Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

This is the third in a series of books featuring LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, and I really wished I had read the previous books before this one. It would have helped greatly in keeping all the characters straight. There are a LOT of characters and the author has the odd habit of referring to them by either their first or last names, with no pattern, which made it even harder for me to keep track of who was who. And there are a few characters who seem to just pop up in a tangential way, not really contributing to the story, but having something to do with Margaret (Maggie, Mags) Nolan's life.

The story begins with murder, or rather a series of murders, which have no seeming connection to anything else. The second chapter is about a man reading a letter about an ancestor, again, no connection to the story? FINALLY, in the third chapter, we meet Margaret Nolan, who is playing golf, which she hates. The fourth chapter introduces Daphna Love, who we don't see again until a good deal further into the book, and have no idea why we met her.

There seems to be a total of five (or six?) murders, some related, some maybe related, that are finally solved by Detective Nolan, with the help of colleagues and friends.

I did like that I never guessed the murder before the end, but it was so confusing I don't know whether I would have anyway. Truthfully, I lost interest about halfway through and had to force myself to finish reading the book, as there were really NO sympathetic characters that I even cared about.

It is really not very often that I dislike characters as much as in this book. I not only disliked the characters, I disliked what the characters seemed to be saying about the author. Who could write people this badly?

I am disappointed because I have liked other books from this author and in this series. My mind constantly wandered throughout this entire thing whether I was listening to the audio book or reading the ARC. I had to force myself to finish. I hate forcing myself to finish.

This book is the 3rd in the Detective Margaret Nolan series and takes us along on another murder mystery, this time filled with the characters of the "rich and famous" LA actors and their lifestyles. A deep-fake video surfaces of a much-beloved actor that threatens to ruin his career. That actor, Evan Hobbes, is then found dead in earthquake rubble....but the detective discovers the actor was dead before the rubble took him down the side of a hill. Following along with Detective Nolan and her co-horts as they follow their leads brings forth both personal and professional drama as we are huystled through to the conclusion. As I have read both previous books of the series, I would have liked more interactions with Sam Easton, war veteran with PTSD, as he always adds another dimension to the story as well as to Maggie's personal side. However, this story was quite a journey through a multitude of characters, both main and fringe, who played a part in solving the murder of Ethan Hobbes. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #TheDevilYouKnow

There was some potential here with this book, but ultimately it felt a little like a wordfest and I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. I usually connect with the lead, in this case, Margaret Nolan, the detective on the case. I love imagining that I'm with the detective following in the footsteps of a killer and I sort I put myself in their shoes (or in their significant other, sibling, parent, friend, etc. at times: see Kate Burkholder) and I just didn't feel like Margaret Nolan and I had much to share. There is a cool mystery and some thrilling moments and if that's your thing, go for it, but I was bogged down with the wordplay. I also think, since I haven't read the other books in the series, that I was maybe outside looking in since I hadn't delved into Nolan's world previously. That's on me, I suppose. Perhaps I'll go back and give 'em all a read.

#FirstLine ~ The ocean was singing in the hushed, undulating tones of low tide on this still, damp night.

The third in the series, however this is the first I have read. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, the setting and enjoyed the story. I find this genre of books to be so engrossing. I loved being pulled into the world of a good whodunit! A interesting and engaging mystery, with a few twists and turns!

While reading this book, I realized I need to read more mysteries that are only mysteries. I read romance, paranormal, and horror mysteries but never just plain secrets (if that makes sense). So, I was eager to read The Devil You Know. While I liked the book (and the story), I needed clarification during parts of the book. I don’t particularly appreciate being confused when I am reading. That did make for a less-than-ideal reading situation for me.

The Devil You Know had an exciting plotline. Detective Nolan has been assigned a disturbing case. A famous actor has been discovered dead in a rockslide. The death is suspicious because the day before, he had been the subject of a deepfake video that ended his career. Within a few days, the top executive where that actor worked is found murdered. The person that links the actor and the executive: the agent representing him and his family ties to the executive. It is up to Nolan to determine if the actor was murdered, committed suicide, or died in an accident. While doing that, she is assisting in the murder investigation of the executive. What Nolan finds out is so earth-shattering that it will shake her to the core. What does she find out? Who was willing to frame a well-liked actor in a deepfake video? Why? And how is the executive’s death connected to it?

The Devil You Know is the 3rd book in that Detective Margaret Nolan series. While readers can read this as a standalone, I recommend reading the books in order. Some parts of the book made me scratch my head because I didn’t know the backstories.

