When the remains of two bodies are found in an open grave along a desolate highway in Stillwater, Minnesota, Special Agent Nikki Hunt knows exactly who they are. The bright blue jacket lying on the frozen earth belongs to Kellan Rhodes, the missing boy she’s desperately been trying to find for the last two days. The other body is his mother Dana, who had been Nikki’s lead suspect.
Although the wounds on Dana’s body suggest she murdered her son and took her own life, Nikki finds evidence that suggests she was a victim too. Dana was desperately trying to regain custody of Kellan, and Nikki finds boot prints at the scene that belong to someone else.
When another child is reported missing, local journalist Caitlin Newport claims the cases are linked: Zach Reeves was taken away from his own mother in a custody battle, just like Kellan was.
Caitlin once helped Nikki find out the truth about her own parents’ murders, but her desire for a story nearly cost Nikki her life. Now, Nikki must decide if she can trust Caitlin again, before time runs out to find the killer and bring Zach home alive…
Review
One Perfect Grave is the second book in the Agent Nikki Hunt series. In this story, 2 bodies are discovered frozen in the ice. At first it looks like a clear case of murder-suicide. However, evidence soon points to something more complex than that. Agent Nikki is caught up in a tangled web of cold cases, murder, deceit, evidence tampering and she needs answers fast before another life is lost.
I think I have been reading too many police procedurals of late that I am starting to mix up my detectives. It took a bit of time to remember Nikki and what happened in the first book. However, once the pieces slid into place, I was once again wowed by this MC. Her astuteness and determination to catch the perp had me captivated from the first to the last page. I enjoyed her work interactions and also her family and love life. Nikki is well crafted character.
This case is multi-layered. I couldn’t even guess the identity of the killer or unravel the full extent of the lies and deception by different characters. The twists and unpredictable unending definitely made this an entertaining read. I recommend this series to fans of police procedurals.
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