After I finished reading "The Killing Lessons" I couldn't wait for the next book in the series and started "Lovemurder" as soon as I could get my hands on it. Sadly I was quite a bit disappointed in this one. I couldn't recognize the brilliant writing and plotting from the first book. Instead it is a lot of sex and couple issues. Not really what I want from reading a thriller. I'm not sure if I want to read the next book about Valerie Hart.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group!

I liked the main detective Valerie and the pace of the book was fine, I could have done with a little less violence but maybe I'm not so up for reading about gratuitous violence as I once was, must be getting soft in my old age,having said that I pretty much knew to expect nasty scenes so its my fault not the authors . I did like the story and did work out some of the plot but not all.Pretty good read and I would read more in this series if I braced myself to read the more graphic scenes.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This the first book I have read of the Valerie Hart series, and it works as a standalone. Valerie and Nick have ironed out their relationship and are in place where both are at the edge of stepping into the final commitment arena of proposing for Nick and contemplating children for Valerie. Valerie is a homicide detective in San Francisco PD, she gets the call about a murder where a note specifically for her has been left. It threatens that the murders will continue unless Katherine Glass is freed from prison. In 2009, Katherine, a beautiful and ruthless killer, was convicted of the rape, torture and murder of 6 women. The evidence was incontrovertible with video recordings of her and her masked male co-conspirator carrying out the gruesome and depraved acts. Valerie caught Katherine and ensured she went to prison with no hope of ever being released.

A reluctant Valerie is forced to renew her strained and tense sparring with the sociopath that is Katherine. Katherine's former partner in crime gives hints and clues that can only be solved by Katherine. So begins the fraught and strangely compelling game of cat and mouse game which Valerie is drawn into as they explore the psyche of each other, and in the process get up close and intimate. This is not without cost as Valerie begins to enter Katherine's mind games that mess with her head. With further deaths, matters come too close for comfort to Valerie's family and personal life. The man they are hunting is extremely wealthy, a master of disguise, ruthless, and determined. Can Valerie trust Katherine? She is not certain. However, she has no choice but to put her faith in her, as those closest to her find themselves in desperate danger.

This is a well written and beautifully plotted story that is compelling. There is tension and suspense throughout, The central focus of the novel is the relationship between the insidiously charming, bright and twisted Katherine and Valerie, drawn to Katherine as a moth to light, in search of answers to the deepest questions in life. This is where the author's talent lies, in creating such larger than life characters and authentically delineating the manoevres between two strong women coming from opposing moral standpoints. The flaw in the novel is that Katherine's amoral partner is criminally transparent to the reader. However, I will mostly forgive this weakness, given the strengths in the narrative outlined earlier. Thanks to Orion for an ARC.