The Unseen Sister
By: Andy Maslen
Website: https://andymaslen.com/
Release Date: May 16, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Series: Detective Kat Ballantyne
Rating:

Book two of the year completed for me and book two in this series. Have I already gone off the rails of my planned reading for this year? Not completely (I’m still reading my planned, physically owned books in the evenings, after all.) Am I glad I decided to read book one, The Seventh Girl, and then dive into The Unseen Sister? Absolutely.

While book two was intriguing, as it started with a “how is it not the husband?” question floating around, I wondered just how the crime Kat Ballantyne arrives at to start the book off is going to go on for so many pages. But sure enough, it did.

A complex story of revenge, heartbreak, redemption and suspicion I really did enjoy book two of this series. Kat grew a bit more in depth for me as we saw her struggle with her personal and professional life and we also got to see a bit more family lore.

I find what I’m liking most about this series so far is that it has the strong “whodunnit” vibe without me immediately thinking our heroine is going to be killed every time she turns the corner. Does that mean she is safe? Absolutely not – she’s a cop investigating a murder after all. However, her personal stress and danger comes from complicated family relationships, personal doubts, stressed friendships and the challenge of “having it all” as a wife, mother and a woman with a demanding career.

There was a bit more development of some side characters in this tale as we see more of her family and the police Kat works with.

Now, as for the cliffhanger at the end – is it clearly a plot to get readers to continue on in the series? Duh.

Did I fall for it? Yes. Thank goodness these are through Kindle Unlimited so they don’t technically count as violating my book buying ban…right?