4 stars!

I was a bit worried because I did not read the first book in this series, but I felt like I knew what was happening. I really liked the characters in this book, and the combination of corruption and murder led to a very great book. I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

We following Emma Lawson in this 2nd book – you don’t have to have read book 1 – I have but you can easily pick it up without.
Emma is an Ethics Investigator working on a large train travel expansion, somethings seem off, and after a visit of a student things seem to line up. Her friend Alibi Morning Sun is working is looking into the drowning of Emma’s boss son, and somehow some of the same people are showing up.
Emma’s missing father turns up and Emma is faced with re thinking her past.
Page turner from the beginning, who needs sleep …
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an early read.

The second of the Emma Lawson series, Under a Broken Sky by author Kris Calvin is a crime mystery. Set in Sacramento, Emma is a government ethics investigator and she suspects possible corruption in the train station redevelopment that warrants closer oversight. Three seemingly insignificant crimes within twenty-four hours perturb Detective Alibi Morning Sun: a storage depot fire, hit run and art gallery painting attack don’t usually warrant the major crime team’s involvement. Then Emma’s place is burgled, another murder occurs and the mystery deepens as someone wants to protect their million-dollar payday. An enjoyable read, if a slow burner of a tale that results in a tense finale and most surprising revelation. Read as a standalone story and with pleasant characters, it makes for a three and a half star rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

An interesting plot and synopsis, but I really had difficulty getting engaged in either the plot or with the main characters.
I finished it, but it was just an ok read for me. Nothing really leapt out or was a wow factor in the reading.

As soon as I was through chapter five I knew I was in for a good read. At this point I already liked Emma, Alibi, Breno, Kate and Luke and I wanted to know more. The rest of the characters were equally well developed. The threads are introduced - a murder made to look like a drowning and an explosion at a storage facility. Add corruption to the $30 billion San Francisco - Oakland under water tunnel crossing and things are going to get dangerous. There is a killer out there willing to do anything to protect a very, very big payday. If Emma gets too close the killer will not hesitate to stop her - permanently.
The alternating points of view with Emma and Alibi are seamless and the writing style flows very well. The mystery kept me engaged to the last page, the kind of read that makes you want to stay up past your bedtime to finish it. It's that good. I had missed the first book in the series, All That Fall but now I have that to look forward to from the library.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Emma is an ethics investigator looking into California's train travel business and her friend Alibi Morning Sun is a homicide detective trying to solve what appears to be a set of linked murders. The two collide when Emma saves a man from a warehouse fire- and then another body is discovered. How the corruption links up to the murders- no spoilers from me. Know that there are several subplots involving Emma's family and her friend which might have meant more had I read the first book (my bad). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Emma and Alibi make a good pair and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Emma Lawson has to face her inner demons regarding her parents and at the same time press on the search for truth in the concession of grants to renovate areas in San Francisco. She gets entangled in a series of murders, and arson, and in order to find the culprit she sees her own life in danger as well as those of some of her loved ones. Kris Calvin is giving bits and pieces of the characters, and their reactions, therefore, she constructs a big tapestry that clarifies all the wrongdoings. Under a Broken Sky weaves the past with the present, and is beautifully written, mixing mystery, suspense, crime, romance, familial troubles, women leadership, and career aspirations, and has a good ending.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

"Under a broken sky" is a riveting tale of corporate greed, missing ethics, murder, cover-ups, corruption, betrayal and lies that kept me awake once I started reading because I just couldn't stop. Intelligently painted characters, especially the witty and fearless main protagonist Emma Lawson, contribute to the coherence of the plot and to the fact that the book leaves the lasting impression that the story told could happen right here and right now.

I enjoyed Kris Calvin's All That Fall, so I was excited to see what ethics investigator Emma Lawson (along with Alibi Morning Sun and Luke) was up to in her follow-up Under a Broken Sky. I read almost the whole thing in one sitting, and it was full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. With all that, Calvin still managed to throw a bombshell in at the end.

Fans of All That Fall will NOT be disappointed.

I’m always a sucker with mystery books which shows a detective or investigator investigating about a murder. There’s just something about going and living the journey through them and this book delivered in that prospect.

The writing was fabulously done, the relationship between characters, the plot twists, the setting, the pace everything was so amazingly done.

