It has been a while since I have read any books by this author and the book didn’t disappoint me. It kept me guessing for a while but I did figure out who the the killer was before reaching the end. Pacing in the book is good even though there are a few holes in the story. I probably would of enjoyed it more if I read some of the earlier books in the series so that I would have the dynamics of the characters relationship. All in all the book was good and she is still a go to when I want to read a mystery.

Kieran Finnegan is a psychologist who is in a relationship with an FBI agent. Bodies of beautiful young women have been found in several areas where they there were crypts and catacombs leading them to investigate and search for a serial killer. The plot is complex and well thought out and the characters believable. Once again Ms Graham has put together another winner. Thanks to Net Galley and Mira for an ARC for an honest review.

I got this book as an advanced reader's copy with the understanding that I would read it and review it.

I wish I liked this book better than I did, but unfortunately, I was not satisfied with this one. While the premise is interesting, and the history behind graveyards and burials in NYC was the highlight of the story, the characters were pretty flat and the dialogue was stilted and unbelievable. Also, the main romantic theme of the book was rather nonexistent, primarily because this story builds upon the relationships forged in the first book of this series.

Far far far far to excessively wordy. Stopped at 25%.

Thanks to NetGalley, Mira Books and Heather Graham for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is the second in a series of books involving criminal psychologist Kieran Finnegan and FBI Agent Craig Frasier. Although I've read other books by this author, I unfortunately hadn't read her first in this series. While this read fine as a stand-alone book, I think I would have enjoyed it more knowing more of the background and interaction between the characters.

There is a serial killer loose in NYC - someone is killing and then hiding/displaying them in underground crypts and mausoleums. There was a long list of suspects, including Kieran's brother, and it was a good read to figure out who did it. I loved Finnegan's Irish pub as well as the wonderful close Kinnegan family. While I thought all the history of cemeteries and underground crypts and tunnels in NYC was very interesting, Kieran seemed to come across bodies a bit too conveniently!

An enjoyable read!

This is a second book in a series featuring FBI agent Craig Frazier investigating a serial killer who kills women and leaves them in underground locations in New York. This is able to be read alone but reading the first book may be beneficial. If you're looking for a well written Romantic Suspense novel this would be it!

Ohhhhhh soooooo gooood!! Was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this, I hahe all of this author's books and eagerly await the next!!

A PERFECT OBSESSION is an intriguing mix of mystery, romance and history. You will find yourself drawn into the characters and atmosphere from the first word and, if you are like me, you want to find that pub and soak it all up. I enjoyed Kieran and Craig and the way they understand each other. Craig might not like some of the things that she gets into but he backs her up unquestionably. I love when author Heather Graham describes her world, especially places that I probably will never see and gives insights most tourists will never find. She also gives a solid history background to get the flavor and feel of her particular world. I have to admit that in this one I felt the pace got a little bogged down by the history of the cemeteries of New York, but it did fit with the killers plans for his victims.

If you want to read about a couple who are learning each other and going slowly to the next step, getting the feel and sound of an Irish family and pub, a mysterious killer in historical settings then A PERFECT OBSESSION will fit the bill perfectly.

~Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

The complete review may be found at http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=62932

This is my first Heather Graham book and needless to say when I looked her up on Goodreads I saw she had pages and pages of novels to her name. Well guess my year is booked.

I liked the previous book in this New York Confidential series much better than this one. It was harder for me to get into and I normally love Ms. Graham's books.

A Perfect Obsession kept me involved and guessing almost until the end the book. Graham knows how to start with a bang and maintain the suspense; her pacing is excellent and her storytelling compelling. The main characters, Kieran and Craig, are engaging and make a good investigative partnership, even if Craig would prefer keep Kieran out of his cases. The plot, while not exactly original, offers more than enough suspects and an appropriately frustrating lack of useful clues to keep me unsure of the murderer until a scene or two before the reveal—and I wasn’t absolutely certain until the reveal. Nonetheless, as with Flawless, I liked but didn’t love this novel.

At least this time, I know why. First, I’m squeamish when it comes to books about serial killers, especially if the book goes deeply into their psychology or gets inside their head. It’s surprising that I like Heather Graham’s books so well, particularly the Krewe of Hunters series, since they often do involve serial killers. But Graham doesn’t always go into depth regarding their twisted psychology; she tends to focus more on the “solve the mystery, find the killer, protect the innocent” angle, which is easier for me to deal with. A Perfect Obsession digs a little deeper into the psychology, partly because Kieran, the female protagonist, is a forensic psychologist, a profiler. Figuring out the killer’s motivation is her job, so naturally it’s going to get a fair bit of page time. There were a few times I had to mentally step back, distance myself from the story and the characters to keep from getting too creeped out. That’s a personal thing, so obviously, if reading about serial killers isn’t an issue for you, it won’t affect your enjoyment of the book at all.

