📖a thriller with some romantic elements (but alas, not enough to 💯 please me 😩)

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I used to read romantic suspense books all the time. Although I’ve slowed down in that genre, Laura Griffin is still a reliable fave for me. She serves up murder, mystery, and romance, and it’s all done really well.

Her heroines are always chasing the truth, no matter what obstacles are placed in their path.

Innocence Road deals with that topic quite a lot, as detective Leanne works for a Chief who cares very little about the true identities behind the various female remains that have been located near their town.

Immigration, border concerns, police corruption, it’s all here in this book, & it makes for an interesting—& frustrating—backdrop to Leanne’s murder investigation.

I wanted more romance—there just wasn’t enough for me to be totally happy—but it’s a great book that delivers a political punch & a satisfying mystery.

4.33 ⭐️, out 11/11

CWs: murder, sexual assault, infidelity, the hero partners with ICE (booooo) on human trafficking cases

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an eARC of this title for review.

I've really enjoyed Laura Griffin's romantic suspense titles from Berkley, so I was excited to see that she had a new book available. I would classify this one as a general mystery rather than a romantic suspense (though it does have a light romantic storyline), but I still really enjoyed this story of a detective who fought to reckon with her father's legacy and to bring to light the truth behind years of vulnerable women's disappearances. Will definitely recommend to my mystery-reading patrons!

4.25/5 stars.

Unabashedly a one-sit read! I flipped open my Kindle and didn't stop until I reached the end. The plot is perfection, the pace is exemplary, and Laura Griffin? Stellar! Innocence Road has been marked as one of my favorites. I wanted to cite a series name; however, there isn't one attached to the title. With the familiarity of her characters intertwining throughout Griffin's many works, it all feels wonderfully connected. Releasing in November of this year, Innocence Road will have you grabbing a cozy blanket and settling in.

Innocence Road is a spectacular mystery novel that moves swift and steadily solving the serial killer cases that seem to plague the county law enforcement community. Superb job of highlight ing a woman detective.

This was a very suspenseful story although it took me some time to warm up to the main character. I ended up liking her, flaws and all, in the end. Very suspenseful, but not a lot of romance.

This was a good murder mystery but I had trouble with the way the chapters ended. One chapter would end on a scene and you would turn the page to see what happened and it had jumped to an entirely different setting. This happened at the end of every chapter. Maybe it was just me but it kept me from entirely enjoying the book.

This book left a weight in my chest I haven’t been able to shake. It’s quiet and brutal in equal measure, the kind of story that doesn’t yell but still manages to hit every nerve. The writing is stark. The mystery is sharp and layered, but it’s the emotional honesty that gave the book its grip on me. I felt every word, and I couldn’t put it down.