Review: Eruca (Arthropoda #2) and Apidae (Arthropoda #3) by Xenia Melzer
There is no crime without witnesses
When Detective George Donovan and his eccentric partner, Detective Andi Hayes, need a break from their gruesome job, a hike seems like just the thing.
Unfortunately, the job catches up with them when they find three dead men in a lake.
When the promising clues dry up, George and Andi turn once more to Andi’s “gift”—but this time things aren’t so easy. Andi’s mysterious talents are growing stronger, making it harder to block out the barrage of information and taking a toll on his physical and mental health. The cryptic clues his informants offer are even more bizarre than the case itself. And the more they discover about the victims, the more uncomfortable the investigation becomes.
Torn between catching a killer and serving justice, between George’s career and Andi’s sanity, the detectives have their work cut out for them if they’re going to solve these murders.
Review:
I reviewed the first book in this trilogy (or maybe the author will decide to continue this series, and it will become more than a trilogy in the future) here at DA, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not manage a lengthy review of either the second or the third book for the simple reason that I cannot even talk about Andi’s secret that helps him investigate crimes, because really this remains a huge spoiler in the books and since the blurb does not talk about the secret, I will have to do likewise and without it there is really not much to say about actual investigation. So Andi has this mysterious talent which helps him investigate crimes, but also often pushes him to his physical and mental limits.
I also want to stress again that in the first book I tried really hard not to skim pages where Andi goes deep into his connection with his mysterious informants who won’t be named, but in this book I have had enough. I did not skip those descriptions, but I surely skimmed some of them, because it was sometimes tiring to read (I thought it was well done, don’t get me wrong, to show the unusual thing happening in front of our eyes, I get that the author had to write it in an unusual way, but my eyes started sliding over it even without finding some of the descriptions erm skin crawling).
The investigation itself concerns the murder of the three men whose corpses Andi and George find in the lake while on vacation. We have lots of suspects and I actually appreciated that our detectives showed a lot of detective work, but I also wondered if the author deliberately complicated Andi’s life. In the first book he knows the murderer almost right away and only has to confirm it with the evidence (I can’t tell you how Andi knew, because obviously I cannot tell you about his talent), here in this book he learns bits and pieces of useful information due to his talent, but he cannot figure out who did it without the actual detective work he and George and other people actually do.
What I loved once again was a connection growing between George and Andi, how much George cared when he saw what Andi endured on a day-to-day basis and how George got all in trying to help. There is still no romance between them, but here this reader started waiting for them both to figure it out.
Grade: B
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No good deed—or good record of solving crimes—goes unpunished.
Detectives Andi Hayes and George Donovan of the Charleston PD are on vacation. Or at least they are until they are called back for an find Chief Norris’s missing son.
Fortunately, Andi’s insect spies lead him right to little Tyler Norris, who is safe and sound.
Unfortunately, along with the chief’s son, they find twenty-five corpses, victims of a serial killer who’s gone unnoticed for over a decade. Chief Norris promptly cancels Andi and George’s vacation and assigns them as lead detectives on the case. Physical evidence leads them to a mental health facility where some of the victims received treatment, but Andi’s gift—his usual secret weapon—fails him. Promising leads and shady suspects all turn out to be dead ends, and they’re running out of time. Because the killer isn’t going to stop at twenty-five victims—and Tyler Norris has just gone missing again….
Review:
And here we are in book three. I cannot talk about Andi and his talent. George and Andi, whom I started wanting to shake a little bit (Not much!), because they are more than friends by now and I wanted them to acknowledge that faster. But it was not tons of angst and it happened without it starting to get on my last nerves. I really, really liked them together.
I also thought the investigation was close to perfect this time – not too convoluted with some new and interesting characters involved. But my god Chief Norris was one of the relatively good guys whom I really wanted to slap.
I guess ending leaves space for new adventures.
Grade: B+
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Haha, I felt the same way about Chief Norris! I wanted more consequences for her utter lack of professionalism in her behavior towards Andi and then also George. I understood the emotions driving it but felt that doesn’t excuse her actions at all, in my opinion! Explain, maybe, but it’s no justification in a professional setting and for someone in a management position.
I really enjoyed the unfolding relationship between the two main characters, though. I’m glad I read your review of the first book and decided to read the series.
@JPeK: Yes, re; Chief Norris. I wont be surprised if this trilogy would make my end of the year list you know? Really good for the development of the relationship but also due to the unique spoiler element. So glad you enjoyed.
Sirius, would this series be suitable for a serious arachnophobe (ie, me)?
@Kaetrin: well depends . I remember that you cannot look at spiders but can you tolerate any mentions in the text? Because spiders were there but really not mention too often or in details so I am not sure . Sorry .
Mentioned .
@Sirius: If they’re a passing mention I can usually cope. If, for example, there is a spider shifter or a character sharing the mind of an 8 legged critter – hard pass.
They are mentioned in less details than some other insects all I can say .
@Sirius: okay – thx :)