I’ve only read one other in the series and it took me a little bit to get a feel for everyone, without proper introduction. But I’m getting to know them and I’m more invested now.

There’s a lot of people and plots that come together. The different narratives can be a little bit much but the mystery itself is fun to untangle.

I don’t know if I’ll get around to reading the first two I skipped any time soon but I think I’ll keep going from here on out.

CITY OF SECRETS by P.J. TRACY

When I received the fourth book in the series, the premise sounded so interesting that I went back and read the first three books before I read this one.

The series is about Detective Margaret Nolan who works in Los Angeles.

I really enjoyed this series and I will definitely read anything that follows.

It is nice to see how the characters developed overtime. This is a really good series.

Thank you @minotaur_books and @pjtracyauthor for the gifted copy

Detective story featuring a strong female protagonist. Plot was good but what I liked best was that there was more character development than in some police procedurals. This is number 4 in a series but it worked fine for me as a standalone.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

Bruce Messane, the co-founder of Peppy Pets. He misses the biggest business meeting of his life, his sit-down with the food mogul who wants to buy the high-end dog food company. Why did he miss it? He is dead in Culver City, that’s why. The vanishing of the deal has dire consequences for chief financial officer Cynthia Jackson, one of Messane’s many ex-lovers, who owns 15% of Peppy Pets, and for retired veterinarian Rome Bechtold, Messane’s former partner, who may have inherited 70% Messane owned. This is bad business for Bechtold who has to deal with, because less than 24 hours later, his wife, Nicole, is kidnapped by someone who doesn’t demand any money. Learning of the abduction despite the kidnappers’ threats to harm Nicole if her husband doesn’t keep quiet, LAPD Detective Maggie Nolan can’t believe the two crimes aren’t connected. Her attention is demanded by a crop of complications. Despite Cynthia’s insistence that Messane would never steal from his own company, it looks like he’s been doing exactly that. The notorious Los Zetas mob seems to be involved as well.

Tracy writes a fast and entertaining novel. I have enjoyed Detective Nolan’s work. She is an interesting character. I enjoyed watching her work. It’s excellent crime fiction.

I have been a fan of the writing team of P. J. Tracy and especially their Monkeewrench series. In the latest foray into crime writing the story walks, trots, runs all over the place and back again. There is a lot of activity, a bunch of characters, and I kept wondering “Which way did they go George?”. Are we dealing with a crime, or a romance, or a personal relationship, maybe a distant memory and what is the importance of each or any?!

Despite being perplexed and confused and turned around from one chapter to the next I enjoyed the book. Lambrecht has the magic to draw you in and kept me turning the pages trying to figure out how everything is going to come together. Her writing is solid, dialog is believable and her descriptions are great. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next Detective Margaret Nolan installment where “Justice isn’t always black-and-white”. My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy.

City of Secrets indeed! Drugs, murder, kidnapping. This book has them all. They are all tied together which doesn’t become clear until close to the end of the case and then it becomes clear that they are all tied together. Great read!

I received an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this suspenseful mystery. It kept me guessing until the end. If you enjoy detective mysteries, you will like this one.

City of Secrets continues the awesome detective work of Maggie Nolan and crew. Although it had been awhile since I last visited these characters, I quickly caught up in their lives. Being a fly on the wall as they unravel this complex, multi layered crime spree was fascinating. Sometimes it was hard to keep everyone straight but every chapter was hard to put down. There are many twists and surprises near the end so even when you think you have it all figured out- there is more! Definitely a series that I will always want to read.

This book is the fourth in the Detective Margaret Nolan Mystery series and it is a great read for fans of police procedurals. At just about 300 pages you won't want to stop reading until the end and it is just the right length to deliver a great story and keep your attention until the very end. If you haven't started the series yet, what are you waiting for? PJ Tracy does not miss.

City of Secrets is the 4th book in the series that follows LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan. When the LAPD is called to an apparent car-jacking scene, it seems pretty cut and dry. But then the victim turns out to be the CEO of a pet food company that is trying to be sold for millions…and then the next day a former partner of the murder victim is kidnapped. Detective Nolan and her partner, along with the rest of the LAPD, race against the clock to connect the dots of what is going on with this pet food company that lead to murders and kidnapping.

I have enjoyed all the books so far in P.J. Tracy’s Detective Nolan series. I enjoy all the characters and how the stories are intricately woven together.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I've been reading PJ Tracy for 20 years and still really enjoy her. It makes me smile with all the big, $20 words she uses sometimes, though. The plot and characters were good and engaging, and I was able to keep track of who was who and what was going on (which is often really hard for me).

This is a first time I've read this author, but it will not be my last. If you like police procedurals with a strong female lead you'll enjoy this book. Maggie and her partner Al are tasked with finding the killer of what looks like a car-jacking, but it turns into much more. The author weaves multiple plots into an compelling novel with interesting and relatable characters.

You can read this as a standalone, like I did, but I would encourage you to start at the beginning. I'll now be reading the previous books in the series even though the author does provide background to get readers up to date.

I received this advance review copy from NetGalley & the publisher for my honest review.

Tracy is a new to me author and I will definitely check out more books in this series!
I thought this was a well written police procedural full of action and suspense. I really liked Margaret and her love interest.
I think enough background was given for this to be a standalone. From a relationship standpoint, this would be best read in order
I had an ARC of this book but ended up listening to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrator.

