The Devil You Know (Detective Margaret Nolan #3) by P.J. Tracy
Publication Date: January 17th 2023 by Dreamscape Media & Minotaur Books
Pages: 304
Audio Book Length: 7 hrs 12 mins
Narrators: Abby Craden
Source: Publishers
Rating: ★★★½
My
Thoughts:
Evan Hobbs a famous, wholesome type of actor is found dead
in a beach cliff landside the day after a faked video showing him as a child molester.
Is it an accident, suicide, or murder? Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner,
Al Crawford are called to the scene to figure it out.
The blurb makes it sound like Evan’s agent, Seth Baum, is
part of the investigation into the death of Evan, but while we do get his POV
he’s not part of the investigation. He’s what you’d expect an agent in that
cutthroat business in Hollywood, but he was one of the more likeable of the
array of unlikable characters here. The workings
of the entertainment business featured in this case. The lengths people will go
for fame and fortune is unsettling.
Sam Easton was also part of the story, but not featured in
the investigation at all. There was some movement in his personal life, but to
be honest his story wasn’t of much interest to me. Margaret’s personal life,
her romance with Remy was on the backburner, but I didn’t mind that either,
because I was more invested in the mystery anyhow.
I do
enjoy a good police procedural, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous Monkeywrench series. Still, it was an entertaining mystery. I did figure out the main plot
but there was a surprise at the end I wasn’t expecting!
I alternately listened to the audio version and read an
e-copy. Abby Craden is a performer I’m familiar with and I enjoyed her
performance of both male and female voices. I listened at my usual 1.5-1.75x
normal speed.
3.5 Stars
Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarified world of wealth, power, and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege, and gives her a glimpse of the darkness behind the glitter.
The body of beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’ agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss, and a woman he’s scorned. But when his powerful brother-in-law is murdered, he and Nolan both find themselves entangled in a scandalous deception of deadly proportion that shakes the very foundation of Hollywood’s untouchables.
