The Stranger You Know by Andrea Kane

Hello, everyone! Today I'm part of the TLC blog tour for Andrea Kane's latest, The Stranger You Know.

The latest case for Forensic Instincts is one that hits a bit too close to home for Casey. When she was in college her best friend was raped and murdered. Now, they've been approached to help find the body of another college girl, one who went missing right around the same time Casey's friend was killed. It's a long shot but Casey hopes that this case may provide some answers to her friend's murder. While reviewing the missing girls items, Claire - the team's clairvoyant - connects with yet another victim as the crime is happening. When the killer contacts Casey personally, the team realizes that not only are the cases connected but Casey has become a target. 

This is the third of Andrea Kane's Forensic Instincts titles (but it can be read as a stand alone). It's an interesting premise for a series. The team is built up of a number of professionals who all seem to have their own demons (this is the first title I've read, but there are references to a few things that are likely covered in the previous titles) and their own unique contributions to what is basically a high end private investigating firm.

Overall the plotting and pacing on this one were great but I had one sort of big beef that kept coming back to mind: why on earth did no one immediately consider the connection being Glen Fisher. (No worries, this isn't a spoiler.) You've got a killer targeting red heads with the same MO as Fisher and though he's in prison when the book begins, one of the first things the team says they're going to do is look into their old cases to see who might have it in for Casey. Um, the guy who raped and killed red heads maybe? The one who has reason to hate Casey (also a red head) because she helped put him away? Hm, I don't know. Might come immediately to mind when considering who might have a vendetta against the character.

I really just wasn't sure why that particular reveal played out the way it did. I still can't figure out a reason for it, but it made this brilliant team a little harder to believe considering it was kind of staring them all in the face.

That aside, The Stranger You Know is a pretty great thriller. And since it works as a stand alone, it means readers who enjoy it have a small backlog of titles (The Girl Who Disappeared Twice and The Line Between Here and Gone) with the same characters that they can then go back to the beginning with :) Always a plus in my opinion (at least while you wait for a new release).

Rating: 3.5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Andrea and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.