The characters in The Devil You Know were well-written, but I felt a certain disconnect with them. If I had read the first two books, I would have understood more about Nolan’s background. I also would have understood more about some of the secondary characters.

Detective Nolan—I liked her. She was smart, and she worked well with others. But there was also a sad element to her character. I feel it was because of her brother’s death (which is linked to another secondary character). She also emphasized with the victims’ families and, weirdly enough, the murderer. I loved seeing her process of finding out who the murderer was.
The Devil You Know fits perfectly in with the mystery genre. I loved the red herrings that she put out!! Talk about distracting, and I did feel bad for those two women (as vile as they were). The author kept me guessing until the end.

The storyline with Detective Nolan, the actor’s death, the deepfake, and the investigation were wonderfully written. The author had me double guessing if it was an accident (because of testimony from his friend/hostess of the party). Even when it was determined a murder (and no, not a spoiler, the detectives figured it out fairly early), I loved watching the investigation turn to suspects. There was another murder (with the same MO) and the revelation of the murderer. I was shocked at who it was because I didn’t see it coming. I also did feel bad for that person because of the trauma that person endured. But still, no excuse. Oh, and let’s not forget the deepfake. That was the cherry on top of this whole investigation. Once they figured out who it was, it was all downhill.

The storyline with Detective Nolan, the executive’s death, and the investigation were as wonderfully written as the first investigation. The author kept this one more under wraps than the other investigation. But still, I liked seeing how the detectives investigated it in tandem with the actor’s murder. There was a twist to that plotline that wasn’t revealed until the very end of the book. One that made me go, “Holy crap.” Because whoever went to jail for his murder didn’t kill him. The real killer’s identity stunned me.

The storyline with the agent, murders, his relationship with the movie star, and then his murder did take me for a ride. For the longest time, I thought the same thing Detective Nolan did. He did it and covered it up. Of course, there were a few red herrings sprinkled in that storyline. The big twist in that one was how the detectives figured everything out. I won’t say what, but he was a pretty intelligent guy for doing what he did.

I went back and forth on putting a trigger warning on this book. I ultimately decided to do it because what was discussed was disturbing. My trigger warnings are mentions of child pornography, deepfake videos, drug use, and alcohol use. If any of these triggers you, I highly suggest not reading this book.

The end of The Devil You Know was okay. The author wrapped up the first two storylines, and I thought they were over. But then the author tacked on that final chapter that blew everything about the second murder out of the water. It was indeed a twist that took me by surprise.

I would recommend The Devil You Know to anyone over 21. There are language, violence, and sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warnings.

I want to thank St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and P.J. Tracy for allowing me to read and review The Devil You Know. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

DNF

I really enjoyed P.J. Tracy's Monkeewrench series. The latest book from P.J. Tracy - The Devil You Know - is the third entry in the Detective Margaret Nolan series.

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for the mother-daughter writing duo of P.J. and Traci Lambrech. Sadly, P.J. Tracy passed away in 2016. Traci has continued to write on her own.

Which makes it all the harder to say that this newest book is a rare DNF for me. The premise sounded good - a female detective on the LAPD force and the death of an actor. But it was the delivery for this reader. I even went back and read the first few chapters, but it was the same on a second reading.

I gave the book fifty pages, but had to call it a day by that point. I found the prose to be overwrought and the sentences to be too long. The use of many alternate choices for commonplace descriptors felt like a thesaurus had been used deliberately.

Here's a sample:

"The bold, black headline possessed astonishing metaphysical properties, like the power to rearrange his anatomy: his heart was beating in his stomach, which was now in the the vicinity of his throat, and his balls had apparently departed from his body altogether, because he couldn't feel them." All one sentence.

The book opens with a murder - promising in this genre. Then a new chapter with a letter from 1864. Then we meet Sam, then Margaret, then Daphna, Seth, Evan and Becca. I'm sure there are more, but this hit the 50 page wall. More and more characters are added without clarity. What has happened? What is the role of all these players? Sadly, by then I had lost interest. I was hoping for a good police procedural. But The Devil You Know was all over the place.

Not the book for me. But, loads of people enjoyed this title - I encourage you to read those reviews on Goodreads.

I didn’t realize when I picked this book up that it was book three in a series. Most of the time with mysteries that doesn’t really matter much, but in this case I don’t recommend starting in the middle of this series. I found the style to be a bit chaotic and it was hard to keep characters straight. I think this was worsened by not having read the previous two books, but that wasn’t the complete problem for me because I had equal trouble with the reoccurring characters and with the characters specific to this book. The chapters cycle quickly between perspectives (although sometimes sticking to one character for a couple just to throw you further off), but sometimes I didn’t know what perspective I was reading for a paragraph or two. The mystery was not bad, and I like the resolution a lot. It was interesting, but hard to get invested into because of the confusion I struggled with. I think there’s a lot of potential here especially because I liked the main detective quite a bit.

