Wow, what a thrilling read. Full disclosure, I haven’t read the first books in the series, but they are next on my list!

Action, suspense, TENSION - red herrings everywhere, pulse pounding investigation with strong characters, including one amazing dog!

The Columbia River Series gives us additional stories from characters of Kendra Elliot’s other series. Detective Evan Bolton and SAR Rowan Wolff story continues in The Next Grave.

Evan is devastated when the body found in a trunk turns out to be his is old mentor retired detective Rod McLeod. He dreads having to inform Rod's daughter and grandson. Thing get even bleaker when they arrive at her hours and find both of them missing and a bloody crime scene.

Both Evan and Rowen are heavily involved in the investigation and the search not realizing their lives are now in danger. This story got intense as it went along and that edge of your seat ending.

Another winner from this author.

Great read and an intriguing mystery. The characters are familiar and we connect with some old friends.

Detective Evan Hunter is investigating the horrific murder of his mentor Rod McLeod. McLeod's daughter and grandson go missing, and Evan is convinced the murder and disappearances are linked to an old case.
Evan then goes missing and Rowan assists the police to find him.

Great characters, great suspense, great investigative work.
I did enjoy this book, but have not read any previous books with Evan and Rowan, and the wonderful Thor.
But it was fine as a standalone book, in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read this book.

A roller coaster ride of who will it be next. Read as we follow Evan while he investigates a very respected colleague's death. Only to find out that isn't the end of the missing people he and his team will have to find in order to solve this crime. This one will have you clinging to this book with both hands until you find out what has happened.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another fabulous mystery in this series. I really enjoyed it as always. A little less of the personal relationship in this one, but a great read.

The Next Grave by K. Elliot, published by Montlake, is the highly, highly anticipated sixth book in the Columbia River Series.
I was patiently waiting for Rowan and Evan to get their book, and voila, here it is.
Detective Evan Bolton and dog handler Rowan Wolff with Thor are a couple for some time now. They had their first appearance in The First Death and I couldn't wait for their story.
Evan's latest case is his hardest to digest so far, it's the murder of his mentor and friend. When his daughter and grandson vanish too, everything gets more complicated, more complex, more confusing for the investigator and his team. By his side, Detective Noelle Marshall, also already kknown from the Mercy Kilpatrick Series.
Everything is connected, is a tangled web and soon they run out of time.
The author masterfully placed miniscule only hints and kept me in high suspense right from the start, breathlessly awaiting the next hint, til the very unexpected last turn. And I was breathlessly speeding along with story and characters. Victims begin to stack up just like alleged proof against one of their own. This book left me with a serious bookhangover. I'm tiptoeing around this review for a few days now after fiinishing this 2024 fav read of mine, struggling a bit to find the appropriate words. I highly recommend the book and the series.

Fantastic read!!!! I love these characters and the storyline is just thrilling!! I highly recommend this book and series! They can be read as stand alone! This book had great suspense, intrigue , action packed, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some crazy twists and turns! Definitely don’t miss out on this thriller!! It’s well worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!