Gone for Good is my first book by Joanna Schaffhausen definitely won’t be last. A thrilling mystery that hooked me from page one all the way to the ending. I loved Annalisas character and how even though this was a thriller all aspects of her life including romance were involved. Can’t wait for the next book

Gone For Good ✨REVIEW✨
“Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.”

Okay I totally want this to become a series so I can follow Anna on her journey because I absolutely love her! Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for this advanced copy. This book will be released in August and you will want to grab your copy!! You can preorder now!

This book follows Annalisa, a detective who is following up on a murder of a woman named Grace Harper, who was part of cold case mystery solving group that was looking into the Lovelorn killer. Seeing this woman murdered in the same way many other woman were murdered in the past brings up bad memories. One of his victims was a friend of her families and her then boyfriends mom. Her dad worked on the case to no avail. Now it seems the Lovelorn Killer has returned after 20 years. Annalisa stops at nothing to solve this cold case and heal her family and friends. Secrets will come out that can never be forgotten or taken back!

Annalisa was an amazingly strong character and very brave. I want to be more like her, but I’m not very daring. I really liked Nick and Colin as well. To be honest, I liked all the characters except for the Lovelorn Killer. I applaud the Grave Diggers and how much effort and work they put into their unsolved cases! I hope for their to be a book two with more mysteries with Detective Vega!

📖 @joannaschaffhausen
📖 @Minotaurbooks
📖Out August 10, 2021
📖 Thriller

#justonemorechapter #netgalley #minotaurbooks #goneforgood #joannaschaffhausen #detectivebooks #thelovelornkiller #detectivevega #annalisa #thrillerbooksaddict #bookobsessed #addictedtobooks #addictedtoreading #sundayreading #februaryreading #kindlebooks #morebooksplease #bookstagrammer #bibliophile

This book kept me on my toes from the first page to the very last. A roller coaster of a story. Annalisa Vega is a cop trying to catch a serial killer who has started killing again after being dormant for 20 years. But this book is so much more than that. A wild ride from beginning to end separates it from a lot of other thrillers. Every time I thought I knew who the killer was, I was proven wrong. I inhaled this book page by page. I would recommend it to any fans of thrillers or suspense novels. Five stars, easily!

A really good novel starring Detective Annalisa Vega. This is a cold case where The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women then disappeared. This is a great mystery. It pulled me in from the first couple of pages. The novel was suspenseful, I thought I knew who it was a couple of times only to be proven wrong. If you want a book to pick up and read through in the first sitting this book is for you. I loved the suspenseful twists and turns to this book. I’ve never read Joanna Schaffhausen, but I’ll be looking for her next book!

I received this book through NetGalley.com in the kindle format a review was not required. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Description
Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it rights and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew—how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

If you like this kind of book, this is a great example of the genre. Bonus points for fresh sounding (reading?) dialogue, and for the addition of a couple of mini-mysteries to keep the main story from getting stale.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.  

Annalisa Vega is a detective, the daughter of a detective and she lost someone she cares deeply about to a Serial Killer when she was a teen. Grace Harper is an online sleuth investigating this serial killer who gets much closer than she imagines.  When Grace is killed in a similar style to the murders she is investigating, Annalisa must begin to follow the trail of this killer in order to bring him in.  Annalisa partners with her ex-husband, who is also a police officer to find the killer, but the killer is much closer than either of them could have imagined.  

I really enjoyed this book.  It was fast-paced, engaging and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

As a teenager, the mother of Vega's beau was a victim of the infamous Lovelorn Killer. Vega is following in her cop dad's footprints when the the killer becomes active after 20 years. His newest victim Grace, was involved in the Grave diggers, a web club that researches cold cases. What did she uncover? As Vega and her team investigate many questions and closet skeletons come to light and the action heats up. Closely plotted and with good character development this was a strong opener to what could be a solid police procedural series.

I'm wary of detective novels, since they usually fall into such a predictable pattern, they're often not very engaging. This one was a pleasant surprise! A main character that's not an alcoholic, a couple moments of real, nail-biting tension, and some well flushed out character development. I would definitely read more in this series.

I had the chance to sample a few chapters from this book from a the Minotaur Sampler Volume 2 - of books to be released Spring/Summer 2021. I am SO happy that I had a chance to find this book amongst the 4 others in that sampler! I was hooked from the first 3 chapters or so.

