This taut thriller introduces Jessie Night, a highly-trained ex-military investigator with a deep and very dark backstory, not all of which is revealed in this first installment of what is currently an eight-book series. That’s eight Night novels in three years. Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the twisty story lines in this thriller. This is definitely a series you will want to check out.

The setting is a small lake-side North Carolina town called Pine Haven. Jessie arrives to take ownership of her late aunt’s old house. Jessie recalls the house from her childhood, but she has no plans to put down roots and make Pine Haven her home. Before she can solidify that intention, she discovers a decapitated body in the boathouse of a neighboring property. The haphazard police investigation leads Jessie to volunteer her expert services to assist the bumbling local cops. Alex, the one cop who seems competent, befriends Jessie and they have immediate, smoldering chemistry, although there’s no actual romance in this story. When a second headless body turns up, the web of violence, corruption, and intrigue keep Jessie and Alex guessing right up to the very unexpected twist and the harrowing conclusion, where nearly everyone is in mortal peril.

The story kept me interested (a great vacation read) and turning pages quickly. At under 300 printed pages, it’s a quick read and well worth it. There are some blemishes typical of a first novel, including some continuity puzzlers and more copy editing errors than I’d like to see in a book published three years ago (but hopefully Ms. Scott will clean those up at some point). A few plot twists were unnecessarily confusing, and two early chapters from the killer’s perspective make less sense on second read. But these are small nits on a story that is mostly fun, engaging, and entertaining. I’m a Jessie Night fan.