Perilous Obsession by Carsen Taite

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow, I shouldn’t have waited so long to read a mystery by Carsen Taite. I don’t really have a good reason why I haven’t before now but at least there’s a large back catalogue that I can dive into, right?

I love the premise of Perilous Obsession: honorable cop shunned because she told the truth about her partner murdering an unarmed citizen connects – in more ways than one – with a reporter who is obsessed with finding the serial killer who took her college best friend’s life and got away. I do enjoy crime stories with a little love added to brighten up the darkness. This book struck a great balance between the murders and relationship building.

One thing I definitely liked was the author’s voice and writing. I know this sounds strange but I’ve been DNFing books left and right over the past week or two because of one reason or another having to do with storytelling, tone, believability, or some other writing issue. But I was drawn in immediately to Perilous Obsession and was a little disappointed every time I had to take my headphones off (I used a text-to-speech reader) to take a meeting or some other task that prevented me from paying attention. And I didn’t figure out who the killer was until 80% in which is lovely! I had no clue and then it hit me.

This is a solid 4.5 stars for me but I’m rounding up.

Thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for the ARC!