Second, while I really enjoyed the chance to see Kieran and Craig again, I was also a little disappointed. Craig is the perfect FBI agent and boyfriend, but he doesn’t get much character development this time around. I didn’t feel like I knew him any better at the end than I did at the beginning, and he leans ever so slightly toward being a stock character instead of a well-rounded, complex human being. Kieran is more complex, at least in this novel, and she gets a little more character development. She is also a bit more sensible than she was in Flawless, but early on, she pulls another of those let’s-keep-a-secret-even-though-it’s-important-to-the-investigation things that had me rolling my eyes and heaving exasperated sighs. Seriously, Kieran? You didn’t learn from the last escapade that it’s not a good idea to hide things from the FBI, and an even worse idea when the FBI guy is your lover?

To be fair, Kieran is keeping someone else’s confidence, not hiding something she did. And she does persuade that person to come forward before too much time has passed. . . but it still bothered me. I’ll give her a pass this time, but I hope she doesn’t keep pulling this stuff. I have a problem with secrets; they don’t belong in an investigation or in a relationship.

The third thing that bothered me is stylistic: the dreaded infodump. Heather Graham researches before she writes—that’s good; that’s necessary; it’s an important part of creating a believable setting and even getting the plot to work. But in A Perfect Obsession, she dumps a lot of that information in large chunks of dialogue, resulting in one character (not always the same character) giving lectures to another—in this case, a whole slew of history lectures and tour guide talks—that are clearly intended to inform the reader as well as the other character. I know it’s not always easy to find ways to convey information that’s important to the plot, but A) some of this information was more window-dressing than critical, and could easily have been pared down, and B) it almost always sounded like someone is parroting a history book or travel guide, which is just. . . clunky.

Would I read another in this series? Yes, absolutely. Complaints aside, it was an entertaining and at times gripping story. And I like Kieran and Craig, and Kieran’s brothers; I look forward to more adventures with them.


Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

FTC disclosure: I received a review e-copy from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.

If I’m honest, this book was a bit hard to get through. Not because of the writing or the storyline, but this cast of characters was a little easier for me to dislike. And there were so many characters moving around that it also became a bit confusing. With that said, I feel like this bit of chaos also added to the story, since the story is dealing with murders and the FBI is working on it urgently. You have the nosy characters, the ones involved just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then the characters who matter more.

I know Kieran’s character is important in this book (she is a main character), but there were many times where she made me shake my head. I did feel like her character was a bit disjointed. She is this incredibly intelligent woman, a forensic psychologist, and she’s dating this very incredible FBI agent. There is a scene where Craig is telling her to be careful with her curiosity and she says yes but in her very next thought, she’s planning to do some digging on her day off. It just didn’t necessarily make sense to me. Not just because her boyfriend tells her to be careful but her own career would call for her to be aware and to be paying attention. She just seemed sort of “blah” about the danger going around.

I loved the mystery within the story. Heather Graham can do suspense better than almost anyone. She always keeps me guessing and manages to keep me on the edge of my seat in anticipation. I always enjoy the rollercoaster ride I’m on: one minute, I’m working on solving the mystery. The next: I’m in the mystery and am giving myself the creepy crawlies.

Overall, I thought the book was good. I’ve read many Heather Graham books and in all fairness, I think if this had some of the paranormal aspects like some of her other stories do, I think this book would have connected with me more. There were just certain times where the characters would feel this gut reaction or nagging feeling and it just wasn’t really able to be explained more.

Being a fan of Heather Graham's work, I get a little giddy when I open her books on my Kindle. The rush to start another action filled story is always there. A Perfect Obsession is filled with eerie and creepy imagery from the underground tombs of New York, taking the thriller to another level of danger, while the chills were running down my spine.
The suspense in the story is well built and the tension is escalating as more victims are discovered and the Finnegan family is once again right in the middle of it. The constantly present fear and danger, and the acute awareness that Kieran Finnegan is a match to the victims put Special Agent Craig Frasier on the edge, his overprotective tendencies heighten to the extream.
The story is heavily ridden with the history of New York, and especially the history of different graveyards, going into such details that it dulled some of the building intensity from the investigation.
Craig Frasier and Kieran Finnegan met and fell in love in the book one of the series. I enjoy the chemistry between them, the passion and banter between them are entertaining and fun. The relationship is a strong part of the story yet there's no further development or deepening of the bond or commitment between Kieran and Craig as the story progress.
The link the Finnegan siblings have with each other is admirable, I love how their protectiveness of each other often gets them in more trouble than not. It tells a lot about Craig's nature, that they have accepted him as part of the fold so unconditionally, the respect Kieran's brothers have for is obvious.
While not one of my favorite Heather Graham stories, this is a solid tale with escalating suspense that comes into a treacherous and alarming crescendo that had my heart racing. I am definitely interested to see what direction this series will take in the future and if the two single brothers of Kieran will find their match somewhere along the line
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Although A Perfect Obsession is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. There are minor references to past situations but they don’t have much impact on the interpretation of this book. A Perfect Obsession centers around FBI Agent Craig Frasier and his Psychologist girlfriend Kieran Finnegan as they try to find a serial killer that has likely been operating in the Northeast U.S. for several years. Most of the action takes place in New York City and there is a lot of history involved that mainly focuses on how the dead have been buried over the past several centuries. Luckily, the history lesson doesn’t turn out to be so excessive that it ruins the flow of the book. The killer has a certain style and it goes on display when he leaves a body in the basement of a new nightclub where an old crypt is being excavated. The list of suspects seems to grow longer and longer as the book progresses and I still wasn’t absolutely sure who did it.

