The Wicked Hour

October 5, 2020
When the naked corpse of a struggling violinist, 24-year-old Morgan Chambers, turns up in a dumpster in Blanchard’s disappointing sequel to 2019’s Trace of Evil, Natalie Lockhart—a detective with the Burning Lake, N.Y., police—assumes the crime is a random act of violence, until she learns that another young woman with ties to a local music conservatory recently went missing. The case also causes Natalie to revisit the disappearance of her childhood friend, violinist Bella Striver, who allegedly ran away on the night of their high school graduation. The events of the previous book loom large, affecting Natalie’s relationships as well as her mental health; regrettably, Blanchard never provides a plot recap, leaving new readers in the dark. Though the setup is clever, the mystery suffers from a dearth of viable suspects with convincing motives (the killer included), and the action-packed denouement feels preposterous and arbitrary. Fans will hope for better next time. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

October 1, 2020
Investigating the mysterious death of a talented violinist renews a detective's anxieties about a long-missing friend. When Morgan Chambers' body is found following Halloween night, Detective Natalie Lockhart recognizes the signature red mark on the young woman's neck that shows she'd spent long hours practicing the violin. Morgan had been desperately trying to break into the world of solo violinists, even attempting to break out in a viral moment at Burning Lake's Monster Mash song contest. But Morgan's efforts weren't enough to catapult her to fame, and it's possible that looking into becoming a fiddler in a band rather than a soloist led to some bad choices that left her dead in a dumpster. Or so Natalie speculates as she investigates the case, which reminds her of that of her childhood friend Bella Striver, another talented violinist who disappeared around their high school graduation. Could someone be targeting violinists? It seems possible, especially when another missing girl is linked to Natalie's investigation. The case triggers Natalie's fears, but when she turns to her trusted doctor, Russ Swinton, for help and maybe a change in meds, she realizes that Russ may be mixed up in Morgan's case in ways she never could have imagined. Natalie longs for the support of her longtime friend Luke, but his position as Lt. Pittman has complicated the easy rapport they once had, leaving Natalie to figure out what happened to Morgan on her own. New readers of this series would be advised to catch up with the backstory first.

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November 1, 2020
When readers last met Detective Natalie Lockhart (Trace of Evil, 2019), it was her sister's "deathaversary," and Natalie was still very much caught up with her sibling's demise and her mother's needs. In this second in the series, Natalie has moved on and matured but is still in her hometown of Burning Lake, where Halloween festivities are the event of the year. This year's post-Halloween cleanup reveals the body of a young woman in a dumpster, and finding out who she was, what happened, and who could be responsible brings to the fore issues surrounding parental wrongdoing, both of the overbearing stage-parent type and of the much more violent kind. References to events in the previous book will likely be confusing for readers who haven't read it, but, otherwise, this is an absorbing look at small-town politics and relationships set against the intrigue of a mysterious death. Jodi Picoult's fans will be an apt audience for Blanchard's chilling latest.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2020

Burning Lake, NY, a historical landmark where witches were burned to death, is normally a delightfully spooky place to be on Halloween. The streets are packed with costumed revelers, and Det. Natalie Lockhart is tasked with monitoring the crowds. Then a young woman, accomplished violinist Morgan Chambers, is found naked and dead in a trash bin, and the difficult task of tracing her path to this end begins. Natalie is still reeling from the death of her sister Grace just months ago, her notoriety from catching a serial killer, and the long-ago murder of her sister Willow. Personally depressed but determined to solve the case, Natalie enters the highly competitive world of music performance, valuable instruments and their collectors, and parents who accept nothing but the best from their talented offspring. VERDICT Blanchard (Trace of Evil) presents a bewitching police procedural in this second "Natalie Lockhart" novel, but readers may be at a disadvantage if they have not read the first book, as the segue is choppy. Though Natalie is well drawn, peripheral characters, especially a love interest, are not fully developed. Still, the setting and musical topic are excellent, and the dramatic conclusion satisfies. For fans of Erica Spindler.--Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

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