Full disclosure – I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book by the authors but have voluntarily provided a review.
Pure Detective Work
“Image in a Cracked Mirror” is a Violet Darger short story set a few months after the close of “Dead End Girl”. While this book may be read as a stand-alone from “Dead End Girl”, I would not recommend doing so basically because I feel it’s important to know what transpired in the previous novel to truly appreciate this installment. The novella catches up with Violet and Detective Loshak as they have returned to their daily lives and are still trying to recuperate from the fallout from the Doll Parts case. Loshak is heading up to do some profiling on a particularly grisly murder case in Washington State and wants Violet to accompany him. Violet tentatively accepts and learns that Loshak is looking to mentor the promising young agent an assist her in her career. Upon touring a rather grisly murder scene with multiple deaths, the duo return to the local police station to interview certain persons of interest with the hopes of catching the culprit.
“Image in a Cracked Mirror” was a nice quick catch up with the main characters in this new series. A few lingering questions were answered and the Darger/Loshak dynamic seems to be getting fleshed out more. The fact that this short is based on a real case had me googling certain details to see if I could get more information. While not successful, I did manage to find a ton of killer macaroni and cheese recipes. A very nice tie in story, that showcases the profiling prowess of both our veteran agent and his young trainee. It will be interesting to see where the duo end up when their next case comes up.
Jennly Reads 