Ok, I'll get it out straight away. Yes, this is a sequel. I'm often asked should I read them in order?
My reply is always its up to you. But, yes you could read this if you wanted too without reading the first one. Because both stories are complete and do not continue however book two does have a few references to book one.

The story follows the case of a serial killer and the detectives are on a race against time to catch them. There are many twists and turns. Many dead ends. Just when you think you've worked it out something happens and disproves your theory. I thought I got it right. But Wow The ending put an end to that. I never saw that coming.

I really enjoy reading Vali. She tends to keep you on your toes. She has a great writing style and the pace of the story is excellent. The book has made me love her writing even more. I so look forward to more.

Enjoy!



*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4101341514

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2XQ94ORQANQVZ/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Ali Vali is truly a gifted author. Her books are always fantastic and will never disappoint you. The characters and storyline are wonderful.

I can always count on this author to give me an enthralling romantic thriller/mystery! I enjoyed all of the lighthearted and witty banter between Keegan and Sept. I just couldn’t put my kindle down even when some of the situations turned brutal and bloody. Sept has become my new, fictional love interest and I know that this book is going to be one of my favorite re-reads.

This is an excellent follow up to Calling the Dead which introduced Sept Savoie, but it can be read as a stand alone. There are no spoilers in this review.

Sept and Keegan are happily getting on with life when there is a demanding new case for Sept to get involved in. Gruesome murders are obviously linked to each other but also to a killer Sept put away in the first book. Is it a copycat? Then there is the journalist who is writing a true crime book about how Sept solved the first murder... and also has an eye for Keegan.

Lots going on here, lots to keep you turning pages and the plot is well developed. The ending might be a little fast and a bit of a stretch but it didn't stop me enjoying this as an entertaining read.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Answering the Call is a welcome follow-on to Calling the Dead. These stories are set in the same New Orleans as the Cain Casey series and have a light point of contact. This is a very enjoyable and somewhat macabre detective story with a side of romance thrown in. It can be read alone for sure, but this is a great book and I very much enjoyed reading it as a sequel and catching up on some old friends.

I don't like to jump in to multi-part book series in the middle, so when I read the suggestions to buy Calling the Dead and read it first, I happily did so. Right off the bat, the Cain Casey Devil series is in my top 3 list of series, so I knew I wanted to read these. My wife read Answering the Call without having read Calling the Dead, loved it, totally got it as a stand-alone, but personally I can't imagine not wanting to have all the background on the murder aspect. Plus, the love story of Sept and Keegan would be a crime to miss lol. There were so many plot twists in the whodunnit that kept me guessing and second-guessing. I hope that there will be a third installment in the not too distant future.

This is the sequel to Ms. Vali’s 2008 book Calling the Dead. I had almost given up hope for a sequel. I did not reread the first book and wish I had because it took me a little time to remember some of the supporting characters. Once I read a few chapters, however, I was caught up in the suspense.

The setting for this book is New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. The book begins with Detective Sept Savoie getting ready to return to work after recovering from a gunshot injury from a prior case. She and Keegan Blanchard are still together and are planning their wedding. Readers will find all the other supporting characters are still in this book. Cain Casey takes on a very brief part, too.

Immediately upon returning to work from her medical leave, Sept and her partner, Nathan, are assigned to find a serial killer who uses religious rituals to murder. Because of the high number of murders committed by this sick individual, readers would almost think that the murders happen over many weeks, but in reality, it is just days.

As with many of Ms. Vali’s books, there are many twists in the plot. The suspense builds as each murder occurs. You can almost sense the urgency the Sept and Nathan are under to solve this mystery. The emotional ups and downs are plentiful.

Ms. Vali knows how to write a great suspense and readers will not be disappointed. I highly recommend Answering the Call. Although you don’t have to read Calling the Dead beforehand, I highly suggested that you do. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

This was worth the wait, I remember picking up Calling the Dead a few years ago and thinking, "this definitely needs a sequel" and after all these years I finally get one. I do want to start with saying that I absolutely LOVE Ali Vali and her style of writing. She is amazing and the types of books she writes are so different. My favorite though are anything having to do with the police and crime boss Cain Casey. If only someone would make these into a movie. My entire life would be complete. So on to the review.

