Sophia Rose Reviews: On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh

 

Today Sophia Rose shares her thoughts on Melinda Leigh's third in her Bree Taggart mystery series, On Her Watch. Read on to see what she thought!
Enjoy

On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh

#8 Bree Taggart

Mystery

Publisher:  Montlake

Published:  5.14.24

Pages:  312

Rating: 5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

Sheriff Bree Taggert becomes a target when she follows the twisting trail of a serial killer in a bone-chilling novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

A pair of hikers find a tarp-wrapped body in a clearing in the woods. When a search in the surrounding area yields two more, Sheriff Bree Taggert knows they’ve stumbled onto a serial killer’s dumping ground.

With the help of investigator Matt Flynn, Bree works the case. They go to interview Jana, the best friend of one of the victims. But when they arrive at her apartment, it’s been ransacked and set on fire. And Jana is missing.

It’s clear the killer is escalating. To make matters worse, he threatens Bree’s family and a young mother vanishes. Will Bree and Matt uncover the link between the victims before more women die?

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

“When it rains, it pours” is still a popular aphorism for a reason.  In the case of the latest installment in the Bree Taggart series, this also happens to be literal.  It rains all through this book and figuratively rains down a great deal for Bree to deal with from the flu in the family to a serial killer stalking the county.  Eight books in and I remain riveted to each installment I read and gasping for the next one.

 

On Her Watch, finds Bree and Matt dealing with sick kids with the flu making its rounds.  Their relationship has grown so much since meeting in the first book and Matt is there to support the family in the home and work for Bree’s department on the job.

 

And, the job, yick!  Bree is called to the scene in the woods of a body found by hikers and this leads to other bodies also dumped there.  Local politics gets into the mix and the town council tries to tell her this is NOT a serial killer when she has bodies with gruesome things done wrapped up and left in the same spot.  Bree has to walk a tight rope of half her staff being out with the flu and city hall trying to dip into her investigation.  And, that is on top of the killer themselves sitting up and taking notice of Bree and this endangers her and those she cares for.

 

Bree is one of my favorite fictional characters the way she grew from her own dark childhood and those fears, went into law enforcement, took on her orphaned nephew and nieces, and now runs a good sheriff’s office.  She is a strong, independent figure, competent and caring and handles the balance of work, family, and a relationship incredibly well.  But, for all that, Melinda Leigh writes her so she feels relatable and human with her vulnerabilities and struggles.

 

All in all, this one had a few hair-raising moments with a dangerous serial killer preying on the area and it was tense time as Bree and her team had to figure out what tied all those dead women in the killer’s mind.  Those who like smart small town police procedural thrillers should not hesitate to give this series a go.

 

Author Bio:

#1 Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker. A life-long lover of books, she started writing as a way to preserve her sanity while raising her kids. Over the next few years, she learned a few things about writing a book. The process was much more fun than analyzing financial statements, and she decided to turn her hobby into a career.

Her debut novel, SHE CAN RUN, was nominated for Best First Novel by the International Thriller Writers. Since then, she has garnered numerous publisher awards, including two Silver Falchions and three Golden Leaf Awards. She is a two-time RITA® Award Finalist and has earned three Daphne du Maurier Award nominations. Melinda’s books have sold over 14 million copies.

She holds a 2nd degree belt in Kenpo Karate. She’s dabbled in Arnis stick fighting, studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and taught women’s self-defense. She lives near the beach with her family and a small herd of spoiled rescue pets. With such a pleasant life, she has no explanation for the sometimes dark and disturbing nature of her imagination.

 She is represented by Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Website:  https://melindaleigh.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose