The second in The Texas Murder Files series, Flight, takes us away from Austin and to the coast of Texas. Bailey’s sister, Miranda, needs a break and decides to head to Lost Beach to focus on her passion of being a wildlife photographer. While out shooting one morning, she stumbles upon two dead bodies. Joel Breda, the lead detective on the case, knowing that Miranda is a seasoned Crime Scene Investigator can’t help but try to convince Miranda to join the investigate. But as the investigation continues, the two get closer to not just solving the case, but to each other too.

I adore Laura Griffin’s work. I had no idea romantic suspense was a genre until I stumbled upon Hidden last year. Griffin is a master at this genre and I’ll pretty much read anything by her at this point. With that said, I was a bit confused on how this book tied to the first in the series, there is no crossover between these two books, so for a while I actually thought I had just remembered Hidden all wrong. Once I understood that we were jumping not just towns but sisters, I felt everything flow way better. So while this is apart of the series, it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Flight, as most of Griffin’s books¸ had the between blend of mystery and romance. I found both our leads to be interesting and could feel the chemistry between them. The atmosphere is vivid and even the side characters are as flushed out as they can be in a 300page book. I also enjoyed that I didn’t figure out whodunnit before the big reveal, so I always appreciate a mystery that leaves me guessing.

As a note, I did start this one on audio, and I didn’t love it, so switched to print. The narrator wasn’t bad per say, I’m just super picky when it comes to them.

Griffin’s books are always a comforting and easy read for me. I’m excited to see where else this series goes!

Flight is out now. Huge thank you to Berkley Books and Dreamscape Media for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

This was a good mystery read. I really liked the build up of the characters and the twist was good. I really like Griffin’s books. Also the narration was good!

This was my first book by this author and I didn't realize a series. Nonetheless, i enjoyed the characters and their story. Miranda, a forensic photographer, is taking a break from work when she comes across a murdered couple. Romance ensues with the lead detective as they attempt to solve this case. The pacing and characters were good and interesting. I'll definitely try another by her.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. I was bored for a lot of the book and just couldn't connect with the characters. I liked it less than book 1 (4 stars) and not sure I'll continue the series.

As an avid kayaker, amateur nature photographer, and lover of thrillers; I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it had too much romance for my taste.

First thing's first: the opening scene is great. It's not overwritten and the setting is very clearly established. The whole murder mystery aspect is great at the beginning.

The protagonist is just ~perfect~ and ~beautiful~ and ~totally observant~ and never misses a trick though, and it got exhausting. Not to mention, the excellent tension that is built up by the actual story is completely derailed by the graphic descriptions of sex. Like, this book aimed to be a good murder story, and then veered into the oncoming traffic of erotica. It was gross, it was jarring, and I hated it.

The conclusion of the mystery, which seems to only have happened because It Was Time For The Book To End is absolutely ridiculous and makes literally ZERO sense. A real missed opportunity for the author to successfully lay out a story. Incredibly lazy.

The narrator of the audiobook is Teri Clark Linden and she's unremarkable, apart from the...um...gross gasping etc. during the squicky sex scenes.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

I couldn't get into this story or connect to the characters. I found the characters bland and a bit boring. The romantic and sexual overtones the protagonist had for the leading man seemed out of place and pulled me out of the story numerous times. The narration was good, but not enough to hold my interest.

Such a quick and exciting read, I would’ve liked a bit more but the audiobook was great. I loved the narrator and think the intended audience would love this!

I really enjoyed this thriller. It was to me more of a love story than a police procedural. But the story-line is fast paced and well written. I enjoyed the interaction and chemistry between our MC's Miranda and Joel. It is an inasta luv story-line but fits the overall storyline arc. Fun read with a good surprise ending.

This book was gripping. I was sucked in and could not put it down! The concept was so unique, I loved this book.

I feel bad leaving a bad review for a book that clearly wasn't my cup of tea but was liked by so many others. I went into this expecting to read a thriller with mystery and suspense. What I got was cheesy, eye rolling romance, a condescending main male character, and a mystery that offered very little suspects so the reveal was a let down.

