This is book five in a series that I have not read the previous books. I felt quite lost through much of the book and highly recommend reading the series from the beginning.

Even not having read the previous books I can tell that fans of this series are going to love it. There are many enjoyable twists and turns and, it appears, some new characters being added.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 5th book in the Detective Quinn and FBI Agent Costa Series; I had not read any of the series prior to this and felt lost from the beginning. I needed the background of what was going on in order to fully understand. I will be going back a reading them hoping to get some things cleared up.

Without reading the previous books I still think that this book was full of twists and turns; it kept me engaged throughout and I enjoyed it!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC!

This is book 5 in the series and I recommend reading the previous books to get the most out of this one.

Kara Quinn is an LAPD cop assigned to Matheus Costa's FBI team. who are investigating the federal & state programs to house the homeless. Violet Halliday is a city hall IT tech rebuilding a crashed server when she realizes records related to housing the homeless are missing from the database. When a lawyer begins an investigation and asks for Kara's help, Kara finds herself a witness to his murder.

Allison Brennan explores the fraud and graft that can happen when checks and balances aren't in place to provide accountability for vast amounts of money.

This fast-paced novel involves a twisted path to justice, and a revelation in Kara's personal life and romantic leadings.

Great series because of the two lead characters. Kara Quinn and Matt Costa. They just work so well together, it makes it easy to fall right into the story, which is the mark of a great book for me. The Missing Witness is the fifth book in the series, but they can be read standalone as enough back story is there to enhance the reading of this series.

Kara Quinn heads back to LA where she had been undercover to testify at the case that sent her to the Mobile Response Team when her cover was blown. I like Kara’s struggle here with returning to LA. The action starts right away and doesn’t stop which I absolutely loved about this book. The pace is quick, the action moves along at a great clip throughout, with breaks to catch your breath just in the right place.

The relationship between Kara and Matt also grows in this installment. I love how things are progressing here and here’s where I do like the slower pace of their building relationship. I just really like this aspect of the overall story and it is what draws me into the series. I know I’m going to get a great story from this author, but it’s the romance that brings me back.

Overall, a very satisfying suspenseful story. If you haven’t tried this series and author, I would recommend checking out Quinn & Costa!

Kara is back in LA to testify against an infamous human trafficker. But, when the trafficker is shot in broad daylight, it turns the case inside out. Secrets start to surface and Kara Quinn has no idea who to believe.

This is part of the Quinn and Costa series. It is not necessary that you read them in order. But it is nice to have a backstory about these two and their past.

Quinn and Costa are a great pair. And Kara Quinn is at her best in this book. I love how she questions everything and everyone…including her friends. She knows someone is lying and she will not stop! And of course, Matt Costa is her calming influence. He can bring Kara back to earth.

This story has the reader all over the place wondering what is going to happen next. The hunt for the truth keeps everyone guessing. This is a fast paced thriller you do not want to miss.

Need a good mystery with a chase…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

📚✨ Book Review ✨📚

Allison Brennan delivers another gripping installment in the Quinn & Costa series with 'The Missing Witness.' Detective Kara Quinn's return to Los Angeles for a human trafficking trial takes a perilous turn when a key witness vanishes, throwing her into a vortex of murder, mystery, and explosive secrets.
Brennan's writing skillfully weaves a tapestry of suspense, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with unexpected twists and turns. The dynamic partnership between Kara Quinn and FBI special agent Matt Costa adds depth to the narrative, blending romance seamlessly into the heart-pounding suspense.
'The Missing Witness' is a well-crafted police procedural, featuring a strong female protagonist and a labyrinth of conspiracies. Brennan's vivid descriptions and fast-paced storytelling make this novel a definite page-turner, offering a thrilling and entertaining experience for fans of romantic suspense.

Very grateful to the publisher for this review copy, opinions are my own

Another story with Detective Kara Quinn at the center, but this one felt different, she is back on her home turf in Los Angeles, CA and what starts as a normal visit with her testifying in the case that made her leave the city. But of course, nothing is normal and things go down hill very quickly with murder, shady cops and a whole lot of investigating.

