Review, Giveaway & Tour Info: When You See Me by Lisa Gardner

When You See Me (Detective D.D. Warren #11) by Lisa Gardner

Publication Date: January 28th 2020 by Dutton

Pages: 400

Source: Publisher

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible

About the book:

Bestselling author Lisa Gardner unites three of her most loved characters -Detective D.D. Warren, Flora Dane, and Kimberly Quincy - in a twisty new thriller, as they investigate a mysterious murder from the past that points to a dangerous and chilling present-day crime.

FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective DD Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. And when a disturbing piece of evidence comes to light, they decide to bring in Flora Dane who has personal experience of being imprisoned by Ness.

Their investigations take them to a small town deep in the hills of Georgia where something seems to be deeply wrong.

What at first seems like a Gothic eeriness soon hardens into something much more sinister as they discover that for all the evil Jacob committed while alive, his worst secret is still to be revealed.

Quincy and DD must summon their considerable skills and experience to crack the most disturbing case of their careers - and Flora must face her own past directly in the hope of saving others.

My Thoughts:

When the bones of a woman are found in the mountains in a remote part of Georgia, SSA Kimberly Quincy rounds up Detective D.D. Warren, Flora Dane and Keith to find out if the notorious serial killer, Jacob Ness could’ve been responsible. Flora is the one that got away from Jacob, ending his reign of terror once and for all. If you’ve kept up with the series, you know that Flora has become a sort of self-appointed victims’ advocate/vigilante.  Flora’s helped other women in the past books, trying to fight her own nightmares and demons by bringing down predators.  In her mission, she’s formed a reluctant bond with D.D. who, at the beginning, wasn’t pleased at all by Flora going around the law or completely ignoring it, but they’ve come a long way in the cases they’ve worked together.

Together, all three women with true crime/computer expert, Keith travel to Georgia to investigate, and they all find more than they bargained for. The little town of Niche holds dark secrets and they don’t like this taskforce digging around. Danger, action and shocking revelations kept me on the edge of my seat, and I read When You See Me in one day eager to see how it all turned out!

The last book introduced Keith, a true-crime enthusiast who was obsessed with meeting Flora, I was hopeful, even with his awkward and possibly suspect obsession with Flora, there’d be a romance!  A HEA for Flora, because she totally deserved all the happiness in the world after the nightmare she went through! I wanted her not just “surviving, but thriving”.

A reader might feel intimidated seeing this is book eleven in the D.D. Warren series, but this could be read as a standalone. Past events are touched on enough that anyone picking up When You See Me wouldn’t feel lost. However, I do recommend starting at Find Her, (book eight), where Flora Dane is introduced and working your way up to really enjoy this installment. Flora has come such a long way and I’m thrilled with how her story ended here. That’s not to say I wouldn’t mind more books with Flora. D.D. and Flora have become quite the team! Also, the Detective D.D. Warren series is really good from the beginning and you get to see how she progresses in her personal life while solving perplexing cases.  Sooo good!

Lisa Gardner has been an auto-buy for me even before Goodreads or blogging became a part of my life, and she continues to be now. Every time I finish one of her books, I’m looking to see when I can get the next one. Fans of well-plotted and researched mysteries, with complex, ever-evolving characters will enjoy her books. I’ve done many re-reads, traditionally reading and by audio. The audios are fantastic! Kirsten Potter starts narrating at book three, The Neighbor, in the Detective D.D. Warren series, and she’s amazing! One of my all-time favorite narrators.  I’d skip book one and two, in D.D.’s series, where she’s only a secondary character and begin with book three.

4 Suns

So I'm getting posting this late so there's only one more event for Lisa Gardner's #OnTheRoadForACause book tour schedule: Cleveland, Ohio, but I thought it was pretty awesome that the bookstore will donate 10% of their sales to local charities that support women and children and Ms. Gardner will match that 10%!

The lovely people of Dutton have offered up a galley of When You See Me for a giveaway to one reader!  The giveaway is restricted to US Residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win. Good luck!

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