Heather Graham does an excellent job of showing how Craig and Kieran must balance their professional and personal lives within their relationship without sacrificing either. They have a pleasant flow between them while Craig makes it a point to try and keep Kieran safe without making her seem like she is defenseless. She has a habit of stumbling onto evidence and putting herself in harm’s way. Craig is a capable investigator and he is also well respected by the rest of the Finnegan clan who also happen to own a centuries old bar that’s adjacent to the initial crime scene. Consequently, the bar acts as the meeting place for all potential suspects. Without giving too much away, I will say that the suspense was built up rather well and I never felt like the pace slowed down at all. The murders were sort of gruesome but not particularly over the top. I felt like the writing was very realistic and nothing was so far fetched that I couldn’t see it happening in real life. That’s generally what I like to see in a Romantic Suspense.

All in all, I am definitely a fan. If there are other books to come in this series, I look forward to reading them.

The characters Kieran Finnegan and Craig Fraiser are so good together. Suspenseful story.

I don't think I realized exactly what this one was when I requested it. Instead of a stand alone type series like her Krewe of Hunters books this is more of a continuing series featuring an Irish pub owner/psychologist and her family and an FBI agent. However while Kieran and Craig as well as the rest of the Finnegan family are actually introduced in the first book - Flawless - I didn't feel like I had come in mid-story. It read very well as a stand alone.

I liked the mystery quite a bit. It's got a bit of a Criminal Minds feel with a seriously twisted killer scattering super staged corpses around and a mix of the FBI and the psychology of it all. I had a few suspicions on the killer but was surprised by how the reveal came about. I really love seeing the investigation from inside the FBI with the discussion of suspects and compiling the information gathered from interviews. I feel like I'm right there with them standing around the board debating theories. The setting is fantastic as well. While a New York setting is always great I especially enjoyed the below ground historical look. It's interesting to think just how old New York is and what could be buried below all the newer buildings. I also enjoyed the relationship between Kieran and her brothers as well as the atmosphere in Finnegan's itself.

I did have some issues with this book however. I felt like Kieran's role was a bit ambiguous with the group she works with. She's a psychologist not a psychiatrist like the rest of the doctors yet she's still educated and highly qualified. However, at times they treat her very much as a lackey using her to drop off files at the FBI or to take notes for them. As well, while the characters were all interesting, they all felt a little flat at times and I never felt like I was fully pulled into the book.

While this book isn't perfect it is a lot of fun. When you're in the mood for a light read that's spooky with a twist of romance there's really no one better than Graham and this kept me entertained!

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.5 Hearts So here is the thing. Graham is one of my favorites. I love the Krewe Of Hunters series soooooo much. And I read the first one in this series and don‘t get me wrong it is a good story and I am happy to read the series but it is not my favorite by Graham.

The problem is there is not much originality to this story. If you are a fan of suspense/romantic suspense nothing in this story will come as a surprise.

Now that being said it is still a good read. Just not as good as Krewe Of Hunters.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The body of a beautiful young woman has been found in a catacomb under a church (now nightclub)by a researcher/scientist and his interns. The woman turns out to be a model who has been missing for 2 weeks. Craig Fraiser, an FBI agent has been called in to investigate the case. Kieran Finnegan is his girlfriend and a criminal psychologist who has been asked to consult on the case. This is not the first time they have worked together, but this time Craig is scared since beautiful women are being murdered and Kierean is beautiful. When Kierean is not working as a psychologist she works at the pub she shares with her brothers. As it happens, The Church where the the missing model's body was found, is located directly behind the Finnegan's Pub.

As the investigation progresses it becomes clear that there are more victims and that the killer is close at hand. It is also learned that a member of the Finnegan family has a connection with one of the victims. Could he be a suspect?

I liked this book. I did not love it. I know I would have liked this book more if there were 1. The killers point of view. I think that would have been nice to have. Knowing what the killer was thinking, how he got his victims, motivation, thoughts on police investigation etc. 2. More clues about the identity of the killer. I like to be an arm chair detective and figure things out. These two things would have made this book so much better for me. There is romance (Craig/Kieran) in this book. We also get to see Kieran's relationship with her brothers as well. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. None of them made me feel for them. This book is the second in the series but it does work as a stand alone book. But I wonder if I had read the first in the series would I have cared more about the characters? Nothing really wowed me or stood out for me in this book.

Did not have a chance to read this. Perhaps at another time I will.

Heather Graham has done it again, a great read. This is book 2 in the series. It has engaging characters, interesting storyline. Full of suspense and intrigue. It will keep you guessing until the very end. I enjoyed it very much.