Another Hollywood murder, a beloved star who maybe isn't so beloved after all, incredible wealth and conspicuous consumption, amazing clothes, jewels, cars and food can't offset a total loss of moral compass.
Abuse, exploitation, deception, betrayal, all the good stuff.
The story is ok, none of the characters are particularly likable so I found it a bit hard to find too much sympathy for them other than the waste of opportunity for the characters

I read "The Devil You Know" by P.. J. Tracy on NetGalley. This is a mystery book with a murder in Hollywood. The main character is Margaret Nolan, a detective with the LA police department. A famous actor ends up dead after a fake video appears with him. I believe this book is one of a series but it can easily stand on it's own also.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for accepting my request to read and review The Devil You Know.

Author: P.J. Tracy
Published: 01/17/23
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

This didn't work for me. I finished the book; however, it took a great deal of restraint. I was thoroughly disgusted with the level of swearing that supersedes profanity. Women's genitalia jointly with Christian faith is pure trash.

The book had too many characters, and flow charts were not included. The dialogue ran on and on. I was reading on Kindle, and it was frustrating. With a physical book, I could have flipped and scanned.

The Devil You Know, Detective Margaret Nolan #3, brings back our favorite LAPD detective for a Hollywood #whodoneit. The murder mystery drops the reader in the Hollywood hills where a famous actor has just been found dead after attending a party of a studio executive. Over the course of a few days, those close to actor are found dead too.

The cast characters range from police officers, agents, a local veteran, musicians, housewives and actors. We learn about their personal lives through the course of the investigation, and how they intersect with the multiple deaths over the course of days.

The Devil You know dives deep into police procedures and complex characters through a series of sub-plots that overlay with the murder. There are considerable storylines, so best to pay attention in the beginning. I was turning the pages deperately trying to figure all the connections. I only wish I had read the first two books in the series, but this one read well as a stand alone.

An intriguing read with unexpected twists.

Thank you Minotaur Books for the complimentary copy.

Los Angles is one of the smallest big cities in America, maybe the world. The six degrees of separation can shrink to even two or three, most of this involving the entertainment business. This explains how in the terrific police procedural, The Devil You Know (Detective Margaret Nolan #3), there are murders in different jurisdictions but all connected. Margaret is a new member of LAPD's famous Robbery Homicide Division.
It starts with the possible murder of Evan Hobbes, the beloved Disney star, who’s body is found in the rubble of an earthquake. It’s not obvious at first whether or not Hobbes has committed suicide. Earlier in the day a deplorable deepfake video is released on the internet showing showing him as a perverted child molester. Most people believe it he video is a deepfake, and that the FBI will not have a problem proving it to be so. Then again Evan's death could be an accidental death or even murder.
Evan’s body goes over a Malibu cliff while attending a party at the home of the head of Disney. All I can say, if I am ever invited to a party at a Hollywood executive’s home, I shall send my regrets. However I think I’m safe enough from dangerous invites. Evan was the first, but far from the only body connected to this ill-fated party.
As mentioned earlier different jurisdictions become involved. Not earthshaking news in a police procedural, but its refreshing to read about actual cooperation; just as it was also refreshing how Margaret’s new partner and mentor Al Crawford continues to support and mentor her. Good for you Ms. Tracy, turning police tropes on their heads.
Margaret’s former suspect and now almost friend, Sam Nolan is not much in evidence in The Devil You Know , but Sam is a large presence just by being Sam, and he does aid the investigations.
This was one of the first books I have had to use the press-the-word dictionary feature of Kindle. I found it aggravating and unnecessary. Before you think I’m an idiot, let me give you a few examples, tenebrous and paradiddle. I could almost reach the meaning through context but not quite. There were a few paragraphs I had to read two or three times to understand.
The Devil You Know , might take a little more effort to read than other police procedurals, but it is worth the effort. Ms. Tracy doesn’t write junk, she is original, bringing even minor characters to life, they are more than wall paper.
Not all murders are solved, and not all deserving murders take place-or so most of the characters think.
Once again Ms. Tracy has proven she is one of the best crime writers I have read. Tracey combines original stories and characters. Her sensitivity in writing about PTSD is not as much in evidence since Sam Easton doesn’t play a major part, but with Margaret Nolan, Tracy demonstrates PTSD comes in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons. She also shows progress is being made in treatment and understanding.
The Devil You Know has one of the best final lines I have read in a very long time. Not a twist, but just a fabulous summing up. Don’t cheat and read it early!
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s/Minotaur for an ARC for review purposes.

