A Will to Die (Cliff Knowles Mysteries, #7)

by Russell Atkinson

[Mystereity Reviews]

A Will to Die is the 7th Cliff Knowles mystery but also a standalone. What sets this book apart from the other books in the series is that Cliff is a bit of an outsider to this investigation, since it was his estranged sister who died, he was more on the sidelines, not that Cliff let that stop him.

This was an intriguing case, and I have to hand it to the author, he comes up with some pretty unsettling plots (read Fatal Dose!) and this one, a suicide cult preying on Cliff's sister is no different. Lots of twists and turns, what you think is an insignificant scene comes back later to be very relevant to the investigation, so it keeps the reader on their toes. Since Cliff wasn't right in the middle of the official investigation, I really liked watching Cliff and the detectives come to the same conclusions separately by different means. Detectives Sanchez and Martin were a great pair, I liked their friendly rivalry and dogged determination. A sprinkling of geocaching (I always find that interesting, one of these days I'll have to give it a try) and the moving storyline about Denise's daughter gave a human touch to the story.

Overall, another fantastic book in the Cliff Knowles series and a must read for any fan of realistic police procedurals and a good mystery.