Review: Rules of Crime by L.J. Sellers

I was fortunate enough to wangle an Advance Reader Copy of the latest L.J. Sellers mystery, "Rules of Crime." The novel's release date is February 26th and will first be available at Amazon.

Review:
My Rating: On Amazon, I will give the book 4 stars when it is available for reviews.

Cover may change before publication.

"Rules of Crime" is another fast-paced book in the Detective Jackson series. I enjoy the mysteries, of course. Twists and turns enough to keep the reader hopping.

Detective Jackson's alcoholic ex-wife has gone missing. The first thought, of course, is Renee has gone off the wagon and checked herself into a rehab facility. But a ransom demand immediately changes Jackson's mind. The FBI arrives to handle the investigation as is usually the case with kidnappings. Agent Carla Rivers is new to Eugene, but a long-experienced agent. She takes over the case, but keeps Jackson on the team because nobody knows Renee more than he. Even her new fiance, who's supposed to pony up the ransom, didn't know she had a drinking problem.

Meanwhile at the Violent Crimes Unit, Detective Lara Evans has caught a case involving a college student's savage beating and dump at the hospital. The young woman's in a medically induced coma, so she's no help at all in telling anybody what happened to her. Evans has to do it the hard way. Trying to even find a clue since even the crime's location is unknown. The girl is well-liked, quite, studious with no known enemies.

We have, then, two unrelated crimes. But are they? I won't say anymore, since I know readers will want to follow the investigation themselves.

Ms. Sellers builds on each Jackson novel by adding new and interesting characters. In a previous book, she introduced Detective Lara Evans, who has branched out into another series. In "Rules of Crime," we meet FBI Agent Carla River who will, no doubt, get a branching series of her own.

The great thing for readers (fans) of L.J. Sellers' crime novels is how she thinks ahead to keeping us entertained with new and interesting main characters. We'll always love Detective Jackson, but I will happily follow the continuing adventures of Det. Evans and (I hope) Agent River in future books.