I received a free copy of A Fatal Twist from Netgalley in return for a fair review.

I enjoy yoga and have read the first in this series and quite enjoyed it, so I requested this one from Netgalley.  This is the fourth in the series and Kate still has her yoga studio, however she is now pursuing training to be a doula to assist at her friend’s birth.  In addition, she has two foster puppies, which Michael found and brought  home. They seemed determined to destroy her home.  With her hands full, it is almost too much for her when she stumbles across a dead body and a friend/yoga studio customer fleeing the scene.

To try to unravel the mystery and find the true culprit, Kate investigates the unsavory victim’s mistresses, his wife and his business.  In addition, she is looking into the mystery surrounding the two puppies and a homeless advocate.  The mystery twists and turns and connects all the dots at the end, coming to a satisfying conclusion.

The emphasis here is less on yoga as a theme and more on childbirth and the myriad of options and the conflicting (strong) opinions about the merits of each of them.  There is also a subplot concerning puppy mills and backyard breeders and animal abuse. On a good note, there are happy endings for the humans (not the killer though) and the dogs!

  I received a copy of this book free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

I was happy to see this book on Netgalley.  I had wanted to read it since it was the book of the month on Goodreads in the Kindle English Mystery Club under the title Locked In.

At the beginning, we meet recently promoted to  Detective Sergeant, Jessica Daniel.  By luck of the draw or the fact her colleagues were tied up on other cases, Jessica lands the murder case of a divorced woman, Yvonne Christensen. She was found locked in her home strangled to death.   As Jess investigates, we meet others in her team, a smarmy defense lawyer, and  a novice journalist hoping for the case to be his big break and a way out of his dead end job.

This police procedural starts off quickly and maintains the pace throughout, definitely a thriller!  As more murders occur, DS Daniel and the journalist, Garry, look for connections, trying to unmask the killer.  The stories of the victim’s families unfold showing the after effects of the brutal crimes.  There is a strong sense of building tension that leads naturally to the exposure of previous crimes and the reveal of the killer.

Even though it is fast paced, we do get some background details of Jessica to flesh out her character and help the reader understand who she is as a person and a detective. There are subplots involving her retired ex-partner and her flatmate/best friend, which are important and add to the  main plot line.

An exciting, fast paced, police procedural with an engaging new DS to follow.  This is one I would definitely recommend!