2023 historical thriller, eighth of its series. Several university
friends, mostly not in touch for years, are being murdered one by one.
One of them is Stoker's older brother Templeton, and he's decided to
gather the survivors together to have it out. While Veronica and
Stoker may be temporarily estranged, he needs them on the detecting
job…
While I'm not, in general, a fan of the split up and get back
together as a means of lengthening an ongoing series, I think it works
well here. Our principals had a genuine reason for being at outs, not
just a casual misunderstanding; and they resolve it, rather than just
ignoring it, before getting back together.
And because this is not a romance series but a mystery/thriller one
that's only a minor element of the plot. It's suggested that someone
is killing off those former students as revenge for a death that
happened (and was universally believed to be accidental) at a house
party twenty years ago; so of course that is going to have to be
solved too, in spite of the utter lack of remaining evidence. And
maybe someone will defend themselves preemptively…
It's fun. There's a legitimate mystery, amenable to solution but not
too easy; there are characters I've come to like, and new ones to
meet. There's even some more building of Stoker's background and his
early life.
A lady had no business going around not murdering people when she
had excellent motive, plausible means, and the correct temperament.
The usual disclaimer applies: this is not a place to start the series,
and while one wouldn't be lost if one did so, it is not so
transcendently better than the first that it would be worth it. But
it's a good continuation.