Flight by Laura Griffin
Narrated by Teri Clark Linden
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Publication Date: April 27, 2021
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers

Flight by Laura Griffin is the second book in The Texas Murder Files. I had not read the previous book (but I will be!) and this was easy to read as a standalone mystery/romance.

I absolutely loved this book! I had the feel of a procedural without being pretentious! The characters were interesting and very likable. The story was fascinating and fast paced and I absolutely loved the mystery!

I look forward to reading the previous book in the series and any futures books to come. I really enjoyed the author's writing style!

The narration by Teri Clark Linden was incredible! I really enjoyed her take on this book!

I'm so grateful to Laura Griffin, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I found this book very hard to connect with and a slow burn of a mystery that never seemed to reach its full potential

I did not know this was the second book in the Texas Murder Files. I did not feel that I missed anything by reading this book first. I liked that romance aspect of this story more than the suspense/mystery part. The murder-mystery was to convoluted and was to far fetched for me. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job.

I really enjoyed this mystery set in a coastal town in Texas. The romance between Miranda and Jonah was hot and heavy - wasn't expecting that!! I thought the characters were great and now I want to go back and read the first book in the series. I also thought the narration on this audiobook was great.

<i>I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publishing via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I really enjoyed this. The audiobook was so well done and made me like the characters even more. I am kind of infatuated with Austin after reading this and can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Rating: Narration - C+ ; Story - B- = 3.75 stars.

Flight is book two in Laura Griffin’s Texas Murder Files series; I read book one, Hidden, when it came out last year but the two are only connected tangentially (the heroines are sisters) so Flight works perfectly well as a standalone. I’ve enjoyed a number of books by this author, but – and I had this issue with the previous book in the series as well – the balance between the two elements of the story is unequal and the plot is developed at the expense of the romance. Fortunately, the plot in Flight is interesting and well-developed enough to have held my interest, and as usual, Ms. Griffin provides lots of interesting background about forensics and police procedures.

Blaming herself when a mistake by one of her team led to the collapse of the case against a child-murderer, CSI Miranda Rhoads – a specialist in forensic photography – quit her job, took up a teaching position in San Antonio and moved to the Texas seaside town of Lost Beach hoping to regroup and centre herself again. She likes the slower pace and the quiet, and is (sort of) making a living as a nature photographer – which is why she’s out on the marshes at the crack of dawn waiting for the perfect shot when she finds a canoe tethered in the reeds… containing the dead bodies of a young couple, their arms entwined as though in sleep, a feather held in one of the young woman’s hands.

When Detective Joel Breda arrives at the scene, he’s annoyed to discover that they’re still waiting for the forensic team to arrive – and with a storm about to break they risk losing evidence. He questions the woman who found the bodies, and is impressed by her eye for detail and no-nonsense manner – and even moreso when, as she’s leaving to go home, she tells him to make sure the CSIs bag the woman’s hands because of the feather.

Later that day, Joel and his colleague Nicole – a trainee detective – are examining the photos from the scene – which he’s surprised to discover were sent in by the “photographer lady” rather than their own forensic team (who haven’t provided any yet). He wastes no time in looking her up and then going out to the house she’s renting to ask her a few follow-up questions – and then to ask her if she’ll agree to come on staff, temporarily, to work the investigation. Lost Beach PD hasn’t had a CSI on staff in months and with tourism ramping up for the summer, they’re already stretched thin and could really do with the help.

Miranda turns him down – but that doesn’t stop her from doing a bit of sleuthing on her own when she drops into the local nature centre to see if she can find out what bird the feather came from. Finding out it came from an endangered species is one surprise. Another is the news that she’s not the first person to have asked questions about an exotic feather found at the scene of a murder. Around a year earlier, a property developer was killed, a feather was found at the scene and his murderer has never been caught. Could the feathers form some sort of message? Miranda doesn’t know, but she takes the information to Joel – and then agrees to take the job.

As the team digs deeper, they discover other unsolved murders that may be linked to the case, and the possible involvement of a group of environmental activists – and when Miranda is targeted, it’s clear there is someone out there willing to go to great lengths to keep their involvement a secret.