Before I go further as I said yesterday with the previous book in this series, I really suggest the reader starting at book one in this series as the character development from book to book is important and it helps to know where Kara Quinn has been before you go into this one.

This book felt different from the others, but that was a problem for me, the only thing was the HUGE cast of characters to keep straight. From LAPD to FBI to non police officers, this book had such a huge cast and it took a lot of concentration to keep everyone straight. AND of course some are the culprit, so having to keep my eye on them made for some slower reading, but that was not because of the pace. The pacing in this book was fantastic, while I may have personally slowed down so I could gather all of the evidence, Allison Brennan keeps the plot moving and from one bomb shell to another, this book kept going and going!

I wonder if this is the last of the Kara Quinn series, I wouldn't mind more and see where she goes after this one concluded.

Allison Brennan is at her nail-biting and chilling best with her latest page-turner, The Missing Witness.

Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles about to testify against a notorious human trafficker. The pressure is on and the stakes have never been higher for the detective who finally feels as if she can move past the case that had turned her whole world upside down. But Kara quickly realizes that she cannot get too comfortable when the accused is shot in broad daylight and the witness who can crack this case wide open has disappeared. When another person is killed, it’s clear that anyone connected to this case is in danger – including Kara!

As everything she has believed and always thought to be true is once again upended, it is imperative for Kara to find the missing witness – even if it means putting herself in the line of fire. As shocking revelations come to light within the LAPD and the FBI, the only person who can help Kara in her hour of need is the only man she can trust: FBI Special Agent Matt Costa. Can the two of them find the missing witness? Or have Costa and Quinn run out of time already?

Allison Brennan’s The Missing Witness kept me up until two in the morning frantically turning the pages and desperate to find out what was going to happen next! Tense, propulsive and compulsively readable, The Missing Witness is a creepy, unsettling and captivating tale full of danger, menace and suspense that is absolutely impossible to put down.

With The Missing Witness, best-selling author Allison Brenan once again proves to be a writer who is in a class of her own in the crowded field of crime thrillers and I am already counting down the days until her next book.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Missing Witness is book 5 in the Quinn & Costa Thriller series by Allison Brennan.
This is a well-written, entertaining, romantic suspense novel.
It has a strong female protagonist, vividly described settings, murder, mystery, intrigue and suspense. There are many twists and surprises which keep ramping up the stakes and tension throughout the story.
A thrilling police procedural. The mystery is a nail-biting, action-packed ride that I couldn’t stop once I started. The mystery element in The Missing Witness is magnificent and totally engaging.
This was a definite page turner that I blew through.

Thank You NetGalley and MIRA for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Intrigue and corruption go hand and hand in this Quinn and Costa match up! It takes a minute to get caught back up on what's going on with Kara Quinn, but then we are quickly thrust into the heart of her past as danger lurks around every corner and who to trust isn't so clear cut anymore. I love the core cast of the Mobile Response Team and the underlying romance between Kara and Matt and the corruption coming to light in this story was unreal but super entertaining. I really hope to see more of this team soon!

Kara Quinn is a really endearing character. She's tough as nails and dishes the attitude out with the best of them, but she's learned a lot about how to rely on someone since joining Matt's team and connecting with her partner and teammates. I really like her.

I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who enjoys a police procedural with lots of twist and turns as they try to get to the heart of the case at hand. A great series for fans of Bosch, Criminal Minds, etc.

Detective Kara Quinn and FBI agent Matt Costa are back in the fifth book in this series. There is a lot going on in this story, both professionally and personally. Kara has been reassigned since a man involved in human trafficking, has put a large bounty on her head. There also appears to be at least one officer/agent providing information to the wrong people. The story devotes quite a bit of time to the plight of the homeless. It broke my heart to see how much money is invested with no positive results.
The ending left the door open for some forward momentum between Kara and Matt in the next book. As usual, it was an enjoyable read.

