This is such an interesting blend of history, a present day murder, friendship, romance, and it sheds a light on ongoing social issues. Aria is a likeable character and I found her courage and determination to find answers inspiring. The two different timelines worked well for this story and I enjoyed getting the full picture. The dash of romance added another layer to the mystery and the pages practically turned themselves.

Justice for Emerson didn’t do it for me. I was genuinely surprised to see how many super positive reviews were out there calling this book fast-paced because to me it felt slow. The changing narratives/perspectives weren’t always easy to follow and the story did not grab me at all. It has all the elements for a good mystery, but it didn’t click for me. And, it seems I’m in the minority, so feel free to give it a try.

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

“Justice for Emerson” by Karen E. Osborne is a multi-layered murder mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. Aria Wright, the head of a nonprofit organization that works with the unhoused, finds the body of Emerson, one of her volunteers. Unfortunately, she also sees the masked killer, who threatens her to keep her mouth shut or else she’s dead. Her family, too.

But why? What could Aria possibly know?

The answer lies in Emerson’s past, what happened when he was a soldier in Vietnam in the late sixties. Is there a connection between the murder of his best friend at a bar in Vietnam and his own murder decades later?

This book was not only a good whodunit, but it also introduced several themes that make the reader think, such as love after bereavement, addiction, homelessness, historical racism in the military, importance of family, and forgiveness. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. My opinion is my own.

I'm so glad I was able to read this and get into this whodunnit mystery, it had that element that I enjoyed from the genre and was hooked from start to finish and on the edge of my seat. The plot was everything that I was hoping for and thought the characters were everything that I was looking for. Karen E. Osborne has a strong writing style and the characters were so well written and I cared about what was going on.