This book starts right after Sept Savoie has healed from the gunshot wounds she sustained in the last book. Sept and Keegan are on a fishing trip where sept proposes and we get to feel all the warm fuzzies for a few pages before a toe is delivered to Sept and she is back on the job.

This entire book is centered around a series of cases and it is Sept and Nathan's job to solve them. This book was really good. I could not put it down. I was up until 3 am reading it and then I realized I should probably sleep. It was action packed and fast paced. There was even a little cameo from Cain Casey in this book. I love Cain Casey in any form that I can get her in. This book had all the elements to make it a great read and there wasn't't anything about it that I disliked. I guess you could say that there were way too many new characters in the book, but that was more annoying than anything else. This was an excellent follow up and I hope there are more Sept Savoie books in the future.

Are usually am not a mystery or thriller type reader however I heard such good things about this book I just had to read it for myself. I have to say it was fantastic. It had me on the edge of my seat more than any other book and at times the excitement had my heart rate rising. It was amazingly thrilling even though parts of it were a bit difficult to read . However in the mist of an incredibly complex mystery of a sadistic murderer who had a target on the back of the main character in the book , added to the tension in the book. As I said some parts for a bit challenging to read but the beautiful love story that was woven between the two main characters eased up some of the drama. Of course that is until you realize that one of the leads who is hunting down the killer is on the list to be murdered.

This book is fantastic it will definitely keep you interested until the very end as you don't know what's going to happen. I highly recommend this book it is so well written.

This is a continuation of Ms Vali’s book ‘Calling The Dead’, so if you enjoyed that read I’m sure you’ll be more than satisfied with this follow up. New Orleans police Detective Sept Savoie is recovering from a gunshot wound with the help of her girlfriend Keegan Blanchard when she’s called into her first case after ‘Katrina’. Isn’t long before she decides she dealing with a serial murder. Not helping is when crime reporter Nicole Voles starts sticking her nose in the case looking for her next big story. Problem number two with Nicole Voles is her interest in Keegan. As usual there are some twists and turns in this murder mystery but Ms Vali has a real knack at bringing everything together giving her fans another taste of her writing skills. Really a very good read.
ARC via NetGalley

I couldn't finish this. I tried and tried but gave up around the 40% mark.

I think this works as a standalone even though it is a series. The author explains important things from the past that are integral to the plot of this one

I had a hard time with the amount of characters. Many in Keegan's family. Many in Sept's family. All the people on Sept's team. Writer and her father. Several branches of law enforcement. Some sex workers, Killer. Etc. Seriously too many to keep track of.

The romance had already been established in book 1 so there was not any anticipation or interest from that side of things. And whoever is doing the killing this time is referencing kills from book 1 so that didn't catch my interest either.

Really wish I could have gotten through this as a lot of people have left positive reviews.

li Vali picks up where Calling the Dead finished with Sept Savoie recovering from her injuries and getting back on the job just as a copycat killer begins to litter the New Orleans landscape with dead bodies. Sept and Keegan have little time to contemplate their engagement and once again the lives of everyone Sept knows and loves are in peril.

The first book starring our intrepid crime fighter was published in 2008 so the author spends a bit of time catching readers up on the serial killer and their actions in the previous novel. I highly recommend reading Calling the Dead before reading this second installment. Once again we have graphic violence in abundance. This killer is not so precise as the one they are imitating and that makes hunting them down that much more difficult for Sept and Nathan. Added to their challenges a fictional crime writer, Nicole Voles has decided to write about the first murder spree and is another thorn the detectives don’t need with the body count mounting and the clues few and far between. Nicole is clever, shifty and also interested in Keegan. She’s not above horning in on the current murder spree with the help of her FBI father. Sept just can’t catch a break.

Crime thrillers run a fine line between action, violence bordering on the macabre and the police appearing to have any chance of cracking the case and capturing the monster. I found myself losing faith that the entire force and forensic guys would ever find a clue. New characters mean lots of red herrings but I needed to know there was hope that justice would be served. Vali was effective at ramping up the tension but I wished the police procedural part would have yielded faster results without the large number of casualties and possible targets.