4/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advance reader copy of this book. The Missing Witness is filled with twists and turns, some I didn’t even see coming. Once I hit the 60% mark I couldn’t put it down. The plot is complexe and layered. Allison Brennan did her research on the homeless crisis and the fraud and corruption going on was eye-opening.

My only complaint is that I found the number of characters to be confusing, especially when referred to by the first or last name. However, that may be because this was my first read of the series. I plan on catching up and reading the first 4 books!

It took me more than a week to finish this book, after I had to stop and start over so many times. I even read several books in between, because the book overwhelmed me. I think that it is partially because I went into this blindly. I hadn't read any of the other books, but I loved the description and went for it. I realize now that was a grave mistake on my part. I finally finished the book, but I hated that it took so long. The book was interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns. However, it wasn't enough to make me love the book. I liked it, but I am confident that I would have liked it more if I had read the other books in the series first.

I've lived in SoCal for over 70 years, and I have to say that I absolutely believe that something like the events described in this book could really happen, especially in Los Angeles. Seeing the homeless on every block and encampments in public parks makes me a firm believer in Brennan's Homeless Industrial Complex. This book is complex, and the plot is complicated with lots of twists and turns although the baddies were known throughout the book. The suspense comes in how the good guys figure it all out.

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Kara Quinn had her life changed nine months ago when she was a part of a bust that when bad. David Chen, a human trafficker was captured but he is fighting the charges all the way. After a bounty of $1 million dollars is put on Kara's head, she is loaned to the FBI to get her out of town. She's back for a hearing in the Chen case and suddenly the case is turned upside down when Chen is murdered, and the only eyewitness, a whistleblower on her way to revel explosive information, is missing. When the DDA in charge of the case is murdered right in front of Kara, she knows that this case is about more than a human trafficker.

Matt Costa and Kara are determined to find out both the who and the why as this case reveals some deep corruption in Los Angeles government and they both know that there are some real bad actors in both the LAPD and the LA-FBI. Who do they trust, because trusting the wrong person could get them all dead.

My thanks to the Publisher and the Author for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

Kara is an LAPD cop on loan to the FBI because her cover was blown on an investigation when her case now becomes tied to that prior case. Grants for homeless housing and services come into question with implications of dirty cops and corrupt administration and politicians and people are murdered to eliminate loose ends. Loved the twists and turns of the investigation as links and secrets are discovered and love interests develop. This would make a fantastic series for streaming!,

Thank for the ARC to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing! #NetGalley #TheMissingWitness

3.5 stars

The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan is the fifth in the Detective Quinn and  FBI Agent Costa Series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin - MIRA and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Under Assistant Director Tony Greer,  Special Agent Mathias Costa runs the new Mobile Response Team at the FBI. The goal is to travel to locations which have minimal law enforcement and offer their assistance. The team consists of Matt, analyst Ryder Kim, former Navy SEAL Michael Harris, forensic specialist Jim Esteban, Zack Heller, a white-collar crimes expert, and Forensic Psychiatrist Catherine Howard.  LA Police Detective Kara Quinn has been an undercover cop for 12 years, and since she is cannot return to LA at the moment, she is on loan to the FBI, and assigned to Matt's team.  Kara and Matt are romantically involved. 


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Kara is back in Los Angeles to testify against a human trafficker,  the case that turned her life upside down, and where she lost her partner and sometimes lover, Colton.  But when the accused trafficker is shot in broad daylight, there are few reliable witnesses, and the one who may help has disappeared.  They will have to find her before someone else does.

Then the prosecutor is stabbed to death, and things get worse.  The corruption in government,  the LAPD and the FBI is escalating, and trust has broken down between all departments.

Kara finds she has been lied to by her old department, and  is again being made the scapegoat.  She trusts Matt and his team, but few others.


My Opinions:
I'm going to be in the minority on this one, but, not every book is for everyone... I mean, it's a good book, but...

