The Juan Doe Murders by Noreen Ayres

304 Pages
Publisher: Brash Books
Release Date: September 14, 2014

Fiction, Mystery, Women Sleuths

The tortured and mutilated body of an illegal young woman is found by a neighbor. Smokey Brandon and her partner Joe, arrive on the scene and collect forensic evidence. Joe says you cannot un-see something and he isn’t lying. Smokey has gathered evidence on the gunshot deaths for several young Hispanic men. They all have the same things in common. They are obviously illegal aliens and have similar names. Is there a connection with the deaths of these men and the young woman?

The book has a steady to slow pace. The characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. This is the second book in the series, and it is possible more information was provided about the characters. If you like forensic shows like CSI, you will enjoy reading this book.

THE JUAN DOE MURDERS - Noreen Ayres

#3 in the Smokey Brandon mystery series

INTERESTING MYSTERY - 3 stars

Plot - 3.5 stars - Someone is killing illegal, Hispanic immigrants and leaving their bodies strewn like trash across Orange County, the playground of Southern California’s rich and privileged. But the murders go largely unnoticed, the anonymous, “Juan Doe” victims as invisible in death as they were in their hidden lives, toiling in low-wage jobs serving the wealthy…. until forensics specialist Samantha “Smokey” Brandon sees the gruesome pattern.

Writing - 3.5 stars - Ayres caught my attention right from the beginning, writing in a clear and concise way. Even without reading any other books from this author or this series, I didn't feel as though I missed anything or that I couldn't keep up with the story.

Characters - 3.5 stars - Smokey is a good main character. Even though I haven't read either of the previous books in this series, I felt as though I knew her well enough and could relate to her. Even though she works for the Crime Lab, she's just a regular person. She's not super smart or charismatic or special. She just works hard, she studies crime scenes, she puts two and two together, and she comes to a conclusion. I found her to be pleasant and normal.

Title - 3 stars - The title is self-explanatory, leading the reader in the obvious direction when picking up this book.

Cover - 3.5 stars - The sunset colors are beautiful and eye-catching. But the scene is fairly gruesome. And the disjointed letters in the title were off-putting.

Overall - 3 stars - I'm not the usual target audience for this type of book, but I liked it well enough. Smokey is a good MC, and I enjoyed getting to know her better. Secondary characters of Joe (the love interest), David (Joe's son), and Gil (the potential new love interest) added dimension to the story and kept things interesting. The mystery was a bit confusing to me, mostly because I had to keep going back to remind myself about the details of each name and location and specifics. (There were too many to keep track of, in my opinion.) But the book moved forward relatively well, and I spent an enjoyable few days reading it.

This is a book that has you gripping the edges. Fast pace page turner with every twist and turn. The author makes it as if you are living the story. A great read!

This was an interesting story and I liked the writing style. Smokey is a complex character and I loved her artful narrative. I recommend this if you like police procedurals
Many thanks to Brash Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.