FBI-profiler Eva Rae Thomas faces a devious plan in bestselling author Willow Rose’s blood-rushing thriller of murder and revenge.
A girl falls from the penthouse floor of an apartment in Washington, D.C.
Media Mogul Richard Wanton owns the apartment and is seen standing on the balcony when the girl falls.
He is accused of killing her, but the FBI struggles to find enough solid evidence to convict him.
They have a witness, someone who was in the apartment, but she doesn’t want to talk to them.
She’ll only speak to one person, ex-FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas. The problem is, Eva Rae Thomas has no interest in talking to her.
As a matter of fact, she’d rather see this woman dead than have to face her.
But Eva Rae Thomas isn’t someone who can leave a case alone, especially not when she starts to ask questions and things aren’t adding up.
As she digs in deeper—with the entire world watching—she soon finds herself in too deep and realizes she can’t trust anyone’s motives.
But by then, it is too late, and the killer is already tracking her down.
FBI-profiler Eva Rae Thomas faces a devious plan in bestselling author Willow Rose’s blood-rushing thriller of murder and revenge.
A girl falls from the penthouse floor of an apartment in Washington, D.C.
Media Mogul Richard Wanton owns the apartment and is seen standing on the balcony when the girl falls.
He is accused of killing her, but the FBI struggles to find enough solid evidence to convict him.
They have a witness, someone who was in the apartment, but she doesn’t want to talk to them.
She’ll only speak to one person, ex-FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas. The problem is, Eva Rae Thomas has no interest in talking to her.
As a matter of fact, she’d rather see this woman dead than have to face her.
But Eva Rae Thomas isn’t someone who can leave a case alone, especially not when she starts to ask questions and things aren’t adding up.
As she digs in deeper—with the entire world watching—she soon finds herself in too deep and realizes she can’t trust anyone’s motives.
But by then, it is too late, and the killer is already tracking her down.
Something was off. Officer Dana Marshall, with Washington Metropolitan P.D., couldn’t put her finger on precisely what it was that stirred up this unease inside her, but that was how she felt when stepping out of the apartment complex on New York Avenue with her partner of three years, George Parish. There was something in the air and a pinch in her stomach that told her something awful was about to happen.
But what?
“You wanna go grab a bite from that pizza place down the street?” George asked as they reached their cruisers parked on the street.Â
They had been called out to a domestic disturbance in an apartment building. A couple in the middle of a nasty divorce had been fighting when the man locked his wife out in the hallway and refused to let her back inside, even though she was only in her underwear. The neighbors called for help after she had been screaming at him and hammering on the door for about an hour. Dana and George had managed to get the husband finally to let his wife in and then spoken to both of them, taking their statements for the report and trying to mediate and make sure it wouldn’t happen again. It was part of the job sometimes to have to act like a psychologist to keep the peace—at least for long enough to make it through the night without them having to be called out there again.Â
Dana nodded and corrected her belt. “Sure. I liked what I got there last time, the one with the garlic.”
“That is a good one,” George said. “Maybe I’ll have that too.”
Dana exhaled. She couldn’t escape that odd sensation inside her that something was about to go down, something awful. She approached her cruiser and was about to get in when she paused.
Without knowing why she lifted her gaze and looked toward the tall building across the street from them. It had a big glass façade and a rooftop penthouse terrace. Dana had never been inside the building but often admired it from the outside when driving by on patrol. She knew it was among the most expensive apartments in the D.C. area, and it was rumored that one of them was owned by Bruce Willis, even though it was never confirmed. But she did know that they were popular among the high society elite of the area and that you couldn’t get an apartment in that building for less than fifteen million dollars. Dana had often wondered what it was like to be so rich you could afford to buy something like that.Â
“You okay?” George asked, pulling Dana back to reality. “You kind of disappeared there for a second.”
She smiled and turned to look at her partner. “Yes, of course. I’m just hungry, I guess.”
“It is getting late,” he said and clapped his stomach. “Let’s go.”
Dana nodded and reached for the door when a sound made her turn her head and look toward the expensive glass building once again.Â
And just as she did, something moved on top of it, on the penthouse terrace. A woman screamed, and Dana let go of the car door, then took a step forward.
“What in the…”
She glared up toward the top of the building just as the girl screamed again, then tipped over the railing and fell from the sky.Â
Dana held her breath as she watched the girl fly through the air. It felt like hours went by as she stared at the body floating in the air, but it could have been nothing but seconds if even that.Â
The sound of the body hitting the pavement below made her stomach churn. Biting back bile, along with the urge to scream, she ran across the street to the body—or what was left of it—smeared on the asphalt.Â
Startled and barely breathing, Dana lifted her gaze again, looked toward the top of the building, and saw a man standing on the terrace, looking down at her from the exact spot where the girl had fallen.Â
Then she grabbed her gun and stormed for the entrance.
