Justice Betrayed by Patricia Bradley
JD's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

Not being familiar with Bradley's writing, I was unsure of what to expect when I picked up this book. But given the fact that I love a good mystery as much, if not more, than the next reader, I was excited to give Justice Betrayed a read. I was not disappointed!

The book starts off with a super compelling scene in the prologue which instantly grabbed my attention. And it doesn't stop. The tension and suspense mount until the climax which I thought was really great.

Here's a short summary:
Two unsolved murders seventeen years apart become personal when Detective Rachel Sloan discovers a connection to her own mother’s death in a burglary-gone-wrong. Can she solve the cases before she becomes the next victim?

Characters

The characters are well-formed, for the most part. They're relatable and you get to like them. Even the villain finds a bit of a soft spot in your heart as you see what they endured as a child. Obviously, I didn't condone the actions, but I could feel a little empathy. The protagonist, Detective Rachel Sloan, is a great lead character that I really liked getting to know in these pages.

Romance

As this is marketed under the "Romantic Suspense" genre, there is a small element of a romantic interest between a couple main characters, but I didn't feel like it got in the way of the plot or story in any way. Though there were a few moments that were a tad too sappy for my personal taste, they were easy to overlook because it was never a prolonged scene; only little mentions here and there.

Plot

Even though I had figured out "whodunit" before the reveal, I still enjoyed they way Bradley wrote the scenes leading up to it. Rather than a letdown feeling, I instead had a feeling of satisfaction that I had "solved the case". Although there weren't lots of twists and turns and red herrings, there were lots of little clues given along the way which made this a very enjoyable mystery.

Content Advisory

There is no strong language or sexual content at all. However, the story has scenes of domestic violence, both depicted and referenced. There are also numerous murders (kind of required for a murder mystery) including one scene which contains the actual commission of murder described rather vividly. Due to these elements, I don't recommend this for readers under 16.

NOTE: This is Book 3 in the Memphis Cold Case series. I have not read the previous two volumes and I didn't come across anything that would make me think I was missing necessary information to understand what was going on in this book. I believe each book can be read independently.





J.D. Sutter is the producer and host of the Bookworm Banquet podcast and editor of the blog. He is the founder of Porchlight Family Media.










Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.