LOVE INSPIRED SUSPENSE BOOK SERIES CRITIQUE - TRUE BLUE K-9 UNIT BROOKLYN (2020)

In this critique series (all of which contain spoilers), I'm dealing with six Love Inspired Suspense K-9 series. Most of them have several covers. However, I wasn't able to do that with True Blue K-9 Unit Brooklyn, and the cover I'm showing belongs to one of the two in the series I didn't read!

This series is a spin-off of the previous year's True Blue K-9 Unit, which is set in Queens. There are a few characters from the previous series - Chief Gavin Sutherland whose wife still works with the Queens Unit, Lani Branson whose romance with Queens Chief Noah Jameson, and Snapper, a K-9 MIA in the previous series and is now handled by Lani. Other than that, it's new heroes (both human and canine) and new villains.

The story starts with a man in a clown suit giving a young child a stuffed monkey before going into the house and killing the child's parents on the 20th anniversary of an identical murder. Was the same fiend involved, or was it a copycat killer, meaning there are two bad guys to catch? Also, the Unit adopt an abandoned dog and her pups, with the goal of training them. But then a neighbor claims those dogs belong to him. 

This series consists of: 

1. "Copycat Killer" by Laura Scott.
2. "Chasing Secrets" by Heather Woodhaven.*
3. "Deadly Connection" by Lenora Worth.
4. "Explosive Situation" by Terri Reed.
5. "Tracking a Kidnapper" by Valerie Hansen.
6. "Scene of the Crime" by Sharon Dunn.
7. "Cold Case Pursuit" by Dana Mentink.
8. "Delayed Justice" by Shirley McCoy.
9. "Brooklyn Christmas" by Laura Scott and Maggie K. Black.*

* Indicates ones I haven't read. Until recently, I haven't read the Christmas novella duets because those follow the main action. Also, most of these have come to the Indianapolis Library when I suggest them for purchase, but COVID was messing up ordering books during that time, which is how I missed "Chasing Secrets."

I found this series well written over all. My favorites were "Explosive Situation" - where a K-9 Detective falls in love with the internal affairs officer investigating him - and "Delayed Justice" - where a reporter finds herself threatened by a man who's been dead for years. 

Needless to say, there are two killers. Penelope McGregor solves the case where her parents were killed twenty years earlier in "Cold Case Pursuit",  and "Delayed Justice" reveals who the modern day killer is, with an exciting rescue of the heroine. 

BOOK REVIEW: EXPLOSIVE SITUATION BY TERRI REED

In 2020, I got hooked on the True Blue K-9 Unit series published by Harlequin's Love-Inspired Suspense series (you can read my review of the series here). Evidently, the company has a series every year, and the following one published last year (I know, I'm a year behind) was the True Blue K-9 Unit Brooklyn (the first series was based in Queens).

I've missed the second part, but so far I've read the first, third, and fourth installments of this nine part series, and today I'm dealing with the latter, Explosive Situation by Terri Reed. I find it interesting that the fourth installments of both series deal with bomb sniffing pooches (a Beagle in this story, a Springer Spaniel and a Golden Retriever in Deep Undercover of the Queens series).

So far, this is my favorite of this series. In the previous series, it was the 5th book, Seeking The Truth by Terri Reed. If the author's name sounds familiar, it may be because you saw it in the title of this current review. At the moment, I've read only those two books by Terri, but I'm hooked.

One interesting thing about this book - it deals with a police officer suspected of excessive violence by an Internal Affairs investigator. Some of you may guess that the IA leader and the officer are of different genders and end up falling in love with each other. For those with that suspicion, what do you think this story is? Part of the Love-Inspired Suspense series? 

Sphinx Cat, vetstreet.brighspotcdn.com

A minor character that made this more enjoyable for Becky and I was Kitty.
Kitty is ... a cat. Not just any cat, but a Sphinx Cat. For those who haven't read the book or aren't familiar with cat breeds, Sphinx's are known as being hairless. Reed points out in the story that isn't true - they do have a peach fuzz. My wife would love a Sphinx Cat in the hopes that her cat allergies wouldn't act up. (I've read enough to know there's no guarantees - cat allergies are cause more by the cat's dander rather than their fur, and Sphinxes have dander.

Back to the book. It is an excellent story, with the surprises you expect in the story. I highly recommend it.

Any other Terri Reed fans? Any other guys like me who enjoy Love Inspired Suspense?