Review: The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner

The Gone Dead Train

by Lisa Turner

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 358

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  After time away to recover from the aftermath of a horrible case that left his partner dead, Billy's back in Memphis, drawn into an ever-widening murder mystery that focuses on flawed heroes: a disgraced major league baseball player, two legendary blues musicians on the lam, a straight-arrow lady cop tortured by a guilty conscience, and two iconic civil rights warriors with secrets so dark they'll shock the nation.

Detective Billy Able is at a crossroads. His previous case left him questioning everything he believed about his abilities as a cop and as a friend. Even though he's considering leaving police work behind, he's unable to turn off the instincts he's honed after a decade on the force.

But when he stops a crime from being committed, he finds himself embroiled in a much bigger scandal. A murder that has just taken place has connections to a series of much older crimes dating back to the civil rights movement. As he investigates, Billy uncovers so many layers of secrets he can barely keep the truth from the lies. And he knows the straight-laced cop assigned to the case is hiding something big. But is it connected to the case? This time he's determined to make sure he finds out the truth before anything else can happen. But as the search for truth with the help of a Santeria Priest leads him deeper into the underbelly of Memphis, will Billy make it out alive?

Kritters Thoughts:  The first in a new series that takes place in Memphis and centers around a homicide detective and a lady police officer who would love to join the homicide team.  In this book, they encounter a murder that involves a little voodoo and some of the underground unseen Memphis.  

I have never been to Memphis so first, I enjoyed how descriptive the setting of this story was.  I really felt like I could see Memphis and experience it.  I was intrigued to read about how much it felt like it had in common with New Orleans and the underground religious practices was new to me.  

Of course I also loved the who dun it.  This time I was surprised by the person who ended up being the culprit, but the way Lisa Turner wrote it, I liked the surprise.  

Completely minor and didn't keep me from continuing the series, but having a main character that is a female named Frankie threw me for the longest time and even threw me when I read book 2 right after finishing this one.  Totally minor, just a complete personal preference.

I like series that are like these where the story is self contained but not because you want to get to know the detectives and characters that will move from one book to the other, but the mystery who dun it is completely self contained.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row