Loreth Anne White | THE GIRL IN THE MOSS

Plot (via Goodreads):

Disgraced ex-cop Angie Pallorino is determined to make a new start for herself as a private investigator. But first, she and her lover, newly promoted homicide detective James Maddocks, attempt a quiet getaway to rekindle a romance struggling in the shadows of their careers. The peace doesn’t last long when human skeletal remains are found in a nearby mossy grove.

This decades-old mystery is just what Angie needs to establish her new career—even as it thrusts her and Maddocks back into the media spotlight, once again endangering their tenuous relationship.

Then, when Angie’s inquiry into the old crime intersects with a cold case from her own policing past—one that a detective on Maddocks’s new team is working—the investigation takes a startling twist. It puts more than Angie’s last shot at redemption and a future with Maddocks at risk. The mystery of the girl in the moss could kill her.

Review: 

I think when I finished the second Angie Pallorino novel, I was in the woods in a cabin and screamed from frustration. Not because it wasn't good, but when I feature a series on my blog I like to kind of have a little break in between and read some standalone novels. Well, with this series I was seriously annoyed with myself that I was four and a half hours from home and I was BEGGING for the third novel. It's no surprise that the minute I got home, I just had to figure out what happened next. 

THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is easily my favorite novel in this series. I felt that THE DROWNED GIRLS just completely captivated me and made me fall in love with not only Angie Pallorino's character, but the story was just fantastic and featured a case that you hear about all of the time. What I loved about that novel was that there was just so much going on. There was a backstory, a little romance, and an active case that chilled me to the core. THE LULLABY GIRL just blew me away with its intensity and gave us all of the answers that we needed and still was connected to the first novel.

With THE GIRL IN THE MOSS, all hell breaks loose and nothing and no one is safe - especially the reader. With the conclusion of its predecessor, I was eager and anxious to find out where this story would go and what would happen to Angie Pallorino. This one definitely started off a little rocky for me because I didn't like the direction that Angie's life was going but I was still hooked and trust me, Loreth Anne White's writing is completely dazzling with this one and Angie Pallorino is even better than before. Well the rockiness didn't stay for long before I was completely blown away with the opening to this one and couldn't wait to figure out what happened. A cold case combined with some major bumps in the road for Angie Pallorino? Sign me up! 

The plot to this one is very similar to Force of Nature by Jane Harper and yet has this even darker vibe to it that just kept me in suspense from cover to cover. I loved that this was a cold case because everyone that was involved is a suspect, but it was also 20+ years ago so the small details that may have seemed interesting that night are long gone. With a plethora of characters just begging to be red herrings and another chilling atmosphere, I couldn't put this one down and completely devoured it in one single evening. There are some beautifully written scenes that made me gasp in horror. I am not joking with you when I say that one ending to a chapter made me yell explicitly and remind myself to double check the locks on my doors. 

While this was a joyous and chilling novel, all good things have to come to an end and this one was bittersweet for me. I needed to know what happened and yet I didn't want it to end. This is possibly the worst feeling for a bookworm, but I had to force myself to keep going and I am so glad I did. This was one of the best endings to a book that I've had the pleasure of reading. Not only did it completely take me by surprise, but wait...did this just have something to do with what I thought was a plot hole from the first novel that has gnawed away at my brain every single time I think of this series? Yes. A little easter egg for fans of the series awaits you at the end of this novel. And trust me, you don't want to miss out. So I am begging you, Loreth Anne White - please continue this series. I don't want to say goodbye to Angie Pallorino - not just yet anyway.

Special thanks to Amazon Publishing and Montlake Romance for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5