Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Series: Detective Sarah Alt #3
Published by GP Putnam's Sons on February 27, 2018
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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At the beginning of her career, Sarah "Salt" Alt was a beat cop in Atlanta's poorest, most violent housing project, The Homes. It is here that she meets the cast of misfits and criminals that will have a profound impact on her later cases: Man Man, the leader of the local gang on his way to better places; street dealer Lil D and his family; and Sister Connelly, old and observant, the matriarch of the neighborhood. A lone patrolwoman, Salt's closest lifeline is her friend and colleague Pepper, on his own beat nearby. And when a murder in The Homes brings detectives to the scene, Salt draws closer to Detective Wills, initiating a romance complicated by their positions on the force.
When Salt is shot and sustains a head injury during a routine traffic stop, the resulting visions begin leading her toward answers in the case that makes her career. This is the tale of a woman who solves crimes through a combination of keen observation, grunt work, and pure gut instinct; this is the making of Detective Salt.
I’ve been enjoying the Detective Sarah Alt series very much. It is a gritty and real police procedural. The author has been in this role in real life. I appreciated the balance or lack of balance shown in Sarah’s personal life. Over the previous two books, she has grown and changed as a character. I hoped for more of the same, and a continuation of her life. With the title of The Policeman’s Daughter, I thought she might come to terms with more of her feelings about her father and his death.
Nope. This full-length book is a prequel to the first two books. I kept thinking, until I was at least halfway through, this was a flashback to give us details and then it would flash forward to the present and progress the story. Nope. I am a chronological sort of reader and I just didn’t like the jump back. It can work to focus on other people or more details we need but I don’t know where the series will go after this. I don’t know it will give me more I need for future books?
While I got more details, I didn’t feel like it was in depth enough to be anything I needed which I didn’t already know. It was somewhat interesting but because of the character development of Sarah, it felt like a step backward. Honestly, I would read it first, instead of third; I would have enjoyed it more.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2018 New Release Challenge
- COYER Winter Switch