Satisfying ending and a clever one at that for those of us who think we can crack every crime and every criminal case.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

An amazing combination of chilling, creepy suspense and warm, loving, family relationships. This was achieved through great characters and a lot of very fine writing by one of my favourite authors. I’m squeamish so some of the crime details were a tad gruesome for me, but necessary for the plot, and easily read with my eyes almost closed whilst hiding behind a pillow. Maybe I shouldn’t have read it after midnight? Worth it though, as this book is very good.

Ali Vali is a master of complex and riveting mysteries that will keep you on the edge of your seat reading until the end, and Answering the Call is a perfect example of her mastery. Answering the Call is the second in Ms. Vali’s Call series and takes place months after Calling the Dead ends with most of the same characters and adding some new protagonists to the tale. The setting is also the same as the first book, the recovery period of post Katrina New Orleans.

This second book is just as intriguing and multi-layered as the first novel. Ms. Vali also has all of those little plot twists that she throws into the tale which keeps you guessing and totally surprises you. For instance, I knew who the bad guy was about halfway through the story. I was proud of myself for figuring it out so soon. Good thing I kept reading because than I made it to the end of the story and found another of those little plot twists and…well, you will have to read it all the way to the end yourself to find out.

As I mentioned above, Answering the Call is the second book in the Call series, and to be honest, it really is not a stand-alone book. You really need to get Calling the Dead and read both books in the order they were written. If you only read this book, you will miss a good deal of information that it would be impossible for the author to give you in a blurb. I also think you would have a hard time connecting with the characters since they were already established and evolved in the first novel. Reading the books out of order would ruin the first book for you as well since the killer in the Calling the Dead is known in Answering the Call.

I encourage you to buy both books and read them in order. They are both outstanding mystery/romance novels and you will be glad you did.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections:
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

There are so many things to say about this book, I've actually been pondering this review for hours.

First off, it is a sequel. This is not a stand-alone book, and I wish I had known this before starting to read. I picked up on this early in the first pages when events were referenced and I had no idea what the characters were talking about. So I went back to BSB and bought the first book, 'Calling The Dead'. Without going into that book's review here, let me tell you the two books and their titles are as inter-woven and necessary to each other as a right shoe is to the left.

So, I'm going to assume that you've read 'Calling The Dead', and trust me when I say, you want to. Really. Now you're wondering if this book is any good. It is not just good, it is a gut-grabbing, hair-curling, roller-coaster of twists and turns all wrapped in a murder mystery. This is not your grandmother's mystery! There is blood and guts here, and lots of it. There are sick and twisted bad-guys with sick and demented goals. There are good guys and gals too, lots of them, who want to see the depravity stop and people protected. Chivalry, high emotion and love abounds here as well. The story is paced well and the characters, and there are many, are so well crafted, that you'll swear they aren't made-up. Both main families feel so real that you think that you could just call them up. There is only one question I was left with, but it makes no difference to the story.
Why is Sept's hair white?

So in closing, first, get yourself a copy of 'Calling The Dead', then get yourself a copy of this book, 'Answering The Call'. Prepare to lose yourself in a world of Ali Vali's making. Leave the dishes unwashed, let the dog out before you start reading because you won't want to be disturbed afterward. Oh yeah, and enjoy Mike too.
Fabulously creepy cover, a wonderfully gripping story...what are you still doing here? Go get your own copy!

Once again Ms. Vali knocks it out of the park! I have been waiting a long time for a second book with Sept and Keegan (and that sassy sister and grandma of Keegan's) and you can read this as a stand-alone book but I highly recommend you read Calling the Dead if you want the history of Sept and Keegan and how they met.