Hollywood, known for glitter and glamour, has a dark side and no one is more aware of that than homicide detective Maggie Nolan. Evan Hobbes, a popular actor, was a golden boy with a bright future. That is until someone posted an explicit fake video of Hobbes involved with an underage girl, ruining his career. When a minor quake hits, Hobbes’ body is found in a mountain of rubble. Called to the scene, Maggie notices bruising around his throat. His accident is quickly confirmed as murder. Hobbes’ agent Seth is quick to blame Becca, the head of the agency. Her agency is in financial trouble and the fake video of her client could lead to more losses. Hobbes’ death is soon followed by the murder of the head of a studio where he worked, revealing reasons why someone could want to ruin him. As Maggie and her partner Al search for answers the body count grows.

P. J. Tracy does a wonderful job of misdirection. Each time a possible suspect is introduced, revelations take you in another direction. Maggie and Al are well developed characters and their conversations demonstrate their compatibility. What started with a cybercrime and murder twists into a conspiracy with ties to an incident years in the past. When Hobbes’ true past comes to light, the detectives can finally begin to untangle a web of events. Tracy ends with a twist that made staying up to finish this book well worth it. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for losing my review of this book.

This is a great police procedural with a lot of twists and turns. (Maybe I didn’t read the fine print) but, I didn’t realize this was part of a series. So, there were some points of the story that I didn’t quite get. There were a few too many characters for me to keep track! The plot was entertaining, fast paced and enjoyable. A very good read.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Devil You Know (Detective Margaret Nolan #3)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 294 / Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers

An A-list actor is found dead after a disturbing video of him with a child is leaked online. He swore it was a deepfake and he was being set up. Detective Maggie Nolan investigates the celebrity world of agents and actors.

Although this is the third book in the Detective Margaret Nolan series, you can easily read it as a one-off like I did because there isn’t that much going on in her personal story to follow. Nolan is just your typical tough female detective in LA.

Overall, I thought this was a decent story but there wasn’t anything really special about it. What I really didn’t like was the ridiculous use of unusual words and phrases. Thank goodness I read in my iPad and iPhone so I could look them all up. Good luck if you’re listening to the audiobook.

Thank you, @Netgalley and @StMartinsPress for the advance copy of this book.

The Devil You Know, by P.J. Tracy, confirmed my conviction that series should be read in order. Characters and relationships are developed over time. Unfortunately, I did not notice that this was the third entry in this police procedural mystery series. Much of the time, I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters that floated through this story. I found the police work interesting and the lead character, Nolan, compelling. While well-written, this story ran headfirst into another of my biases ...Hollywood settings that reek of all sorts of excess and superficiality. It just bores me. Nonetheless, I awarded three stars as I doubt that I am the most reliable reviewer of this particular book. Potential readers should consider other reviews as the author has a strong following that encourages me to take a chance on the first book of the series. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC.

I tried, I really tried. I got to about 46% and just couldn't go any further. This is my first book by the author and maybe if I had started with book 1 it would have been better for me. I just could not wrap my head around all the characters that were thrown in at the beginning and I had no clue what was going on. I might try starting from book 1 sometime and then re-read this one and see if I can read the whole book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

Popular Disney actor Evan Hobbes is reeling from the release of a video that shows him abusing a very young girl. With his career in ruins, he attends a party, drinks too much and is found in the rubble of a minor landslide the next morning. Was it an accident, suicide or murder? Margaret Nolan investigates while her friend war veteran Sam Easton tries to decide what comes next for him. She interviews Seth Lehmann, Evan’s obnoxious, self-centered agent who was one of the last people to see him alive. Seth’s gorgeous actor girlfriend Daphna Love is connected to both men. And Seth’s boss, the formidable Rebecca Wodehouse, is the woman everyone wants to see as the chief suspect. Answers to this Hollywood puzzle won’t be found until the final chapters of The Devil You Know, third in the Margaret Nolan series, and a mystery that you won’t be able to put down. Strong, well described characters, a carefully constructed complex plot and a Los Angeles location make this a compelling read but the seedy side of celebrity is the real star here. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and P.J. Tracy for this ARC.

I enjoyed this much more than the last one I read in this series. Good story. Nice flow.

Thank you #netgalley and #St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the eARC.