The Wicked Hour: A Novel

Burning Lake has survived a Halloween celebration... although not everyone who attended survived. Detective Lockhart is helping clean up afterwards and what she discovers is a body... dead and lying in a dumpster. There's no identification and no one seems to know who she is. She has a tattoo on her arm, a callus under her chin. Upon investigating, Lockhart discovers a string of murders and disappearances. Connection to each other? Connections to the body Lockhart found? Lockhart can't help but remember a childhood friend... who disappeared many years ago. As she gets closer to the truth, the killer is weaving a trap for her that may prove inescapable. This sequel to TRACE OF EVIL is well-written. The intricate plot is filled with action beginning on the very first page. Suspense is maintained from start to finish with suspects that are many and varied. Characters are deftly drawn. Although 2nd in the series, it is easily read as a stand alone. I would recommend reading in order, as Lockhart's backstory is more explained in the first book. There is a very slight cliffhanger pointing to another exciting book in the future. Many thanks to the author / St Martin's Press / Minotaur Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction / police procedural. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Through out a portion of this book, I was lost. Part of the back story is missing, so I went in search of a previous book. There is one “Trace of Evil“. Might help with the storyline displacement. This a true “who done it “ with a small twist. The story is enjoyable, must admit, there is a definite need of some missing detail and how did the ending relationship happen? Hard to follow in places.

I received a free electronic ARC of this police procedural novel from Netgalley, author Alice Blanchard, and publisher, St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read The Wicked Hour of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. The second novel in a series, The Wicked Hour is completely stand-alone, but this tale is told so smoothly, wrapped up so tight, that I will want to read all of this series. Alice Blanchard is an author I will follow. Natalie Lockhart is a native of Burning Lake, and a detective in the employ of the city of Burning Lake, New York, a tourist town with a well-publicized 17th-century history of hanging witches and a renowned school of music. Summer is a fairly busy time for Burning Lake businesses, but residents make most of their annual income in the month of October, basically closing their doors on November 1st due to iffy weather and lack of interest. Their witchy reputation brings in the odd crazy person hidden among the waves of sunburned, hungry tourists, and this year is no exception. Halloween night brings masses of tourists - and one woman, found nude and dead in a trash dumpster downtown during the massive clean-up beginning on November first is the exception that proves the rule. But Natalie recognizes the callus under the chin and on the left-hand fingers of this woman as the well earned results of endless practice time spent on the violin. Natalie's best friend, Bella, bearing those same scars, had gone missing just after high school graduation, and Natalie recognized them again in a murder taking place six months ago right here in Burning Lake. Bella's disappearance was written off as a runaway months later when a few letters and polaroid photos, posted from cities across the country, were received by Natalie and by Bella's family. But with the summer murder and now this Halloween murder, that is two women with violin histories, and Burning Lake has a world-class music school. And what about Bella? Is she really traveling the world? She hasn't been heard from in years. Perhaps the murderer isn't a visiting tourist, after all. He could be home-grown...