Page-turning CSI-style adventure: Review of Cold Shot by Dani Pettrey

Dani Pettrey’s writing hooked me from book one of her Alaskan Courage five-book series, and the first story in her new Chesapeake Valor series sets the scene for another hard-to-walk-away-from lineup of characters.

Cold Shot introduces us to a group of friends working in the Chesapeake Bay area, who are brought together on a crime investigation when a body is discovered in Gettysburg National Park. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my review.)

Ranger Griffin McRay interrupts what he thinks are opportunistic grave robbers but soon discovers the body is a more recent death. He calls on attractive forensic anthropologist Finley Scott to help with the investigation. Griffin is soon reunited with childhood buddies Declan Grey, now with the FBI, and Parker Mitchell, a crime scene investigator. The three friends used to be an inseparable foursome, but they’ve been driven apart by a circumstance no one talks about and the disappearance of the fourth friend, Luke Gallagher.

That all sounds complicated, but Dani peppers the murder investigation with the friends’ history in a palatable way, so readers aren’t overwhelmed with the setup of a new series.

If you’re a fan of crime scene investigation shows on TV, I think you’ll like this book. I personally don’t watch them, but I read this book in less than 7 hours. It’s fast-paced adventure and I already look forward to the next one. (If there’s any downside, it’s that I finished so quickly and now have to wait!)