It's another drawn out book in this series.  That and the fact that it is again about police corruption has me wondering why I am still reading these books.  The last one had elements of it too, but this one is full political and police corruption. Definitely not my genre.  It felt like full-on hatred. The cops hated the FBI, and vice-versa.  Everyone lied, kept secrets, and everything of course, pointed to Kara.  It was so predictable. This is probably one of the reasons that these books seem so long...if you aren't enjoying the topic, the book is never-ending.  Another reason for the long story is the repetitiveness.  Way too much detail repeated again and again!

The story is told from multiple characters, which is normally fine, but the information is repeated from each of those perspectives!

Now for some good.  I do like Matt and his team.  Although Kara is often so unpredictable that she's hard to like, this book showed a better side of her.  However, I really have hope for the books because of Matt. He is a really compelling character.

Also on the good side, the author definitely did her research on homelessness.  So sad.  I enjoyed the characters of both Will and Violet, and that story-line was definitely interesting.

Admittedly,  I actually set this book aside, read something else, and then came back to it.  Now, if a third book in a row even hints at corruption, I'm out of here.  But I know a number of people will really enjoy this one!

The last third of the book is what made it worth reading for me. I am the outlier in that I honestly did not enjoy most of the book. However, when I finally was able to put the pieces together, I became much more invested. There were things about the book that I did not reduce my rating for because I think that they my shortcomings rather than the author's. It has been a while since I have read police procedurals and this author in particular and I suspect that I may not be as crazy about them as I used to be.
There were a few other things that bothered me that did impact my rating: one is that there were abrupt changes in character perspectives and that made the book hard to follow. That is why it was better later on when I was more grounded. The other is that there was a bit of preachiness about homelessness and while I agree with the sentiment, I don't like to be hit over the head with it. The book was strongest in its dialogue where some of this could come out, without feeling like I was being talked at. And I would say overall, dialogue was the biggest strength.

I was so excited to receive a copy of this one because the plot was so compelling! I have never read a book by this author before this one, and now I will definitely be checking out more of Allison Brennan's work.

This book was full of drama and plot twists! Unfortunately when requesting it on Netgalley, I did not realize that it is apart of a series. I cannot fault the book for this as it was my error/lack of research, but like I said the plot just sounded so compelling that I instantly hit request! I think i would have enjoyed this one better had I read others first, but overall it was still a very fun and explosive read!

The missing witness by Allison Brennan.
Quinn and Costa book 5.
When a key witness goes missing, Quinn and Costa must find her before a killer silences her for good…
Detective Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles to testify against a notorious human trafficker, finally moving past the case that upended her life. But when the accused is shot by a masked man in broad daylight, the chaotic scene of the crime turns up few reliable bystanders. And one witness—a whistleblower who might be the key to everything—has disappeared. After the prosecuting DDA is stabbed to death, it’s clear that anyone who knows too much about the investigation is in danger, and tracking down the witness becomes a matter of life or death. With government corruption running rampant and someone on the inside trying to pin anything they can on Kara, she trusts nobody except FBI special agent Matt Costa and a handful of allies. But when explosive secrets begin to surface within the LAPD and FBI, Kara questions everything she thought she knew about the case, her colleagues and the life she left behind months ago. Now Quinn and Costa must race to find the missing witness and get to the bottom of the avalanche of conspiracies that has rocked LA to its core…before it's too late.
This was a really good read. Couldn't put it down. I didn't know who I liked or didn't like. Very twisty. I certainly didn't know who to trust. I was trying to guess who it was. I wS very surprised how far certain characters went to get what they wanted. That did surprise me. I did like Kar and Matt in the end. I loved the ending. I do hope there is more to come. 4*.

“You can’t force someone to get clean. You can’t love someone enough to change them.”

I liked this novel, but didn’t love it. I felt like it didn’t start taking a twist to the more exciting side until about 70% through. Something I did appreciate was the connectedness of all of the characters. It was written well and held my attention, I just don’t know that anything in particular stood out to make it go above and beyond a typical mystery/thriller.