Every Kind of Wicked

Lisa Black

Aug 2020 · A Gardiner and Renner Novel Book 6 · Kensington Books

About this ebook

In this mesmerizing new novel from bestselling author Lisa Black, the discovery of a young man’s corpse leads forensics expert Maggie Gardiner and Cleveland detective Jack Renner into a dark and dangerous web of lies . . .
 
Life and death have brought Maggie Gardiner full circle, back to the Erie Street Cemetery where she first entered Jack Renner’s orbit. Eight months ago, she learned what Jack would do in the name of justice. More unsettling still, she discovered how far she would go to cover his tracks. Now a young man sprawls atop a snowy grave, his heart shredded by a single wound. A key card in the victim’s wallet leads to the local university’s student housing—and to a grieving girlfriend with an unsettling agenda.
 
Maggie’s struggle to appease her conscience is complicated by her ex-husband, Rick, who’s convinced that Jack is connected to a series of vigilante killings. Also a homicide detective, Rick investigates what seems like a routine overdose on Cleveland’s West Side; but here, too, the appearance belies a deeper truth.
 
Rick’s case and Jack’s merge onto the trail of a shadowy, pill-pushing physician who is everywhere and nowhere at once, while Maggie and Jack uncover a massive financial shakedown hiding in plain sight. And when Rick’s bloody fingerprint is found at another murder scene, Maggie’s world comes undone in a violent, irreversible torrent of events . . .

Ratings and reviews

Maggie Gardiner is a forensics expert who works hand in hand with Cleveland detective Jack Renner in crime solving. They have a unique partnership. They each have a secret that would put them behind bars for a really long time .. and they are at the mercy of each other to never share that secret. The fly in the ointment is Maggie's ex-husband. Rick is certain that Jack is involved in something nefarious and sets out to prove it. Rick is also a homicide detective and investigates the death of a woman who is thought to have died from a drug overdose. Maggie and Jack are caught up in looking for the identity of a man found dead from a single stabbing directly into his heart. A key card in the victim’s wallet leads to the local university’s student housing—and to a grieving girlfriend with an unsettling agenda. The two cases emerge and leads to an unexpected motive for the deaths. But what really throws Maggie is the fingerprint found at another murder scene.. a fingerprint is blood .. and it's belongs to Rick ... and where has Rick disappeared to? As with all the books in this series, it is well written with a solid plot and skillfully drawn characters. This is a page-turner with action packs suspense starting on the very first page and not letting up until the unexpected satisfying conclusion. Although 6th in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I highly recommend a reading marathon starting at the very first meeting of Gardiner and Renner. It's a terrific series that shouldn't be overlooked. Many thanks to the author / Kensington Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Every Kind of Wicked by Lisa Black Gardiner and Renner #6 An alliance forged in death Each holds a secret about the other They work together They watch one another What relationship is this and What could it become? Intriguing premise, wonderful characters, great police/murder mysteries to solve that hook me in a bit more with each book in the series. I love Maggie and Jack and though their relationship has not been romantic it always has seemed to have the potential for more IF they can overcome a major issue that in fact is the one that brought them together. I don’t know if there will be more books in this series as in some ways this wouldn’t be a bad way for the series to end BUT I would hate to say goodbye to these two characters if the author has more to share about them as they solve more cases together. What I liked: * Jack: Hm…hmm…hmmmmm…this is a man with his own moral compass and a mandate to fulfill. He is intelligent, cunning, ruthless and yet seems to have a warm center while knowing what he believes is right and what is wrong. * Maggie: a brilliant woman skilled in her forensic field. She is divorced, has always known right from wrong, and then…she began to question. I find her quirky and intriguing with potentially hidden depths. * The relationship between Jack and his work partner, Riley. * The way the relationship between Jack and Maggie as it has developed over the series * Shanaya – I kind of like her but really wonder about HER moral compass and why she got into the way of life she did * The police procedural aspects of the story. * The overlapping threads of the story and how they all were woven together * That the case was solved * The last little bit that I won’t get away but REALLY liked it :) What I did not like: * The bad guy who created the scam/con * Knowing that the type of crime in this story exists and harms so many * Not knowing when I finished the book whether it is the last in the series or if there will be more in the future. Did I enjoy this book? Yes Would I read more in this series? Definitely Would I read another book by this author? Without a doubt Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review. 5 Stars

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black introduced the characters of Maggie Gardiner and Jack Renner in her acclaimed suspense novel That Darkness and continued their story in Unpunished, Perish, Suffer the Children, and Let Justice Descend. As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, she analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now she is a latent print examiner and crime scene analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. Lisa is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and she is a Certified Crime Scene Analyst and Certified Latent Print Examiner. She has testified in court as an expert witness more than sixty-five times. Her books have been translated into six languages. She lives near Fort Myers, Florida. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter, or at www.lisa-black.com.