The Reaping by Jess Lourey
The second book in the Steinbeck and Reed series by Jess Lourey is available September 3, THE REAPING.
Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped to never return to his hometown, a place that holds painful memories of his sister’s abduction, but when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder of a family of five in 1998, he and agent Evangeline Reed are sent to investigate. The story grows more sinister as one by one the children of Alku begin disappearing, and Steinbeck must confront the dark corners of his own past.
The series is interesting in that it pairs a by-the-book forensic scientist (Steinbeck) with a rogue BCA agent (Reed). In both book one and book two, the partners individually battle demons from their past as they try to solve the mystery of the crime. I would call this series a cross between a thriller and a mystery. They are both dark – so if dark isn’t your thing – you best avoid them.
Jess Lourey is the author of the Murder-by-Month mysteries, billed as cozy mysteries, which combine humor, with quirky characters and a compelling mystery. She is an Edgar-nominated and Minnesota Book Award winner of young adult, magical realism, fantasy, and crime fiction. I’d say that in her vast catalog, there is pretty much something for everyone.
