Book Review: “Women of Justice” series
Here we have another set in the “no, I probably wouldn’t have picked that up on my own” book reviews. This time, an entire trilogy.
The Women of Justice series by Lynette Eason is a combination romance and mystery. I hesitate to call it romantic suspense because the mystery played just as large a role—if not larger—than the romance aspect of the plot. No matter what designation you would prefer to call them, however, one label is beyond question. The books are undoubtedly Christian fiction.
The books follow the lives of three women who work in the justice system.
Book one, Too Close to Home, features FBI Agent Samantha Cash as she works on a case involving missing teenage girls. Connor Wolfe is a state officer who has been following the case from the beginning. Samantha’s strong work ethic and her faith in God are cornerstones of her personality and traits that are attractive to Connor.
Too Close to Home was the most fast paced of the three and the story line was amazing.
Book two, Don’t Look Back, features Samantha’s younger sister Jamie Cash. To say Jamie has issues is an understatement. Kidnapped, raped and tortured as a teen, Jamie overcame her agoraphobia and fear of men to earn a degree in forensic anthropology. The case she’s working on, however, is frighteningly familiar to her. Young girls are found dead showing evidence of torture similar to what Jamie suffered years earlier.
Like many survivors, it was Jamie’s faith that kept her alive all those years ago and her faith is tested as she realizes the injuries on these young ladies aren’t just similar—they were made by the same person.
Don’t Look Back covers some very gritty subject matter for a Christian fiction novel and Eason does a great job of handling the details delicately, without holding back. The story line kept me engaged and it was another quick read.
Book three, A Killer Among Us, was my least favorite of the trio. In this book, Kit Kenyon is a hostage negotiator who becomes the target of a serial killer.
In this one, it’s Kit’s partner, Noah, who has the relationship with God. He goes so far as to offer his pastor’s business cards to people he thinks would need someone to talk to.
Once again the writing was good and the plot was amazing. What I didn’t like about this book was the relationship between Kit, Samantha and Jamie. It turns out the women are related (no, I won’t tell you how because I don’t want to spoil that). All of that is revealed in book two. However, I felt the relationship was contrived. It was like Eason found out she needed one more book and the woman should be related so she scrambled to figure something out.
Because the relationship was explained at the end of Don’t Look Back, I think I was frustrated enough to be biased against that aspect of the story line.
Overall, however, this was a good series. The books were well written and the characters were believable. Eason doesn’t make her Christian characters “preachy.” Instead, the characters have embraced their religion in a way that it becomes part of their personality. The characters also aren’t perfect simply because of their beliefs.
If you don’t like religion to meet fiction, I’d stay away from the series. If you don’t mind when a character has a religion or you are wondering how someone could write a more “gritty” Christian fiction mystery novel, then I would recommend this series. For those who’ve read the series, leave me a comment. I’m interested in your thoughts. Or, if you have a suggestion for another book I should look for, I’d like to hear that too!
Nichole
My Goodreads Bookshelf
