McKee by A.C Henley

Private Investigator Quinlan McKee goes where others fear to read. She doesn’t give a damn who she beats up, sets up, outwits, or even on occasion shoots. As long as McKee gets the job done and the case solved, that’s all that matters to her.

Ever since McKee’s pregnant cop partner, Grace, was murdered, McKee doesn’t seem to have any regard for her own life. That is until she meets Vivian Walsh.

Vivian Walsh is a detective. She plays by the rules, strictly by the book. She finds McKee more than a little attractive. But what will she think when she finds out just how McKee works and how close to the wind she sails? In Vivian’s world there is no room for flouting the law. But in a surprising turn of events McKee and Vivian find themselves working as a team.

McKee, is reluctant to embark on a relationship. She still loves Grace. But McKee finds it hard to resist tall blonde Vivian. Eventually, McKee overcomes her misgivings and admits that she finds Vivian attractive and the two women embark on a relationship. It doesn’t take both McKee and Vivian long to fall madly in love. Both women are secure in the knowledge that they’ve found ‘the one’. McKee is counting herself lucky to have found love twice in her life. All they have to do now is to stay alive long enough to live the happy ever after.

As the story progresses and we find out more about McKee’s background, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her and actually agreeing with some of her more unorthodox methods of dealing with the law breakers. In finding out the truth about her past, McKee is risking her very sanity. As the mystery and intrigue gets deeper, McKee finds herself almost at breaking point. Will Vivian’s love be enough to save her from the descent into madness?

This is a very well written and edited, fast paced, thrilling, chilling, page turning, dark detective novel set in Los Angeles and Chicago. This book is full to the brim of the most gruesome of cases. Child slavery, police corruption, family betrayal, gangsters, drugs, kidnapping and much more. Instead of the one case I was expecting, I found McKee and her counterparts leaping from one bloodthirsty case to another. So, there is plenty of action here. There is also a great underlying plot with a shocking outcome that I didn’t see. I’ll say no more as I don’t want to add any spoilers.

The romance part of the story commenced quite quickly and is hot. It simmers on throughout the book and kept me hoping both women would survive all that was being thrown at them. Some of the actual plot is a little unbelievable, but hey, this is fiction after all. Not meant to be taken too seriously. Although there is a serious side to this book and the crimes being committed are real enough, there is also a light hearted side to this book and I found myself laughing out loud at times.

Both McKee and Vivian are easy to get to know multidimensional characters. They interact well with the rest of the cast of characters, whether they are their friends or the criminals they are chasing.

This is rather a long book, but I was sorry to finish it. I found it very hard to put down. I would have loved to have read more about McKee and her friends, unfortunately, this is not to be. This book is a one off. I’ll definitely be adding this to my re-read pile.