The Murder That Never Was by Andrea Kane (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Given the opportunity, would you assume someone else's identity and leave your old life behind? A serendipitous crossing of paths between Lisa Barnes, a down-on-her-luck job seeker, and Julie Forman, a personal trainer to an Olympic hopeful, forever changes the course of both women's lives. One winds up dead and the other finds herself a fugitive, hiding behind one lie after another as a cold-blooded killer methodically hunts her. Desperately trying to stay alive, the terrified woman enlists the help of Forensic Instincts, a rogue investigative team that clandestinely operates in the gray area between legal and illegal. Safeguarding their client's deception, Forensic Instincts digs into dangerous territory as they try to find out who's after their client and why. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up in Chicago, New Jersey, and Vermont as a megalomaniacal genius will stop at nothing to eradicate anyone who threatens the success of his medical breakthrough. With an unhinged client and a monstrous criminal enterprise as its adversary, Forensic Instincts is forced into uncharted territory to protect their client and save one of their own from becoming the next corpse. Forensic Instincts is an unorthodox, criminal investigative team that carefully navigates the fine line between legal and illegal. The team consists of a behaviorist, a former Navy SEAL, a techo-wiz, an intuitive, a pickpocket, a retired FBI agent, and a human scent evidence dog."

My Thoughts:

This book reminded me once again what I love about this series!  Even though I've read this series completely out of order (I think I started with book three and then went back to book one before reading this one) I have enjoyed each book.  What I love about this series is the great cast of characters and of course the mysteries that suck me in each and every time.  I found the story line of this book to be so interesting because Forensic Instinct's client has basically taken over the life of a woman that she barely knew and then finds herself in deep danger because of it.  At first I wasn't sure how this was all going to work but the author did a really great job with making it feel believable and especially with the motivations of why Lisa does what she does.  It made the book that much more intense while reading it for me because I didn't want anything to happen to Lisa.  Her character wasn't even the focus of the book for the entire time but I really liked her and wanted everything to work out.  

Each of the books in this series has pulled me in while reading and this book was no different.  I love how each of the members of Forensic Instincts has an important role that they play in each investigation.  I don't think that it is easy for an author to include so many character's lives in one story but Kane does a really great job of it.  I feel like with each book I get to know more about the characters and I enjoy the series that much more because of it.  I especially like reading about Ryan's different gadgets and gizmos that he comes up with to use during their investigations.  The ending of this book was especially intense and I found myself reading as quickly as possible by that point.  I liked the way that this book ended and felt that it fit in realistically with everything that had happened.  I've got to say that this is really becoming a favorite series of mine and one that I will happily continue to read as it goes on (and yes, probably out of order still).

All in all, this book was just as good as I had hoped that it would be.  Obviously I don't have a problem reading the series out of order but I do recommend reading the earlier books as well.  The series has such a great cast of characters and the author does an amazing job of bringing each one of them to life.  I love how they aren't afraid to do things that are outside of the law in order to make sure that their clients lives are safe.  It makes the books just a bit more intense and suspenseful as we wait to make sure that everything works out.  The premise of this book is really what made this book stand out for me and I'm eager for more.  Looks like I need to get my hands on a copy of book two soon!  Easily recommended to mystery and suspense fans!

Bottom Line:  Another great addition to a series that I've come to love.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a PICT book tour.

Here is a link to the author's website if you are interested:

http://www.andreakane.com/
https://twitter.com/Andrea_Kane