💬 Review I'm Watching You by Mary Burton

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Name of the eBook you are reviewing: I'm Watching You by Mary Burton



Link to the content you're reviewing on our site (optional): 📖 eBook Download - I'm Watching You (Richmond #1) by Mary Burton (epub)

A child of domestic abuse, Lindsay O'Neil is no stranger to violence, but finding a dead body in front of the women's shelter she runs, and receiving a disturbing bunch of flowers, is enough to shock anyone. A second body soon followed the first, and it is evident she has a very disturbed stalker. The homicide detective assigned to the case is no other than Detective Zack Kier, her estranged husband, and it's a race to uncover the killer before he strikes again, and again...

Review:
Trigger warnings for this book: Abuse, rape.

The book is a romantic-suspense (my current favourite genre) read. It starts off with a rather disturbing scene of a murder taking place, and we given a glimpse of the killer's psyche from the beginning. The man he kills is not a good man, and he justifies the murder as some sort of twisted justice.

The body was left at a women's shelter, and our heroine Lindsay O'Neil then enters the scene, a dedicated fighter for abused women with secrets of her own. Estranged from her husband Zack Kier, due to his alcoholism and one-time infidelity, she finds herself fighting complex feelings when he shows up as the homicide detective in charge. Zack is sober and is wanting a reconciliation, but things are made complicated with the murder, and when his partner Jacob Warwick targets Lindsay as a potential suspect. Emotions are a plenty between Lindsay and Zack as they work together to find the killer.

There's also a secondary story with Lindsay's roommate Nicole Piper, who is on the run from her abusive husband. Her story is interesting as well, but very dark and rather disturbing.

The book has quite a strong plot, but less than stellar development for the heroine. Lindsay is fine as a character, but I find her to be inconsistent and overly stubborn. I understand her motivation to protect the women's shelter and the women, but when there's a guy running around killing people, there has to be a point where she lays things out on the line. Her feelings for Zack seemed inconsistent as well. On the other hand, I like the development for Zack. He's really a man fighting his demons. He turned to alcohol due to his struggle as an undercover in Narcotics but worked really hard to sober up after Lindsay kicked him out (I'm not too impressed with the infidelity however, and would like to see that actually fully addressed, but that's a nitpick). He also has a difficult relationship with his partner, who believes he'd relapse anytime, and all this. Zack's intention to reconcile with his wife is made clear from the beginning, and he is capable of compartmentalising the case and his feelings. I do like how his difficulties with sobriety is touched on, and how determined he is to stay sober and have that second chance with Lindsay.

The identity of the killer is unexpected for me, especially with the regards to the roles they play. They are certainly disturbed but the cultivation of who they came to be who they are is actually quite interesting.

The secondary story is more straightforward, and Nicole's husband is the absolute worst. Honestly I am so disgusted whenever he appears in the book.

The book also showcases certain characters that will play a starring role in the next book of the series, and I find it to be a good point to weave them in in preparation for the next book.

My one minor nitpick with the book is the writing and the editing. It is certainly not the strongest, with repeated phrases even within a page. There could a be a little more polish on that but then again, it's one of Burton's earliest books.

Would you recommend this to other users? For fans of romantic suspense genre. It's actually an easy and a fast read, and it kept me occupied and guessing until the end. Good for that lazy afternoon when you just want a break.

Actual rating 3.5 stars, but I'll bump it to 4 stars.

Rating(1-5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
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