Lucy Kendall Series
Stacy Green
Currently published by Bookouture
Looking for a little bit of a darker crime series? Not totally a police procedural. Lucy Kendall was a social worker that has turned private investigator and vigilante. Fighting to bring justice for those that seem to evade it. Some might call her a serial killer. I usually mention how books work as a stand alone, but this series really is better off read as one. There is a stand alone storyline in each book, but it really is about Lucy and those she knows and associates with and you will appreciate it better as a series.
Book 1 – The Girl in the Pink Shoes
I love the author’s Nikki Hunt series and I jumped at the chance to read these. While the writing style is the same, these are a little darker with a few graphic scenes. If you are prone to triggers, I suggest looking those up. Lucy Kendall was a social worker who turned PI. After the horrors she’s seen as a social worker, she has a secret of her own. She has turned to vigilante justice for pedophiles that she’s deemed to have fallen through the cracks and remain free for one reason or another. Lucy is a strong dominant woman. And I really liked her a lot at the start. And I’ll never waiver on what a strong female character she is, but as I kept reading, my thoughts on her changed to more uncertainty whether I liked her. It made me think long and hard about vigilantism. And while my thoughts on Lucy may have waffled, I still needed to know who had taken the child.
It was harder for me to figure out who kidnapped Kailey, because all the characters are a little shady and has quite the evil side. There are also moments of redemption to offset all of the evil.
While this book is very different than the usual crime novels I read, I really did like it. I listened to the first book and then continued reading the series. Amelia Sciandra did a great job selling this tough material.
If you love crime novels and would like to try something a little darker, you should really check out this series.
Book 2 – Little Lost Souls
This one becomes personal for Lucy. Her hair is found at a murder scene and she is fighting to prove it wasn’t her in addition to protecting all she has done from being found out. She spends her time wondering if this is her karma for her other murders.
Again, I must mention this is a little darker than your normal crime series, but I have really liked getting to know Lucy and her Dexter like character. She doesn’t kill for the pleasure or for sport, but to get justice where the normal channels cannot. It raises an interesting question as I keep reading this series. Is this wrong and where is that line? Is she a champion for those victims or does she belong in jail?
I like Lucy’s relationships with the supporting characters in the book. The sons of the lady she is hunting throughout the series. One of those sons being a police officer. How she is always trying to balance keeping her secrets. Which becomes increasingly difficult as she is investigated for this murder.
This twist that makes Lucy the one being investigated kept me on the edge of my seat.
Book 3 – The Girl in the Cabin
Lucy is ready to turn her life around and follow the rules to seek justice, but of course things never go as planned. She gets caught up in a missing girls case when her friend Chris, Mary’s son, goes missing. She was still searching for Mary, but then must shift gears to save her secrets. Chris knows all.
Can you imagine working with the FBI and the police and having to hide your past. Worried one small misjudgment would throw you into jail? This series continues to keep me thinking as I read.
I think this series gets better as it progresses. It helps that the characters flow from book to book and in some instances it is more like a long book than a continuing series.
The stakes keep increasing for Lucy as she tries to save herself, her friends, keep all her secrets and save those most in need of a hero.
Book 4 – The Lonely Girls
Lucy has finally made her fresh start and is trying to leave the past in the past. But will it stay there or will it finally take her down? Someone has staged a murder to look like her sister’s suicide. And the victim, someone Lucy helped in her social work days. She is forced back into contact with those she left behind to save someone close to her.
Holy cow. This one was worth four books! Seriously that took some planning and I did not see that coming. Definitely don’t read this one unless you’ve read the series.
So much tension and such a quick pace. Once I hit the halfway part, I could not stop.
I highly recommend this series. You won’t regret it.
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