CHAPTER 1
Delta Airlines flight 5703 was circling the city below, and the captain announced that we had begun our descent into Washington-Dulles. I gazed out the window with a deep sigh, leaning my head against it. This had once been my favorite sight, back when it meant coming home—when it meant the end of a long journey and me getting back to my babies.
Today, it meant something completely different.
The plane began its descent, and the city below came closer like it was reeling me in, pulling me back.
“Coming home or visiting?” the elderly gentleman sitting next to me asked. He had been sitting very still during the entire flight and not uttered a word until now. I didn’t mind. I was in no mood to chat with a stranger.Â
“Just visiting,” I said.
“Oh, I see. And for how long do we have the pleasure of you staying here?”
That made me sigh as the plane bumped and landed on the runway. “Should only be for a few days.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it here. Washington D.C. is a wonderful city. I should know. I’ve lived here all my life.”
I smiled. “I’ll take your word for it.”
I pulled my carry-on out of the overhead bin, which was my only luggage for the trip since I wasn’t staying long. I had a four-month-old child to get back to as soon as possible.
Why am I here again?
The newsstands on my way through the airport told me the reason. I couldn’t escape it no matter how much I tried not to look.Â
MEDIA TYCOON RICHARD WANTON OUT ON BAIL: I DIDN’T KILL HER
MURDERER WANTON A FREE MAN
WANTON: I’M INNOCENT
I closed my eyes briefly, then shook my head, rushing past the headlines, wondering what kind of idiot judge sets a one-million-dollar bail for a guy like Richard Wanton. It was peanuts for a powerful guy like him, and, of course, he’d be able to post it.
The trial was set for May fifth, three weeks from now.Â
“Eva Rae!”
I walked out into the arrival hall and saw FBI Director Isabella Horne standing there, holding a sign with my name.
That made me laugh.Â
“You thought I wouldn’t recognize you?” I asked as I approached her and gave her a big warm hug. “We worked together for ten years at the bureau?”
She looked down at her sign, then shrugged. “It was meant as a joke. Guess it wasn’t very funny after all. How was your flight?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Bumpy and annoying. You know I hate to fly. It better be worth it. Dragging me away from my family at a time like this isn’t exactly popular, just so you know it.”
Isabella nodded. “It’s important. You know I wouldn’t have made you come if it weren’t.”
“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me why you needed me on the phone?”
Isabella sighed, then placed a hand on my shoulder and pushed me to move forward. “All in due time. All in due time, Eva Rae.”
When you are on the run for your life, where is the safest place? Is anywhere safe? Can you imagine what it would feel like to feel paranoid all of the time, like someone is watching your every step, just because you saw something you weren't supposed to see? In the case of Such a Good Girl, Rose crafts a compelling story where no one is who they seem, and wealth leads to an avenue for murder and coverup.
Eva Rae, former FBI profiler, has been called in upon an urgent request. Unwillingly leaving her four-month old at home, she travels all the way to Washington D.C. on behalf of a witness who only wants to speak to her. Come to find out, the witness is none other than the woman Eva Rae blames for ending her marriage. Kimmie has a son who is a friend of one of Eva Rae's daughters, so against her better judgement, she decides to hear Kimmie out. She admits to seeing everything, confesses to witnessing Richard Wanton, a prominent and wealthy media man, push a young woman off of his apartment balcony. Out of fear for her son's safety, she desperately pleads with Eva Rae to protect them. Resentment and hatred toward this woman resurfaces, causing Eva Rae to initially deny her request, but later she begins to realize that things do not quite add up with her story and the way the FBI is handling the murder trial is off-putting. As Eva Rae becomes more involved, danger begins to circle them the closer the trial date looms.
Rose creates an intense thrill with this murder mystery. While you know who is involved, most of the players still have some things to hide. How this story was written makes for a fun read, to have so much anticipation building between what is being done in the present verses what has played out in the past. It enables readers to have the sense of feeling like they are greedily reading each page to find where both present and past meet and how the gaps fill in. The characters are well developed, several are introduced through first person narrative within different chapters, allowing the reader to identify or relate with them on a more personal level. The pace is steady, making it easy to read through and the story is well-written with little to no spellings or grammatical errors. Readers who enjoy a good mystery will not be able to turn this one down. This is the ninth book in the Eva Rae Thomas Mysteries, but it can be read as a standalone or in chronological order, as personal preference dictates.
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An electronic copy of this book was provided to Turning Another Page by Reedsy Discovery and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a five-star rating to Such a Good Girl by Willow Rose.