Book Beginnings on Fridays and Book Blogger Hop: May 5, 2023

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted each week by Rose City Reader. It’s a chance to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading this week. You can check out others’ book beginnings here. I’m also going to link up with Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower for First Line Friday. And because it seems like fun, I’m jumping on on the Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice!

This week’s book beginning:

Synopsis:

The young woman lay among the rocks next to the creek like a broken doll, strands of her long dark hair covering her face. Her body was the kind of cold that only the dead can be…

A body lies beside Kettlewell Creek, the waters rushing and churning next to her broken form. When Detective Josie Quinn arrives at the scene, she finds few clues and a victim with no enemies. Nineteen-year-old Sharon Eddy was cherished by her beloved grandmother, who raised her, and her death shocks the Denton community where she worked at the local animal hospital.

When Josie is called to the morgue to hear the results of Sharon’s autopsy, the case takes a sinister turn. She is horrified to see that a mark has been burned on to Sharon’s left hip with a cattle brand: a horseshoe shot through with an arrow. Shaken and terrified, the usually cool and collected Medical Examiner Anya Feist lifts her own top to show Josie an identical mark. Ten years ago, Anya fled her hometown after her marriage to her high school sweetheart ended in terror.

But Josie can find nothing to connect Anya’s ex-husband Vance Hadlee to the murder. Her search of his family farm leads to more questions than answers.

Then another body is found. A young woman in a red coat, lying in her final resting place, her hip bearing the same tell-tale horseshoe mark. As Josie gets closer to finding the truth, the killer creeps ever closer to home, threatening the lives of those Josie loves the most. Can she put together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle before it’s too late?

A completely unputdownable crime thriller from an Amazon, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Gripping, page-turning and guaranteed to keep you up all night, it’s perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine.

Her flesh burned away like tissue paper. The smell hit her first, even before the pain.

Now that she was out of the hospital and safe beside Noah, her adrenaline had started to recede. In its wake, every bump and bruise from the crash vied for her attention.

My thoughts:

Wow. That’s a first line that will either squick you right out if you’re squeamish or pull you straight into the story because you’ve got to know what comes next. And what do y’all think of the Friday 56? Does it make you want to know more?

If y’all have followed along for a while, y’all know how much I love Lisa Regan’s Detective Josie Quinn series. This, #17 in the series, is no exception. (I’m not squeamish.) If you haven’t read any of the series, this is not the place where you want to jump in. Go back and get caught up first. Then READ THIS BOOK. Lisa Regan, you are absolutely killing me here!

Full review to come soon.

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. It starts each Friday and runs through the following Thursday. Each week, there’s a new prompt featuring a book-related question. It’s designed to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, make new blogging friends, and gain followers. See what others have to say on this topic and link up your own post here.

Have you ever been told that you have an excessive number of books?
If so, what was your reaction? 
(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Yes. Yes, I have. My husband tells me regularly that I have enough books on my shelf and my Kindle, that I don’t need any more, that I should leave the library books be, that we don’t need to go to the book sale. (He’s a reader, too, he’s just not as much of a book collector as I am.) My reaction? “Bahahahaha, you’re funny!” I am making an effort to read the books on my shelf that I know will be one and done, though, so I can then share them with other people. If there are going to be new books, there must be space cleared!

What about you? Has anyone ever said you have too many books? Leave a comment and let’s chat about it!