Highly recommend reading this one out <33

This new instalment about Investigator Emma Lawson is enthralling and exciting!
A real page turner!
I am already looking forward to the next book.
An easy 4 star rating ⭐️

Under a Broken Sky by Kris Calvin is a superb read with an engrossing plot and vibrant characters. Well worth the read!

Under A Broken Sky continues the story of Emma Lawson, an ethics investigator in California. Her current investigation involves a billion dollar project to expand train travel in the state. She knows something is off but can't quite put her finger on it. As she is looking into the train project Detective Alibi Morning Sun is trying to figure out how a drowning at a lake months ago could be connected with a recent murder. What Emma and Alibi don't immediately realize is that the person behind the train project issues is the same person responsible for murders. Kris Calvin does a good job of building tension without sacrificing character development. The dynamic among Emma, her friend Kate and Kate's son Luke continues to change and evolve while Emma and Alibi keep looking out for each other. I will look out for another book in this series in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Nothing beats a good crime story with the unexpected twist at the end. Emma may be all about ethics but is a true detective at heart. Juggling work, home and family drama she manages to hang on to her sanity and bring it home.

Emma Lawson is an Ethics Investigator in Sacramento, California. Her boyfriend is the head of the homicide section of the Sacramento Police Department. Their cases and happenings around them are overlapping and in a very short period of time (a couple of days) there are a lot of complications and new happenings. The story is very fast paced and full of surprises. It kept me guessing. I loved the characters and their different personalities and was overjoyed to find a book where people were somewhat "normal" and good-hearted (except for the villains of course).

This is one of the best suspense books I've read in a while. Now I have to go pack and read the previous book of the series to get up to speed because I am now following this author on Amazon and eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Once I started reading the prologue, it kept me hooked until the end!

The atmospheric feels in the writing kept me really surprised in between compared to how the story started.

I love the short chapters! A clever way of keeping the reader hooked and it just achieved that!

I find the characters totally convincing and engaging. The plot is thick yet it will sound familiar to you. However, what you think you see is not going going to be what you would get.

I am the occasional detective thriller reader as most of the detective stories fail to keep me hooked till the end. However, books like this stands out.

Even though the book is a part of the Emma Lawson series, I feel you can read this book as a standalone.

The various characters involved are introduced in a manner the reader will find it easy to distinguish and remember them. Each has a separate role to play. Kate is one such dynamic character after Emma I would say.

You cannot help worrying about Emma the entire time since chapter 2. Let's keep thinking about Alibi, shall we?

The highlight of the book would be the parts of the unknown man who's perspective is given in short in between the longer chapters.

For the writing, I am already quite impressed and I am already looking up for the other books by the author.

Have you read the classic "To Kill a Mockingbird"? If you have, like I have, you will find the book more interesting and amazing!

Go for this one without thinking twice.

Thank you, Crooked Lane and the author, for the advance reading copy.

Emma Lawson is a respected investigator working on a big project involving Sacramento’s train station. But what she doesn’t know is that theres a much darker plot behind just corporate greed-there’s murder and coverups as well.

Detective Alibi Morning Sun, one of Emma’s friends, is working on a series of connected crimes that span over a time-span, and are uncovered to be related to Emma’s work with the train station. At first it was just a drowning, but when a building is set on fire and someone is found murdered nearby, both Alibi and Emma suspect that something is very wrong.

Using their different investigative skill-sets, they eventually come to the same conclusion, uncovering the murderer, arsonist, and the entire depth of what they are dealing with.

I liked this book, it kept me engaged and I honestly did not expect the ending. Another aspect I liked about this book was that there wasn’t just one bad guy here, which was a nice twist to the normal thriller! I also liked the use of two different types of investigators, as Alibi is a Detective and Emma investigates money in the train project, and how they intermingled with each other.

This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley. It is a quick read with believable characters. The author has woven a story of mystery and intrigue about characters who get into one predicament after another. Enjoy this one.

Wow!! What a read! This book screamed at on its virtual shelf with such an amazing cover! I am glad to say, it did NOT disappoint. I was absolutely hooked & would most definitely recommend!

This book was worth reading but still just ok for me?! It had light suspense, intrigue, good investigative work but the storyline was just , smooth I guess? It just went on like a normal story nothing like omg keep me on the edge of my seat type?! So its definitely ok reading for me but that was it! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!