As always, you get such a rich feeling for New Orleans (and just makes me want to go back for a visit), and the way Ms. Vali writes, the book is rich in dialog and story line. This book picks up after Sept heals from her last case (in that she gets shot-spoiler alert) dealing with a murder and this one jumps right into another murder mystery. The way Ms. Vali weaves the tale and gives you some great twists in the end, I just could not put it down. And well, starting with the first book and continuing on with this one, the scenes are HOT with Sept and Keegan and their creative places for intimacy (I'll never look at a fishing boat the same way :-)).

Another great read from Ms. Vali, looking forward to more books....and maybe one more with a wrap up for Cain and Emma (the Devil series)-yes, a shameless plug to the author.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own-and I will be purchasing this book myself for my collection.

You can find my amazon review at the link below for CC-Another Hit for Ms. Vali

At first blush the story seemed interesting, but as I read, I lost enthusiasm. There seems to be more emphasis on the physical and emotional love of the main characters than the story.

It was nice to have so much focus on women, although it seems pretty heavy handed. The bad guy wasn't too much of a surprise and is in keeping with the focus on women.

Although nicely written, this book didn't captivate me.

This is the long awaited follow-up to the book Calling the Dead. It actually starts shortly after Calling the Dead ended. I enjoyed this quite a bit. I do think I liked Calling the Dead a tad more, but they were pretty equal. You could just pick up this book up and start reading but I absolutely recommend reading Calling the Dead first. A big part of the mystery in Calling the Dead is who is the killer? If you read Answering the Call first it will ruin who the killer is for the previous book. Also, Calling the Dead has when our two main characters first meet, so to really understand their romance you should start at the beginning. (Calling the Dead is only 4.99 right now so not a bad time to take a chance on it)

These books follow Detective Sept Savoie who we first met in Vali’s Cain Casey series. In fact Sept is very similar to Cain except she’s on the right side of the law. If you are a fan of the Casey series the chances are high you will enjoy these books.

The best way to describe these would be mystery/thriller/romance books. The mystery is quite good and you find yourself trying to figure out who the killer is the whole time. This book was easier to figure out the killer than the first book, but I still wasn’t sure until the end. Vali gives you little clues to figure it out and it’s just pure entertainment.

I do want to give a violence warning. Both books deal with serial killers so there is a lot of blood and dead bodies. These books are not for the squeamish. But it’s not all darkness. You have a romance and family relationship that keeps the gore from being too much.

I’m a Vali fan even though her books don’t always work for me. I was glad to put this in the yes it worked side. If you are a Cain Casey fan, don’t pass these up. Grab Calling the Dead first and get ready for a heck of a ride.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love it!!!! It was great to see Sept and Keegan again and the rest of the characters. I didn't think we were going to get another book with them..

It starts off with the killer killing a cop and then sending a thumb to Sept and Keegan while they were on vacation and this starts a another killing spree.

I love Sept and Keegan relationship because they talk and listen to each other especially love Keegan Gran Della she a hoot. I like how they include everyone as their family.

The plot remind of storylines on Criminal Minds and if the author continue to write about Sept and Keegan and company I can totally see this as a tv show or web series. It be great to see a lesbian lead on tv screen.

This is a brilliant cop-and-killer story. The cop is a lesbian and that makes it even better. The crime story is tight and the love story is fantastic.

Sept Savoi is a detective with the New Orleans Police Department. She is recovering from a gunshot wound in the arms of her girlfriend Keegan Blanchard. She moves their relationship forward and proposes to Keegan. As the proposal is accepted, their idyll is disturbed with a gory gift delivered to her. And that unleashes her new case.

We wouldn’t like to get into any more of the story lest spoilers creep in, because this is a book where every single page should be enjoyed in its entirety. The pacing is fast. The story not only keeps you hooked, but on the edge of the seat. The relationship between Keegan and Sept sends huge doses of awwww through us. Ditto the relationships between Sept and Keegan’s family, with her own family and a sundry of other characters in the book are extremely heartwarmingly written.

There is some detailed (and some implied) ruthless torture and gore, so if that gives you the shovers, you may want to rethink about this one.

However, this is an unputdownable book which had us skipping meals and even coffee (imagine that!!) – and the addiction to the book was as much for the pace of the crime as for Keegan and the relationship between Keegan and Sept.

Awesome book!