This is the second book in the Crimson Lake series. We follow shamed ex-police detective Ted Conkaffey and convicted murderer Amanda Pharrell – as they join forces as a private detective duo and solve a local crime.
Ted and Amanda are called in to investigate the murder of two young bar workers, by one of the dead kids fathers. They are in the thick of it right from the start of the police investigation, as the father doesn’t trust law enforcement and called the PI’s as soon as he was told of his son’s death. Whilst working the case, Ted has to deal with this own problems, stemming from his arrest and brief incarceration for the kidnap and sexual assault of a young girl.
I’ve not read anything by Candice Fox before so this was a new author to me. The book has been compared to The Dry by Jane Harper, due to it being a crime story set in Australia with the landscape being a character in it’s own right. I think the comparison ends there. Although Candice Fox does an amazing job of describing the surroundings, I didn’t quite feel it had the same affect as it did with The Dry. But I’m not here to compare the two, I’m here to review Redemption. 😊 (Also published as Redemption Point).
I liked the characters – both Ted and Amanda, being the main protagonists, and also the secondary character of Pip Sweeney – the police detective assigned to work the case. All were well fleshed out and had good stories behind them. I could feel Ted’s pain at being accused of something he didn’t do, but worse than that, losing his family over it. He and his wife had just welcomed their first child to the world when he was arrested, and wifey didn’t stick around after that. Amanda comes across as slightly crazy, but I think we learn to love her ways by the end of the book. It’s endearing, rather than off putting. I also liked reading the bits with Khaled, Linda and Sharon. Yes Linda and Sharon are middle eastern bodyguards. Yes they are both men. I found that hilarious. (Yes… I am sheltered).
The story rumbles along nicely, we find clues to the deaths of the guy and gal killed at the bar. And we meet Dale, the father of the teenage girl Ted was accused of attacking. Oddly enough Ted ends up helping Dale to find out who really attacked his daughter.
It’s a good read, you could get through it quite quickly if you wanted to. I was happy to read it over a week or so, no rush.
Overall I would recommend it, it had suspense, thrills, crime, murder, blood, geese… what more do you need? The geese are in fact the true hero’s of the story.
Becca x
(*Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*)
The Beautiful Book Break 