Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cold Blooded Liar by Karen Rose Series: Romantic Suspense #27, San Diego #1
Published by Berkley on February 28. 2023
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 492
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Sam Reeves is a kindhearted psychologist who treats court-ordered clients. After one of his patients—a pathological liar—starts revealing plausible new details from a long-unsolved serial murder case, he’s compelled to report anonymously to the SDPD tip line, though his attempts to respect patient confidentiality land him facedown and cuffed by the aggressive (and cute) Detective McKittrick.
San Diego homicide detective Kit McKittrick loves the water. She lives on a boat, and when she’s not solving crimes with the SDPD, she’s assisting her foster sister with her charter fishing business, scuba diving, or playing with her poodle. But there’s nothing that intrigues Kit more than a cold case, so when an anonymous caller leads her on the path of a wanted killer, she’s determined to end the decade-long manhunt.
Sam is soon released but goes home with both a newfound distaste for the SDPD and a resolve--not unlike Kit’s--to uncover the truth. Kit and Sam repeatedly butt heads in their separate investigations but are forced to work together to find one of the deadliest serial killers the city has faced in a decade.
I love the Romantic Suspense series. I’ve read them all. I started the series with the first Cincinnati book, with Faith and Deacon. It was actually #16 overall. Then I went back and read the previous 15 books. I would not jump into this in the middle of the series. One could start at the beginning of a city since those stories connect well, and they seem to be labelled on Goodreads.
Cold Blooded Liar is in a new city, San Diego. So the characters are all new. The world-building and character development by this author are always phenomenal. We have a youngish detective Kit who grew up in foster care, whose sister was most likely abducted and murdered. There is also a psychologist, Sam, who works with a variety of clients. Kit and her partner, Baz, have a skeptical view of shrinks.
Sam is worried about one of his clients, that he is involved in crimes. He tries to find a way to help police but ends up as a suspect. The actual serial killer strikes more victims to frame Sam. It’s a frightening set of events to try to hunt a decades long serial killer. Kit and her co-workers do good work, gathering evidence from many angles and looking for patterns, suspects and possible other victims.
But Sam also is investigating in a smart way. He comes up with some really helpful evidence, and luckily he is staying with a buddy to have an alibi as he does. It turns out he has a real knack for having people talk to him.
There is an attraction between Kit and Sam but this is not like any others in the series as there is no romance. I’m curious to see if we get more of San Diego and Kit with Sam.
About Karen Rose
Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”
Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Her novels, I’M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America’s RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages.
A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23-COYER
I really enjoyed this one too! I’m always pleased that she features smart characters who don’t take stupid risks. Like Sam taking a buddy to avoid further suspicion. Can’t wait for more in this series. Wonderful review, Anne!
P.S. Love the new spring banner! 🙂
Yes exactly Rachel. It was also interesting as her first book which was not a romance too. I still loved it.
I want to read this one! Sam sounds like such a great character.
Sam is a great character. I think Karen Rose does an amazing job with character development.
This is an author that I have wanted to read for a long time. This sounds like something that I would really like.
Nobody does characters Like Karen Rose. She keeps a great pace with the action and mystery too. Being me I would start at the beginning but you could start with a city. I started with Cincinnati (16) and went back and read them from the beginning then. They are all so good. I have always read the ebooks but have heard the audio is good too.
I haven’t posted my review on my blog yet, only on Instagram, but I loved this one too. It was my first time reading Karen Rose but I definitely want to read more. I felt so bad for Sam, trying to do the right thing and ending up in such a mess. I’m curious to see if those sparks between Kit and Sam grow into anything more in future books.
I’m glad you enjoyed it and I really felt for Sam. This was an outlier in that it doesn’t have a “settled” romance. You might love any of the earlier books too. But I would at least start with a city if not the very beginning.
Wonderful review. I’ve been seeing this around and it’s getting great reviews. I love the new blog banner! 🙂
Thank you Wendy. Michelle at Limabean Designs takes all my weird ideas and somehow creates a banner. I love Karen Rose books, but this one is the odd man out and is not a romance.
Lovely review. I think I’d enjoy this one.
Thank you! I love her books, all of them.
This isn’t an author I’ve read before but her books have been on my TBR for ages. I really like the sound of this one. Like both the main characters I can’t resist a cold case!
I’ve loved all her books but this one is an oddity in that there is not a romance. I think you could start with any city. They are all excellent.
Hopefully you get more!
I love this author and she tends to write her series in city locations. This is the first in San Diego so probably we will. But this was weird as it’s the only one without an actual romance. Great story, great characters, great action as usual though.
I love Karen Rose and I’m so excited to read this one too. Glad you liked it.
I love Karen Rose too and hope you enjoy!