Long Gone

Blue Wall of Silence/Blue Shield/Blue Code:  These all refer to an informal unspoken code that says a police officer won’t speak up against a fellow officer if they become aware of his/her wrongdoing.

Headstrong Chicago detective Annalisa Vega is back and she’s feeling the repercussions of her actions in the first book of the series Gone for Good.  For spoiler reasons I won’t go into detail, other than to say that the men in blue from the Chicago PD aren’t her biggest fans this time around due to her perceived breach of the above mentioned code, which has hurt her own family members most of all.

You know the old saying “Jumping from the frying pan into the fire”?  That’s Annalisa.  As if her current mess isn’t big enough, she decides to start digging into a cold case involving the murder of a young woman Josie Blanchard, in addition to her assigned investigation into the murder of long-time cop, Leo Hammond. They both have ties to the same suspect, if Annalisa can just prove it. The thing is, the three surviving members of the “Fantastic Four”, Leo’s fellow cops Tom Osborne, Frankie Vaughn and Paul Monk all have dark secrets from the past they'd like to stay hidden, and they don't need Annalisa shining the light on them.

When the death count starts to rise and the threat to Annalisa gets closer, can she and her ex-husband, Nick Carelli, solve these cases before one or both of them become the next victims?

I’ll say this: Annalisa knows her own mind, and if she’s convinced of something - stay out of her way!  She has a strong moral code and definitely doesn’t let pity guide her decisions.  She really wants to do right by people, even if it comes at a personal cost to her, and I always admire her dogged determination, despite her overwhelming lack of common sense at times!  Her complicated relationships with Nick, her family, her childhood love, Colin Duffy, and her best friend/sister-in-law, Sassy add nice depth to the story, and it’s a cast of characters that I’m coming to care about as the series progresses.

If you’re looking for a good, solid mystery thriller, with some police procedural tossed in, it’s a great next entry in this series. It can be read alone, but I think you’ll get far more enjoyment out of it if you’ve read the first book and get to know the characters and backstory.  I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kelsey Navarro, who did a fabulous job with all the voicing, though initially it seemed all the male cop characters sounded the same - a bit like ‘40s gangsters. I adjusted and it was all good!

★★★★ 

Thanks to St. Martins Press, Dreamscape Media, NetGalley and author Joanna Schaffhausen for this ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest opinions. It’s due to be published August 9, 2022.