I've tried to read this book a few times and it doesn't seem to stick with me. I definitely believe this is a case of the reader and not the book.

The Wicked Hour: Natalie Lockhart Book 2 by Alice Blanchard

306 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Release Date: December 1, 2020

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Serial Killer, Police Procedural

Natalie Lockhart is a detective with the Burning Lake police department. The morning after the town’s infamous Halloween celebration, a woman’s naked body is found in a dumpster. Natalie recognizes the callouses on the woman’s chin and left fingers as those belonging to a violinist. This takes her back to when her best friend and violinist, Bella, disappeared. Natalie must determine if the killer is a local or someone visiting for the celebration.

The book has a quick pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. Natalie is a flawed but strong woman suffering from PTSD. She must overcome her fears and overcome fears if she is going to solve the crime and come out the other side alive. If you like books with strong women characters, especially policewomen, you will enjoy reading this book.

I didn't realize this was book two in the series. I plan to read book one then read The Wicked Hour before doing my review.

3 stars for an entertaining mystery with flaws. This is book 2 in the Natalie Lockhart series and it would have been better if I read book 1 first. There was a murder of a Lockhart family member which took place in book 1 and Natalie is still grieving. She has pushed away friends who offered her support.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. Thank you to the publisher for an ARC copy of this book. This is my voluntary review.

I enjoyed it and could relate to the main character, Natalie. The author did a good job of planting red herrings, so the bad guy isn't revealed until near the end. The culprit could have been any number of male characters.

I enjoyed how the downsides of trying to be a serious musician were brought into play, things non-musicians would never even think of. And I liked how the world of the occult wrapped itself around the plot.

While the book took a while to really get rolling, once it did, it maintained my interest. One thing that was a bit off-putting was the explanation of basic terms such as post-mortem. Readers in the genre, and I dare say most people, know what it means. There were a few others, but that's the one I remember.

This is my first read by this author, and now that I know there's a first book in the series, I will be looking for it.

What a wicked book as the title says. I was lucky enough to win this from Netgalley, and it is a great book. But now I’m going to get the first one and then then read this again and Wow! Get yourself a great read! Thanks Natalie!

I had no idea this book was a sequel and now I am dying (no pun intended) to read the first book. This book was compelling and surprising. Detective Natalie Lockhart is an excellent heroine.

This was alright but nothing super outstanding to me! I would still recommend to friends and family.

One of my favorite detective series by far, and I'm so excited to dive into the third installment soon! Highly recommend for murder mystery loving readers!

As second books go, this was a little harder to get into and for it to get going.

Natalie is pulled into another murder in Burning Lake. A violinist is found murdered during a Halloween celebration in the town. This brings up memories and more questions regarding her childhood friend Bella who was also a violinist.

I still like Natalie. She's having a hard time after the events of book 1 but she's doing the best she can. I still want her and Luke together so the events at the end were a surprise and I can't wait to see what goes on in book 3!

This is book 2 of the Natalie Lockhart Series. Detective Natalie Lockhart has a case of an unidentified young woman who was found dead. As she uncovers the identity and retraces the woman's footsteps, she uncovers the evil and dangerous killer. Can she stay alive long enough to catch the killer?

I'm a big fan of Alice Blanchard and the first Natalie Lockhart book, Trace of Evil. I was immediately drawn back into the world of Burning Lake and all of the witchy vibes and mysterious goings on in The Wicked Hour. Blanchard does a good job at blending the character development from the first book with the current case at hand. And once again, the setting is just stellar and screams perfect place for a mystery. If you enjoy small town mysteries with strong female leads, some fun witchy vibes and a little bit of romance, add this series to your list. I need the next book, please.

One note: it's very important to read these books in order. There are lots of references to thing that happened in the first book and having that background will really let you understand Natalie.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books & NeTgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one is out now!

This is book two of the Natalie Lockhart series.

When the body of a young woman is found in a dumpster it is up to Natalie to put the pieces of the mystery together to identify the girl and find her killer. She may end up finding more than she bargained for.

I have to admit I enjoyed book one A Trace of Evil a whole lot more. In this latest release, I lacked the connection with Natalie that I previously felt. The mystery behind the killing didn’t hold my attention and I felt my mind wandering throughout. Seems the magic from book one just wasn’t there this time.☹️

I attempted the audio version along the way hoping that would give me a better experience. And though the narrator did a fantastic job I still struggled to stay focused.

Perhaps this was just one of those…it’s the reader and not the book.🤷🏻‍♀️

Will I continue with the series? Hmmm🤔… to be determined.

A buddy read with Susanne.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

Review posted on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

It's The Wicked Hour, in Burning Lake, with Halloween in full force. For Detective Natalie Lockhart, that means patrolling throughout the night. As heavy-duty clean-up from the Halloween festivities is required, Detective Lockhart volunteers and happens upon the dead body of a local woman. An investigation ensues, putting her in the spotlight, which is the last thing she wants.

You see, Detective Lockhart is still reeling from the events of her past, from which she is traumatized.

Though the case puts her through the wringer, Natalie is tenacious and wants justice.

A complex, well-written twisty turny mystery that kept me glued to the storyline. I was, however, vexed greatly by the ending. One can always hold out hope, however.

A buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the arc.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.

Natalie Lockhart is a very interesting character with troubles and flaws. Burning Lake is an intriguing place with plenty of mystery. I enjoyed this story and will look forward to others. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

When I received this novel through Netgalley, I was so excited to pick it up. Although I realized afterwards that this was the second novel in the Natalie Lockhart series and had to pick up the first book before I wanted to start this novel. I went into this book believing it was going to be a 5 star read for me since it includes a detective storyline. I felt that this story was a little less action packed than the first and that made the story lag a bit in some parts.
Natalie Lockhart as a character is well-developed and easy to connect with throughout the story considering how driven and hardworking she is. I enjoyed how procedural this novel was and opened into an insight for people who are crime junkies and love a little mystery in their novels.

I can not wait to pick up the third novel when it comes out and continue this adventure with Natalie Lockhart.
Thank you again for the E-ARC.

The Wicked Hour had a lot of potential to be a gritty, edge of your seat crime thriller, and it does have its moments. It has good pacing, and the author gives us a few solid suspects to ponder over. However, there are a few things that bothered me about this one. First, it is the second book in the series, and while that usually doesn't bother me, there were things mentioned in this book that I assume referred back to events in the first book. Maybe it was just me, but I felt like I was missing information that I needed to better understand the character. Then there's the dialogue. It was stilted a lot of the time, and a lot of things just didn't work for me. It felt like everyone was witty and full of deep thoughts to share. Sometimes, conversations aren't particularly deep. Some of the characters are quirky, but it's a little over the top. In the end, there were things I liked and things I didn't. I think Blanchard knows her stuff when it comes to the crime and detailing the case, but the secondary stuff could use a little work.

Super unexpected and twisty! Really enjoyed the development and quick pace without much lagging inbetween intense moments. Really unpredictable.

This is the second book in a series and it is really important to read the first book Trace of Evil before this one, as there are many events within the first book that shape Natalie as a character and the town as well.

Alice Blanchard is back with the second book in her Natalie Lockhard series, and during Halloween all thing afoul in Burning Town, including murder:

Burning Lake is known for it's connection to Wicca, so that means that people come from far and wide to take part in the Halloween fun that occurs each year. Every police officer is expected to help out in some fashion to help keep everything in line. Natalie goes above and beyond as she also volunteers the next morning to help cleaning everything up, but leave it to Natalie to find a young woman lying dead in a dumpster, with no ID. So the search begins to find out who this woman is, why she was in Burning Lake. But this case also bring up more from Natalie's past, something she had not thought about in a very long time, and with recent events already on her mind, Natalie doesn't know if she has it in her to work on another murder. All that keeps her going is the need to keep busy and to get justice for the murdered woman.

This was a good second book in the series, but I do not think that is it as good as the first. This book had a tricky balance to follow up from the events in the first book, as there are many events that occur in the first book that really shape Natalie. You can see at times Blanchard’s struggle with the mystery involved in this book and then personal struggles that Natalie is going through, she is unsure which should take center stage. I don’t think Blanchard gets it quite right, I found more time was spent on Natalie focusing on her own trouble and not that of the case she is working and understandable if this was the real world that is how it should be, but in book format it really slowed the book down.

As with the first book and the Pager, this one seemed to get a few details wrong the main one that irked me the most was people do not use Vaseline to block smells (of a dead body), they use Vicks. I wonder who is proof reading her books, anyone with a police background? Also, I don’t understand why Blanchard has Natalie switch between calling her parents by their first name and then call them mom and Dad. There are times when I forget their first name and then in the next sentence she states that it is her mom, why not just stick to mom?

I really really missed the Wicca aspect from the first book, I mean i feel like Balnchard has created a unique opportunity by having her books set in burning town and then not taking advantage of it in this book. Yes there was little bit about Wicca here and there but nothing like the first book, and that is where the first book shined.

Well I got it wrong who the bad guy was, so that always boosts a book in my opinion if I cannot figure it all out. There seems to be too many options in Burning Town and I appreciate that Blanchard fooled me till the very end. I just wished more of the book was spent on the mystery aspect and i feel like there are certain things that remained unresolved in the book especially around her high school friend, Bella, which I have Blanchard addresses at another point as I feeling like I was left hanging on that aspect in the story. I mean it does play a main part in Natalie's thought process in the book, so it seems off that all was not addressed there.
This book was good and it does have a lot of character development for Natalie but I found the book to be slow, the mystery aspect too a back seat and I missed the Wicca aspect. All that said I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Enjoy!!!

This is the second book in the series. And while it isn't absolutely necessary to read the first book, I found it helpful to do. In fact, I started to read this book, quite after a couple of chapters, went back to read the first book, then restarted this one. So I recommend reading the first one before this one. You'll get a better feel for the characters. Plus, the events of the first book are still impacting the relationships in this book. And some of the events in this book might seem a little too convenient unless you have the background from the first book.

Over all, it was an enjoyable read. The town of Burning Lake might seem like a quite New York town, but it is a messed up place behind the scenes and built on a terrible historic event. I found the main character to be a little difficult to connect with until I read book one..