Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Lisa Turner's second Billy Able mystery, Devil Sent the Rain.Caroline Lee was something of a society darling. The daughter of a well known and well respected family, and a high priced lawyer to boot. She was also, once upon a time, the woman Detective Billy Able was in love with.
And now she's dead. Murdered, to be exact, and Billy is on the case.
It's one that will test the detective and push him to his limits as he tries to separate his personal feelings from the investigation. But as more and more secrets about Caroline's life are revealed, the case becomes more complicated and more twisted than Billy ever would have thought.
As noted above, this is the second title in Turner's Billy Able series, which kicked off last year with The Gone Dead Train. Fortunately, Devil Sent the Rain does work well as a starting point if you happen to have missed that first outing. There are some allusions to the case featured in that first title, but nothing hinges directly on it or spoils the mystery should you decide to read them in reverse.
I quite enjoyed this one. Turner imbues the story with a wonderful Deep South feel (and the darkness of the Deep South as well). And while Billy Able is billed as the star of the series, his partner Frankie is equally developed and just as fascinating.
Since I haven't yet read Gone Dead Train, I can only assume that Able's past is fleshed out much more significantly in this second outing. The case is intertwined with his own personal history - his father owned a cafe that the Lees frequented throughout the years, which is how he and Caroline initially met. As the case unfolds, so do more of their connected backgrounds, giving readers a look into two very different family histories from two very different sides of the tracks.
Turner does well in organically weaving both the past and present together - for the purposes of the overall mystery, of course, but also giving readers enough information about Able to really make them connect with him. And to want to know more about him! It's something the best series writers are able to do, getting readers invested in the characters so that they want and crave more. And she's certainly accomplished that here - The Gone Dead Train is in my immediate TBR and I will definitely be looking forward to more in this series down the line!
To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.
For more on Lisa Turner and her work you can visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Instagram.
Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
1 comment:
I don't often read books set in the Deep South but that dark, brooding, secretive feeling that comes from many of those books fascinates me. I should read more of them!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
Post a Comment