The mystery in Flight is nicely done – intriguing and well-paced with some good twists along the way, and the relationship between Joel and Miranda works fairly well (better than the romance in the previous book), because the author sets it up early on rather than leaving it to the last minute, and the attraction between them hums along in the background right from their first meeting. The thing about it that didn’t work for me however, was Miranda going to bed with Joel – and then telling him they shouldn’t have done it and that they can’t do it again. And then doing it again. And then saying they shouldn’t have done it and can’t do it again. And then doing it again. Maybe she should have put the brakes on BEFORE they got jiggy rather than after?

I did enjoy the story, but the characters aren’t all that well defined and are nothing I haven’t read before several (hundred) times over. Joel is a good guy – honest, reliable, protective and super hot, with a broken heart in his past that he’s put behind him; Miranda is spunky and better at her job than anyone else (and good at sending mixed signals – see above) and is trying to get over her burn-out.

Teri Clark Linden is an accomplished narrator, with over 200 titles to her credit at Audible in a variety of genres, but this is the first time I’ve listened to her. Her voice is clear and easy to listen to, her pacing is good and her performance is expressive overall; the dialogues are performed in a very naturalistic way and she keeps things moving nicely. But she doesn’t have a wide variety of ‘character voices’ and portrays male and female characters at more or less the same pitch, so I needed to rely on dialogue tags a lot of the time. I did like Ms. Linden’s interpretation of Miranda – her intelligence and her vulnerability really come through in the performance – and where she uses regional accents for characters, she uses them consistently.

This is the first time I’ve listened to an audiobook review copy via the NetGalley Shelf app, and I don’t know whether it was something to do with the app or a deliberate choice on the part of the publisher to discourage piracy or whatever, but the sound quality wasn’t that great. It was treble-heavy and a bit tinny, and I noticed a few instances of background noise in the early stages; I received the copy after publication so I have to assume it was the retail version.

Ultimately, Flight was a bit of a mixed bag. I liked the story, but the characters were a bit bland, and I can only say that the narration was ‘okay’. I freely admit however, that very few female narrators work for me these days, so YMMV. I will probably continue with the Texas Murder Files – but in print.

I enjoyed this audio book - both the story and the narrator! Laura Griffin does an amazing job of researching and laying out a great mystery. Her attention to detail keeps the pages turning and adds credibility and interest to every story she writes. Her characters are well-rounded and likeable. Miranda, the female lead, is smart and independent. The chemistry between her and Joel is believable, and I appreciate the way she lets the relationship build.

The Narrator, Terri Clark Linden, has a pleasant voice and does an excellent job with changes in characters. She has great pacing and made this audio book enjoyable.

Flight is a romantic suspense novel about a woman, Miranda, who goes to a remote beach town to escape her past as a forensic photographer. Unfortunately, she finds a dead body and meets an attractive detective.

My issues with the story surround the plot. There is not enough romance to consider this a romance novel, or enough thrills to be a thriller. To to this, the book fell flat for me. I wanted more romantic tension, or more focus on the murder case. By the end of the book, I was underwhelmed and unsatisfied.

I did listen to the audiobook for flight, and found the performance good. No complaints.

I received this audiobook in exchange for my honest review for NetGalley.

Laura Griffin has a way with romantic suspense! In Flight she introduces her readers to two new characters Miranda Rhoades and Joel Breda. I find Miranda to be captivating in the way she thinks, plans, and approaches so many things in what seems to be who is she is in life and in her profession. Joel is the hot headed pulse pounding part of the duo that runs before he walks and I like it, makes him a detective that gets results and the job done. The two characters compliment each other and are really well developed and you feel a pull to them on a personal level. I am still newish to Laura Griffin but have found she writes phenomenal, sets so much detail you feel like you are in the story from start to finish, and really sets the whole tone and development of the book as it unfolds! I have started getting more books off my TBR list that have her name on them and wanting to dive into more romantic suspense just from being captivated and intrigued by her writing style! It was different to listen to this instead of read it as I don't have much experience with audiobooks, but I found it to still be a great book and enjoyed a different format. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to enjoy this book!