Detective Margaret Nolan is sent to investigate a body found after an earthquake in Malibu. This leads her uphill to a magnificent home where a large party ran into the wee hours. The body belongs to actor Evan Hobbes who attended that party. Wading into the cesspool of lies and pretense of Hollywood’s elite, Nolan and Detective Crawford find connections to the wealthy and privileged in LA, Hollywood, and Santa Barbara whose lives intersect and intertwine in shocking ways. Hobbes had many enemies and frenemies to sort through as suspects.
The Devil You Know is the third book in the Margaret Nolan series from best-selling Author P.J. Tracy. It is an Amazon Editor’s pick in Best Mystery, Thriller and Suspense. A lively, fast-paced police procedural, this story is told in bite-size chapters with a large cast. In truth, I had to jot a few notes to keep track. Crisp dialogue and vivid descriptions kept the story roaring along. I suspect it would have helped to have read the first two books in the series, but this book intrigued me.
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym of a mother-daughter duo who wrote the award-winning 10-book Monkeewrench Mystery Series. The daughter wrote the Margaret Nolan series solo after her mother passed. So brava, to this gifted author who soldiers on as P.J. Tracy.
The previous books in the Margaret Nolan series are: Deep Into the Dark (Book 1) and Desolation Canyon (Book 2).
Since it is my first look at the series, I can say this book can be read as a standalone. Thank you, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy.