Angels Sing to Rest by Chrinda Jones (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Detective Sergeant Olivia Gates returns from a two month suspension, to find her team has gained a new member, her ex-husband has been released from prison, and a 10 year old street kid has been murdered on her patch of South Dallas.

Her ex she thinks she can deal with, even when he drags their young son into the mix. The murdered boy with the crushed chest, isn't so easily handled and weighs heavily on her as more street kids are killed with an unimaginable sadistic flare and no discernible motive.

If the continuing body count wasn't stressful enough, Olivia's falling out with long time friend and colleague, Doctor Will Green, threatens any hope Olivia had for more than a friendship with the good doctor.

Drugs, gaming, prostitution and sadistic murders lead Gates and her team on a trek through the seamy underbelly of living rough on the streets of downtown Dallas."

My Thoughts:

This has been a really great year for me in regards to finding new mystery authors to follow and after finishing this book I have another author to add to this list.  One of the things that I loved most about this book was how dark and gritty it really was.  From the very beginning of the book, Olivia gets thrown into an investigation where she discovers more questions than answers and the trail of bodies keep on coming.  This book became intense in a short amount of time as Olivia struggles to balance her investigation with her newly developing relationship with Dr. Will Green while also dealing with her disturbed ex-husband.  I found that all of this combined into one of those fast paced reads that I didn't want to set down.  The violence and killings in this book really gave it a darker feel which wasn't at all what I had been expecting.  I liked it though and felt like it fit in perfectly with the setting which focused on street life in Dallas.

Although this is the second book in this series, I had no problems jumping right into the story.  There were pieces of what happened before to Olivia that I know I was missing (for example the reason behind her suspension-see above summary) but overall it didn't detract from my reading experience at all.  And I really appreciated that the relationship between Olivia and Will was something that the author seemed to be taking her time exploring.  Will's character was very fascinating to me as there seem to be multiple issues that he is dealing with that I as the reader don't know about.  Were some of those things included in the first book?  Maybe, but for me it gave his character a slightly mysterious air that left me wanting to know more.  I really liked the relationship that is starting to develop between Olivia and him so I hope that this continues with the next book in the series.  The ending itself was very intense although I will admit that there was a certain part of it that felt unfinished.  We didn't quite get the closure that I was expecting (and I won't say more than that) so I do hope that we learn more in the next book.  Still what a great read and a series that I can't wait to read more of!

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am eager to read more in this series.  I will definitely be going back to the first book sooner rather than later just so I can see how everything started.  It will have to tide me over until I can get my hands on the next book!  Those readers who enjoyed dark mysteries and police procedurals should give this series a try!  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  A great read that kept me turning pages late into the night!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book as part of a PICT book tour.