Gripping fourth installment in the Detective Margaret Nolan series with a head-scratching mystery that just keeps the bodies piling up. I loved the great pacing, the intricate plot, and the satisfying character arc. Awesome series for lovers of crime drama!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

City of Secrets certainly lives up to the title! This book kept me guessing all the way through and although there are a lot of characters to remember, PJ does a great job tying them all into a great conclusion to the book. I will definitely look forward to what PJ writes next. I would definitely recommend giving this book a try!

Real Rating: 3.75* of five

Starting a series with book four is never ideal. I felt no investment in the Maggie/Remy subplot, but really didn't expect to once I twigged that the series was multiple books along.

That said, the dynamic between Maggie Nolan and Al Crawford, her policework partner, was an effortless joining of process. In large part that's because the pseudonymous Tracy partners really involve us in the way the investigation goes. This book, and I presume the entire series (as series authors seldom change tones radically this early in one), exemplifies the charms of the police procedural...that sense of being in on the action, a fly on the wall.

That's a wonderful way to build a series IMO because it gives the plotting a major through line without the need, at times, to contrive things just to keep up the pace. Of course the police work is a reductive fantasy version of the real thing, granted – stipulated – understood but it's the mystery reader's vision of it from countless other iterations, so it works. It also means one knows, if the series mystery world is not a new and fresh experience, that ornamental plot devices stand out. There are "dark sexual secrets' in the murder victim's life. Cheap, brummagem time-waster from the get-go, and, with Margaret's dull "romance" as the other lusterless sex distraction, means I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes.

The existence of a well-stocked larder of interesting side-characters, however, both redeemed and further irked me. I'm quite sure they've been here before, but I haven't. I'm on the fence about picking the series up but if I do, the first trip will be back to #1 before anything. I really want the answer to one burning question: <I>Why does Ike like licorice?</I>

Note for animal lovers: despite some suspense on the matter, no abuse or harm occurs and past wrongs are righted.

P.J. Tracy has always been a favorite author of mine since the Monkeewrench series was published, and the City of Secrets does not disappoint. Her crime novels are written in a gritty style with fascinating characters and non-stop action. Detective Margaret Nolan steps into the underground crime world of L.A. by responding to a car-jacking which in turn reveals twists and turns of a failing corporation turning to murder. Tracy has always developed her characters in an interesting way and the pace of this story is non-stop. I look forward to future Magaret Nolan characters that are so expertly introduced in her novels.

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book.

Peppy Pets’ Problems Precipitate Plentiful Police Presence!

And I mean plentiful. In the opening scene we are witness to the murder of the CEO and co-founder of Peppy Pets. When Bruce Messane, a successful business executive, is murdered just as his company was ready to be bought out for huge profits, someone like LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan and he crack team are brought to the scene. Of course, when a Peppy Pet’s employee goes to Messane’s house, it was found to have been invaded by burglars. Another investigation begins.

Almost immediately following that, the wife of Dr. Rome Bechtold, the other co-founder of Peppy Pets, was kidnapped. Dr. Bechtold now no longer was part of Peppy Pets, but had returned to his veterinary practice and so a different team was brought into that.

Before long there is another kidnapping and another murder and a whole lot more complication. Nothing goes easily or quickly in any good crime novel, does it? And this is a good crime novel!

This is the second Detective Margaret Nolan novel that I have read and it will not be the last. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good police investigation mystery. I thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and honestly review it.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in return for my honest review. This is the fourth book in the Detective Margaret Nolan series set in Los Angeles, and it's a 4 out 5 star read for me.

Detective Maggie Nolan and her partner, Al Crawford are called out to the scene of what appears to be a fatal car jacking. Suspiciously the victim was about to sell his company for millions, and the next day the partner's wife is abducted. In order to figure things out Maggie and Al are drawn into the world of big business, sex and violence.

Maggie is a strong lead character. Intelligent, very relatable and likeable. There's a romance between Maggie and Al but it doesn't detract from the overall book. Lots of secondary characters. Whle the book could be read as a stand alone, it could be an asset to read the earlier books in order to familiarize yourself with the secondary characters. Or just to read them because you liked this novel, as I plan to do.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

P. J. Tracy’s “City of Secrets” is the fourth installment in the Detective Margaret Nolan series, and it continues to deliver the intricate plotting and rich character development that fans have come to expect. The story begins with the discovery of a body in a high-profile location, leading Maggie and her team into a web of deceit that spans the city’s elite and its underbelly.

The novel explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the moral ambiguities that law enforcement officers face daily.

Detective Margaret Nolan is a compelling protagonist whose sharp intellect and unwavering determination drive the story forward. The supporting characters, from the enigmatic suspects to the dedicated members of Maggie’s team, are well-drawn and contribute significantly to the story’s tension and intrigue.

Tracy excels at creating multi-dimensional characters whose personal struggles and professional challenges are intricately woven into the fabric of the mystery.

Tracy’s writing is elegant and gritty, capturing the essence of Los Angeles with vivid descriptions and a keen eye for detail. The dialogue is sharp and realistic, reflecting the high stakes and intense emotions that permeate the story.

“City of Secrets” is a standout entry in the Detective Margaret Nolan series, showcasing P. J. Tracy’s ability to craft a compelling and multi-layered mystery.