This is book # 3 in the Craig Burch series featuring the Miami Cold Case Squad. But it is also part of the Britt Montero series.

When a skull is unearthed by a bulldozer at a development site the Cold Case Squad gets assigned the case. Seems that Spencer York, a notorious child-snatcher and self-described champion of divorced fathers, didn’t just skip out on his bail. The hole in the back of his skull clearly indicates that he was murdered and buried wrapped in a tarp. Fortunately his wallet survived, including identification, and a business card for reporter Britt Montero, possibly the last person (save the killer) to have seen him alive. But where is Britt?

Britt has been hiding out at an island retreat for several months, recovering from the grief of losing a loved one. She returns to Miami ready to resume her police beat and gives the Squad what little information she has in her notes, but is quickly involved in another immediate story. A honeymoon couple suffered a boating mishap and only the groom survived. There is something so heart-wrenching about this man’s grief and Britt is full of empathy – at least until she tries to contact him for a follow-up story only to discover he has left no forwarding address. Good reporter that she is, she does find a friend of his and as they talk about the honeymoon tragedy Britt discovers some shocking new facts. Before long Britt uncovers the hard truth. This isn’t the first time the groom lost his new bride on their honeymoon – it’s the sixth!

There is a great plot here – heck there are two. But Buchanan seems to have lost her way in all the back and forth, complications, false leads, multiple suspects and back stories. Don’t get me wrong – she’s a great writer and really knows how to craft a suspenseful page-turner. I was drawn in and interested from the outset. Her characters are larger than life but mostly believable. I like the back stories of the detectives and how they came to their jobs, their strengths and vulnerabilities. However, this book is really mostly about Britt’s story and the Cold Case Squad members have little to do but occasionally support her. Of course, Buchanan had to include the old rivalry between Britt and CCS leader K C Riley, and she hints at a new partnership between Britt and one of the detectives on the squad.

Part of the problem, I think, is the book’s structure. There are occasional page breaks with a brief “wrinkled sticky note” that announces Britt or Cold Case Squad. These separate the sections. Only Britt’s story has chapter numbers, however, making the CCS’s story seem like a superfluous afterthought. But the bigger problem with the book is the resolution. At the close of Britt’s chapter twenty, with just fifty pages to go to the novel’s end, we’re left with a serious situation and Britt in real danger. We jump to the Cold Case Squad solving the Spencer York case in a totally unbelievable (and convenient) way. Then we’re back with Britt and some over-the-top plot twists, and a cliff-hanger ending.

So we have a suspense thriller that is heading for a 3.5-to-4-star rating and the author just sort of abandons both plots and goes for a quick ending. What the H??? The ending is arguably the most important part of a mystery/suspense novel and Buchanan totally blew it (in my humble opinion). I give her 2 stars for the first 85% of the book. That last 15% was a complete disappointment.
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Buchanan comes up with two interesting storylines and two unexpected (if slightly unrealistic) twists but her dialogue and writing style are not very smooth. One detective speaks Spanish and immediately translates himself into English, for no apparent reason. The point of view switches between reporter Britt Montero, the series's main character, and the Cold Case Squad, each working on two separate cases. Fans of the series may enjoy the developing relationships between the characters but, on its own, this book does not satisfy. ( )

An enjoyable and somewhat surprising outing, ending up way far away from Miami! There is an implication that this might be Britt's last case, but my paperback copy has a preview of the next book, so... On the other hand, the next book might not be Britt, so we'll just have to see. ( )

This was a fastpaced very good mystery. Britt Montero, pregnant, is on the trail of a serial murderer who kills his brides on their honeymoon. ( )