Review: The Girl on Wildfire Ridge (Detective Kay Sharp #4) by Leslie Wolfe

On a hot summer’s day, the sleepy town of Mount Chester is thrown into turmoil when a seventeen year old local girl, Jenna goes missing. Within hours, the case takes an agonising turn when her body is discovered in the isolated mountains.Detective Kay Sharp rushes to the scene, hiking for miles to the base of Wildfire Ridge. From the markings on Jenna’s body, it is clear she had been murdered. Near the body, Kay finds a butterfly shaped hair clip with a set of fingerprints that could be a vital clue.
In the search for truth, Kay turns the small town upside down. She learns that Jenna changed dramatically over the past few months, no longer the popular girl who wore a smile on her face. Kay is certain that whatever happened to Jenna recently must be the key to her death.
With the clock ticking and every minute critical, Kay is up against the toughest case of her career. Can she risk everything to confront the past that she’s been running from, and save another innocent girl before it’s too late?

Review

I love this series but I must admit that this installment was hard to read. The writing was great as usual, the case complex just as I like them, the characters quite well developed… You may ask, what was the issue then? The details of what happened the victim turned my stomach. They were not graphically portrayed but its just a sensitive subject that I struggled with.

Jenna was reported missing just a few hours before her body was discovered. She had been brutally murdered. Shocking details emerge on the weeks leading up to her death. A young, beautiful, vibrant social butterfly had turned into a recluse. She didn’t want to socialise anymore. Something had happened to dim her light. And then details of the bullying she went through came up.

I was curious to know who has killed her. At some point, I thought it was obvious but I should have detected a redd herring when I saw one. The bullying that Jenna had previously gone through was hard to read about. I was curious as to why she was being attacked. I wanted to know who was behind it and couldn’t wait for justice to be served.

Detective Kay’s character gets better with each new installment. In this case, she had to confront her past even as she struggled to resolve current issues. I enjoy her relationship with her partner, Elliot, and the ME. I can’t wait to find out what lies ahead for Kay.

This was a dark, fast-paced, captivating read despite the heavy themes. What a gripping read!