He Said, She Said, “Murder” (He Said, She Said Mystery Series #1)
Author: Jeremy Gates
4 out of 5 stars
Ex-cop Joe and ex-FBI Agent Tanja Shepherd have recently started a private investigation business. Unfortunately, their law enforcement experience isn’t enough to bring in clients like they hoped. And with a baby on the way money is tight, so when family friend and County Sheriff Bill Diekmann offers to hire them to work on the department’s cold cases, they jump at the chance. Their first case is the murder of a teenage girl, Becky Sweet, five years previously. A break in the case comes when they find the victim’s car that had still been missing. The case completely changes when a second body is discovered in the car. Can Joe and Tanja put the pieces together and catch Becky’s killer? Or will he get to them first?
I liked this book, overall. The mystery starts off as a seemingly stereotypical teenage girl in a relationship she shouldn’t have been in, but that quickly changes when the identity of the body they find in her car is revealed. There’s also a second twist that I won’t spoil, but the new knowledge that comes from the twists make the mystery a lot more intriguing. The mystery itself was very well-written. Joe and Tanja’s investigation is very clear and easy to follow along with, unlike some mysteries where the characters sometimes make leaps in logic that don’t completely make sense. But it also wasn’t too simple or obvious, instead I was putting things together right before they did.
The story had a good pace and easy flow, so it was a fast read. There were also some nice descriptions, particularly when describing storms, which happens a few times in the story. Despite these positives, there were some negatives.
The main one being some of the character interactions. At first, I didn’t particularly like Joe and Tanja, especially Tanja. One scene that sticks out is when Joe loses his temper with a suspect and later refuses to open up to Tanja about it. She gives him the silent treatment, which she says is to show him how it feels when his partner doesn’t communicate with him. Considering they’re trying to track down a suspect, it’s very bad timing. The story is told from both of their perspectives, so the reader sees that this is not working at all how she wants it to. There were also times where her thoughts about Joe came across as a little too analytical, and it just felt awkward.
However, the characters did grow on me. The scene I mentioned happens early in the book, and Tanja realized later that it wasn’t a good idea. I also got used to her thought process. There were still some iffy moments, including something Joe does at the end of the story, but overall, I now like them enough that I would give the next book in the series a chance.
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because of my feelings about the characters, but I enjoyed the mystery a lot so I can’t give it less than that. If you enjoy mysteries that include married couples solving crimes, or even just mysteries that also focus on the characters’ relationships, then you’ll like this book.
Current Price through Amazon Kindle: $0
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TEQK2ZO
(I do not benefit from the use of this link.)