Another great “Steinbeck and Reed” novel -- 5 stars
I have already read and reviewed the first two books in the “Steinbeck and Reed” series, and thoroughly enjoyed them both (even if they did give me the willies!). I was feeling a little guilty about not reviewing a book last month, so for July, I decided to return to Jess Lourey’s playground.
We return to cold case agent Evangeline “Van” Reid and her forensic science partner Harry Steinbeck. And Van and Harry know something is wrong the moment arrive at their latest crime scene: Van’s old police ID -- the one she hasn’t touched since she transferred to cold cases, the one she thought was buried in a box at the back of her closet -- was found here. She keeps her expression neutral as the detective explains this to her. Harry doesn’t know about the dark secrets of her past, and she intends to keep it that way. But then she sees the girl. The body is otherwise unremarkable, but the victim’s face is stretched into an enormous grin, ear to ear, like something painted on. Strange indeed!
The investigation leads Van and her team to another cold case from decades earlier: Three girls, each found in bed, each wearing the same horrific grin. The past case bleeds into the present one, and Van and Harry begin drawing lines between them. But the deeper Van digs, the more she finds threads that pull at something closer to home. The families of those three girls have waited decades for answers. Van might finally be able to give them some, if she can keep her own secrets buried in the process.
“The Laughing Dead” is yet another Lourey thriller, with more sleepless night for this reader. This book left me wrecked by the final page -- I won’t say more than that. Five stars, no hesitation! Pick it up if you have any tolerance at all for a thriller that doesn’t play fair with your expectations.
