I would like to thank Netgalley and Trident Media Group for a review copy of Random Acts, a short novella set in New Orleans which serves as a prequel to the Lightkeepers series.

Michaela "Micki" Dare, recently promoted to detective, is transferred to eighth division, the posh end of New Orleans and is immediately sent out to a homicide where a former Mardi Gras krew queen has been battered with her sceptre. The case is open and shut when CCTV shows the perpetrator. When a similar murder happens days later Micki suspects there is more to it.

I have not read the Lightkeepers series so I have no preconceptions. Random Acts is, however, an excellent example of a novella. As befits a prequel there is plenty of information on Micki's background but it also crams in a tight plot and some light humour. It doesn't take long to read but there is no padding and it held my interest throughout.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy Random Acts by Erica Spindler that I read and reviewed.
I really enjoyed this book that introduced Micki Dare who is one of the main characters in the Lightkeepers Series. This was a short story that was meant to give some backstory on Micki while telling the first crime she solved while working in the Eighth.
This was a very good story and it was nice to get some insight on Micki. I am giving Random Acts five out of five stars.

For those who have not read the Lightkeepers series, this is the perfect place to start. If you have read the series, or part of, this makes a very good prequel. It's a fast, easy read, with only 111 pages.

This introduces the reader to Michaela Dare. She's a brand new detective for the New Orleans police department. She gets a call to investigate the murder of a former Queen of Carnival. Think Mardi Gras. The woman has been bludgeoned to death with her scepter, which is missing, as well as her crown.

Luckily there is security and the tapes show the person responsible. Case closed. That was easy. Then she's called to another murder .... another Queen of the male gender. And once again, the killer is caught on tape. Another case closed.

But Michaela's gut feeling is that something else is at play here. Her seasoned partner doesn't agree with her.. he wants to let the cases stand, do the paperwork, and go home. So Michaela does what she does best ... she goes it alone.

And then there's a third murder .. this time she feels the evil. This evil may cost her the one person who means everything to her.

I've read the 5-star series and this is a delightful addition. Michaela is a tough cookie, and struggles with issues from her childhood. But nothing is going to stand in her way of putting the bad guys away.

There is a slight cliff hanger, but this one doesn't blunt the story at all.

Many thanks to the author / Double Shot Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of RANDOM ACTS. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.