace, but she's family and Mia worries that the police will zero in on one line of investigation and ignore potentially important evidence.

So, on more than one occasion, Mia finds evidence that the police have missed, or don't know about, and doesn't turn the items or information over right away. This runs her afoul of her mother and step-father both, as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. And now that Mia believes Mindy's kidnapping is not related to the Weekend Killer crimes, this withholding of evidence (such as Mindy's cell phone) could very well lead to Mindy being found too late.

Ms. Kiernan-Lewis has a great tension that runs through the story. And she knows how to fine-tune the strand of tension quite expertly. It's wound up at times, but never so much that it breaks. But it's tight enough that readers care.

There was a sub-plot in Ruthless about Daisy, a dog that Jack had rescued from an abusive home and that he and Mia had subsequently adopted. Bring a hankie.

I don't like coming into a book series mid-stream, but this (the latest Kazmaroff story) reads quite well as a standalone. And it gives me a great reason for going back to read the previous five installments!
~~~oOo~~~
I received a copy of Ruthless at no cost due to a deal notification service. My review is voluntary and contains my thoughts only.

View all my reviews

 (Disclaimer:  I 'purchased' this copy for free at Amazon, having received an email from deal-notification service such as Bookbub, BookRiot, eBookSoda, Freebooksy, Robin's Reads, etc.  I was under no obligation to review.)

~~~oOo~~~

This book helps me fulfill the following 2019 reading challenges and read-a-thons:

#WintersRespite Read-a-thon
#BeatTheBacklist2019 RC
You Read How Many? RC
Literary Escapes RC
GoodReads RC
52 Books 52 Weeks RC
Alphabet Soup - Author
Alphabet Soup - Title