Ellie Reeves is reeling from two murder cases in rapid succession. Then she is thrown into a new case when the charred remains of a woman are found, quickly followed by another victim. She cannot believe, but is forced to accept, that there is another serial killer on the loose…
The Burning Girls is the third book in the Ellie Reeves series and I have previously read and reviewed book 2 in the series Wildflower Graves. There are some details about the previous cases in the opening chapters of the book, as well as information about Ellie’s personal life.
Ellie is battling demons in her personal relationships. This tips into her professional duties when the first victim is identified as a contact. Her relationships with her colleagues are also not straightforward due to the sheriff’s drinking making him unreliable and an FBI agent that she has sexual chemistry with.
The book is written in the third person so we gain access to Ellie’s perspective as well as the killer, victims and others. This increases the tension as we witness Ellie’s passion and determination as well as the dread of the victims and the anticipation of the killer.
The short chapter, plot pace and the rapid onslaught of victims keeps the momentum of the book going as twists and developments mount up.
I described the previous book as wonderfully gruesome and that is an appropriate summary again! Hugely entertaining and full of drama, action and danger for our lead character. The Burning Girls is an enthralling but grisly novel that had me hooked throughout!
The girl was beautiful, even in death. Her skin was translucent beneath the sliver of moonlight peeking through the bare branches of the surrounding pines, and her chestnut hair had tumbled around her pale shoulders. Around her, smoke twisted in the air, curling into the inky sky.
The remote town of Crooked Creek has barely recovered from its most recent tragedy when wildfires tear through the mountains. Detective Ellie Reeves is grappling with her own heartbreak––she has just discovered she was adopted and that her childhood was a lie.
Under the scorching summer sun, Ellie is called to a river where a body has been found. She spots a lone woman’s shoe caught in a nearby tangle of vines, and a pearl necklace scattered by the water’s edge. The remains are surrounded by a circle of stones, which Ellie is certain means something. Was the victim––whoever she was––caught in the fire or is something more sinister at play?
The Fourth of July usually means festivals and fireworks, but when another body turns up the town is left in tatters. A young girl with dark hair lies dead, surrounded by stones, smoke drifting in the air. Thanks to an engraved silver necklace, Ellie identifies the body as eighteen-year-old Katie Lee Curtis, and the diary she finds hidden under the teenager’s mattress could get her close to the killer.
With two victims in less than twenty-four hours, it’s clear Ellie’s up against a serial killer, and she vows that no more innocent girls will be sacrificed. For her, every day is a battle to come to terms with her past, but when this case becomes personal, will she win?
A totally gripping and utterly addictive page-turner that will have you racing through and reeling at the twists. Perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, Lisa Regan and Kendra Elliot, it’s best read with the lights on!
Author Bio:
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
