Cold Heart Creek (Detective Josie Quinn, #7)

by Lisa Regan

[zooloo1983]

Ms Regan what have you done to me! This is by far my favourite in the series, holy mackerel! There is a running theme of books I have been reading lately…cults. This is a super creepy topic to tackle as it is, but when Regan got her mitts on this subject she made it ten times worse.

Josie finally got her holiday at last woohoo!! We see her and Noah back from that holiday and her nightmares are back and this time with such a force and a vengeance I would not want to sleep either! She is struggling to keep her past firmly in the past with constant phone calls from Mundy about her ailing “mother” Lila – less said about her the better. This case, a missing woman and two people dead at a campsite in the forest is hitting Josie hard. Not a few hours later, a pregnant woman in the throes of labour is found staggering around the roads. Are these cases linked? And why is The Sanctuary, a peaceful communal living place under scrutiny, is there more than meets the eye? Is Charlotte, the owner, as innocent as she makes out she is? Cults and communes I tell you!

God some of the scenes I was holding my breath so much! Travelling into the hermit’s cave in the dark! I mean all I kept thinking about was the awful horror film The Decent where you can’t see what is in front or behind you and anything could come out of the darkness right at you! No thank you! If that wasn’t bad enough, further things happen to Josie and the action was so packed I was reeling with what was going on and if anyone would be safe again! Welcome back Josie hope you enjoyed your holiday!!

The struggle for Josie to not blur the line between personal and professional in this book was hard for her especially in the guise of one person and that is all I can say. Demons have to be faced and it has been a hard journey for Josie, my heart did crumble a little bit for her each time we relived her past in her dreams. Bloody Lila!!

Yet despite all this, Josie is a powerhouse, she refuses to give in and give up. She won’t be pandered to and she will keep going until the case is closed, even refusing to go home until the mystery is solved. This is what a heroine looks like to me. She does accept her weaknesses but she uses them to push through and channel it into the case she is working.

I do love everything about this series and the team, (still waiting for a book with Mettner as a focus point #justsaying) they all work so well together and like another of my favourite series they are a well-oiled team. I mean Gretchen walking into the office and knowing exactly who wants what food and drink without calling ahead – magical! Such a tight team.

I will say it again, this is my favourite book in the series, I thought the last one was but each time Regan writes something more devilish and dark and makes me sit there and think Woah! I am not sure what else I can say that I have not already said on my previous five reviews…and yes still need to read book one and two! I will say do not read it as a standalone, I mean it can be, but my recommendation is to read them all. You get more of an understanding of Josie and where she is in her head especially as she tries to understand and make peace with her past. Cold Heart Creek is actioned pack, it fast and thrilling and leaves you bated breath waiting for the next claustrophobic experience to happen!

I will sit here and wait now until I can read the next book and meet Josie again! Regan is an author I wholeheartedly admit that I would pick up a book written by her without reading the blurb…I mean that is what I did this time!