My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Many Thanks to Net Galley, Bookouture and Dana Perry for the chance to read and review this book.

Dana Perry’s The Golden Girl is book #2 in Jessie Tucker Mystery. Jessie Tucker is an investigative journalist for New York Tribune and it has been quite a while that I have read any books with journalists as protagonists.

New York is stifling under the heat wave and Officer Maura Walsh is found shot dead in an alley. With no particular motive in sight and the police investigation stalling, Jessie Tucker decides to do an enquiry into the crime for her human interest story. The initial discovery of Maura’s activities of the night itself leads to 101 questions as corruption, ex-lover, mob fury, revenge, infidelity, past death, family secrets all tumble out. Jessie then begins the painful task of weeding out the actual motive behind Maura’s killing especially when the police force themselves believe that the death is random killing during the summer heat wave in New York. As the investigation progresses, Jessica begins to identify herself with Maura’s life and loss and thereby becomes determined to get to the truth, but at what personal cost?

The untangling of all the different threads that formed the crime net was one brilliant ride but that was not what attracted me most in the story. Jessica’s story of being a victim of a crime 12 years ago and the nightmares that still haunt her was touching and the search for her missing father, another thread in the story that pulls at your heart strings. A particular scene in the story where Jessica feels so utterly lost and lonely that she wishes for someone to hug her was really heart felt. And it is this emotional feel in the story that adds to the twisted and convoluted plot.

The supporting characters in the story was another nice touch and do note that the author have provided titbits about some of the greatest movies of crime reporters that one longs to re-watch those classics.

Outstanding!



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Maura was perfect.
A perfect liar.

One humid summer evening, Officer Maura Walsh is lead to her table at a local restaurant – it’s a trendy place with cocktails on the menu, full of office workers leaning across the bar to flirt. She’s prettier than most of the women here, but everybody gives her a wide berth. She doesn’t eat or drink anything. She doesn’t meet anyone’s eye.

An hour later, Maura is dead. Her silky red hair swirls in the dirty puddles beneath her body. The dank walls of a forgotten alley are the last thing she ever saw. It took a long time for Maura to die, alone in the dark.

Somebody made sure she would have plenty of time to think about what she’d done.

This totally twisty and absolutely gripping read will keep you turning the pages late into the night. Perfect for fans of Mary Burton, Karen Rose and Lisa Jackson.