Author: Beverly Long
Series: A.L. McKittridge #1
Publisher: MIRA
Released: February 18^th, 2020
Received: Net Galley
Warnings: Murder, kidnapping, animal death, fertility issues
Rating:

I received a copy of Ten Days Gone through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ten Days Gone is the first in a new mystery series, A.L. McKittridge, by Beverly Long. It’s a mystery series following two detectives (one of whom the series is named after). And it’s also already proving to be a series worth following.

Four women have died so far. Each and every one of them was found ten days apart, with each scene looking nearly identical to one another. If A.L. McKittridge and his partner, Rena Morgan don’t do something quickly, in another ten days, a fifth body will be found.

So far, they’ve found no connection between the victims. But they have plenty of reasons to be concerned since their killer has been smart enough to hide all traces. So far. But even an expert killer must mess up eventually, right?

“The headline after the third murder had been expected. Baywood Serial Killer Strikes Again.”

Warnings: So most of the warnings are pretty (okay, seriously) obvious in this case. There are kidnapping and murders. There’s also a quick reference to animal deaths, and some mentions/implications about mental health. Also worth noting; there’s a subplot involving fertility issues and complications.

Ten Days Gone was a brilliant start to this new series. I found myself enthralled within the first chapter, and ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. I just had to find out what happened next – and more importantly, who was behind all of these killings.

The start of this novel intrigued me right away. It’s not every day you pick up a mystery where four bodies have already been found. It established a pattern (or lack thereof, depending on what you’re looking for), but it also jumped the plot farther ahead than I expected. It ended up being an excellent decision, as it clearly caught my attention.

I’ll admit that it took me a bit of time to become attached to the detectives newly introduced in this series; A.L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan. I love how these two work together, and the glimpses into their lives did make them feel much more human, so all of that helped.

As for the mystery itself? I really enjoyed following it along, trying to figure out how it all connected before the final moment. I love it when a mystery novel leaves just enough breadcrumbs to make it possible – but not easy. I feel like that balance was found here, and is arguably one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much.

On the whole, I really enjoyed Ten Days Gone, and am very much looking forward to continuing the series as more come out. I know that I’ll be adding A.L. McKittridge to my pull list!