Taken to the Grave (Detective Jo Fournier #2) by M.M. Chouinard

Taken to the Grave

(Detective Jo Fournier #2)

by M.M. Chouinard

ebook

Published September 19th 2019 by Bookouture

Goodreads synopsis:

When a girl’s body is discovered in a park in the sleepy Massachusetts town of Oakhurst, local detective Jo is shocked to the core. Because the girl is the second innocent victim to turn up dead in three days. And just like the first, a tarot card has been left by the body. The meaning of the card: betrayal.

After uncovering a series of threatening messages targeting the girl, a student at the university, and the first victim, her teacher, Jo thinks she’s locked the killer in her crosshairs. The primary suspect is a volatile ex-military student with an axe to grind for failing grades, and the frightened town is out for his blood. But the next day, a much-loved member of the community is found dead in her home, a tarot card in her mail. There’s no clear motive to link her death to the others, and the message on the card this time is even stranger: domestic bliss.

With a fourth body and card appearing the following day, Jo knows she’s running out of time to crack the code and bring the killer to justice. And the pressure only gets worse with heart-breaking news about Jo’s father forcing her to choose between helping her family heal or the victims’ families get justice. Can Jo find the twisted murderer sending the town into a panic before another life is lost? Or this time, will the dangerous killer find her first?

***

4.5 Stars

This is the second book in the Detective Jo Fournier series by M.M. Chouinard.

A series of murders at a prestigious university is connected only by a tarot card left at the scene. I totally loved this concept and was on the edge of my seat the entire book. I was trying to put the meaning of the specific card left at the scene and the victim and what that could mean for the plot. Of course, I came away baffled and let Jo and her partner Det. Bob Arnett do all the heavy lifting.

The murdered professor looks less and less like a victim the more we get into the plot. This whole story became more of a mind game as we moved to the conclusion. With all this on Jo’s mind plus she is fighting with her sister and dealing with her father’s cancer diagnosis.

We get a lot more details about the dynamics of Jo’s family which I found fascinating. In book one, the police procedural aspect pretty took the lead. Here we see what Jo has to deal with emotionally and how that effects her police life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to every upcoming book in this series. If you love detective fiction or police procedurals, definitely check out this book. This is a winner in my book!

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.