Annalisa Vega is a detective whose most recent murder case ties back to a murder of a neighbor from her young adulthood. A serial killer has emerged 20 years later, confusing the police about where he/she has been all this time. The story takes a couple of interesting twists and turns and has an even more shocking ending. Could you see it coming? Sort of ... but you still don't believe it when it happens!

All-in-all, I am very happy to have been exposed to this author. I will absolutely read more of her books!

This review was also published on Goodreads.

Annalisa Vega is a newer detective. When she was just a teen, the Lovelorn Killer ripped her family and neighborhood apart. Grace Harper is part of a group that calls themselves the Grave Diggers. They are amateur sleuths that try to solve cold cases. Grace thinks she has figured out how to get the Lovelorn killer to come out of where he's been hiding for the past two years. Detective Vega and Grace's path intersect when Det. Vega is called to the murder scene of Grace. Annalisa is now trying to figure out why the Lovelorn Killer has come out from hiding 20 years later, and she ends up in his crosshairs. She also wants to catch the killer because she thinks that he also killed her teen self boyfriend's mom before he went into hiding; as she continues to investigate, people around her start getting seriously injured or dying because the Lovelorn Killer can't seem to make contact with Annalisa. While she is trying to solve this mystery, she is also dealing with both her ex-husband and her boyfriend, from when she was a teen, coming back into her life due to the case. Some clues are thrown the reader's way, and that leads to the reader questioning who is really on Annalisa's side and who isn't who they seem to be. We also get to read notes that Grace took before her death on both the Lovelorn Killer case and another case, which it is nice to get some perspective from a character that is no longer alive. There are also two other cases that are twisted up between the Lovelorn Killer and Grace that Annalisa is trying to solve. The only minor issue I had was that her parents are called Ma and Pops for most of the book, and towards the latter half of the book, someone called them by their given names, and it threw me for a loop for a second. This book definitely had me on the edge of my seat.

What happens when a serial killer starts killing again? Is it a copycat or is he back after 20 years? I liked this one. The amateur sleuth group was a great storyline. The plot twist at the end was a real surprise. Action packed.

Twenty years ago The Lovelorn Killer bound and tortured seven women in a bizarre ritual sending love letters to the local newspaper addressed to his victims. Grace Harper is a member of a group of amateur sleuths that look into unsolved cases. Grace comes dangerously close to discovering the identity of The Lovelorn Killer. After years of silence The Lovelorn Killer resurfaces and Grace becomes another victim. Annalisa Vega is the detective called to the scene of Grace’s murder. Seeing the horrific scene brings back memories of a murder of a close family friend that had been a victim of The Lovelorn Killer. Annalisa is determined to find the answers that eluded detectives years ago and finally identify the killer that ruined so many lives. This was a quick read that kept me up all night reading.

Fun and fast read! Totally engrossed and here for all the twists and turns this book put me through! Excellent murder mystery with excellent characters!

#GoneforGood
#MustRead2021
Another hit for Joanna Schaffhausen! What a great suspense thriller! Gone for Good should stay around. LOL! It is a edge of your seat mystery that will have you buzzing right through it.

I couldn't put this book down. I like to guess who the killer is, and every time I formulated an opinion I ended up being wrong. Really wrong. It had everything a good thriller has - a good detective (extra points for being a strong female!), lot's of twists, character development but not too many that you can't keep track and development on the case as it happened.
I can't wait to see what comes next for Annalisa Vega!
Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read this before the publication date!

What a fun read! Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen is the first in the Detective Annalise Vega series. This was well written, and I like the character development. The plot was engaging, and action packed, full or twists and turns. I enjoyed this book even though some of the twists were obvious. The ending was not as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I cannot wait to see what happens to Detective Vega next.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

Thank you #Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Gone For Good by Joanna Schaffhausen. I read the Ellery Hathaway books by this author and loved them so I thought I would give this new series a try. I am so glad I did, this book was fantastic! I loved the characters - Annalisa is a wonderful main character and I can't wait to read what she does next. The story was intriguing and I loved Grace's notes and how they added to the story. Of course, I knew the writing would be stellar as it was in the previous books.
My only regret is I will have to wait a long time for book two!

This murder mystery involving a serial killer and a sleuth club is riveting I was hooked from the beginning and didn't figure out the amazing twists at the end. A very good read that I was happy to discover is planned as part of a series
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

This book had me hooked from the start and didn't let up until the very ending. I wanted to keep reading and never stop! I really enjoyed all of the characters and their personalities, and couldn't wait to see around each new twist and turn. I highly recommend this book! Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.