East of Evil by Joni M. Fisher is the fourth book in the Compass Crimes series which features a different but linked lead character in each book.
East of Evil focuses on Nefi Jenkins, a want to be FBI agent who was raised in a small village deep in the Amazon rainforest by her hippy parents until their untimely death.
About to graduate, and waiting to begin an FBI internship, Nefi’s world is turned on it’s head when she discovers that her parents set up a trust fund for her with a life changing amount of money.
The trust fund also brings danger as Nefi discovers that some of the money has disappeared and she needs answers from the former trustee.
Whilst each book in the series says it can be read as a stand-alone story, I would recommend reading them in order as some of the plots take place over similar time periods and are referenced here. If you haven’t read the previous titles then this can cause the reader to feel that certain parts of the story were somewhat glossed over.
I found the balance between character and relationship development slightly heavy compared to the plot and story and at times the legal detail was unnecessarily complex in relation to the rest of the story.
The plot twists came as no real surprise but fitted well with the story and my expected outcomes.
I enjoyed the overall story and the central characters are clearly defined making it easy to remember who is who. The main villain could have been better utilised but serves their purpose to keep the plot moving on.
In summary, this is an entertaining read but to get the best out of it then I’d recommend reading the four books in order to allow the characters and semi intertwining plots to develop.
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys character driven light thrillers as long as you’re not expecting a complex action packed plot.