Dark Design by Nancy Mehl Review

 

Okay, so it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to say about this book.

First of all, I was so excited to have another book where Kaely Quinn-Hunter is a character. I LOVED the author's Kaely Quinn Profiler series. I loved that Kaely and Erin became friends in the first book of this series. But sadly, this book just wasn't as good. 

The premise or plot was quite intriguing. It definitely drew me in. A serial killer who knew they were going to be a serial killer since they were a child? Horrifying. A serial killer using the MO of killers in several different authors' books? I loved that. How were the profilers going to figure out the killer when the killer didn't have their own MO. Though, there were some things that were different. I won't share them of course, as that would be a spoiler. I will say though, that I couldn't believe the professional behavioral analysist didn't catch on to what I caught on. 

And that leads me to one of my big issues with the book. Kaely just didn't seem like Kaely in this book. As I mentioned, I love Kaely Quinn. But this didn't feel like the same person. I also didn't understand why law enforcement was bringing Erin into the investigation when all she really is now is an ex-cop and a writer of suspense. Why her and not the other authors?

And there were just some other things that felt off. There were some parts that felt like there were mistakes that should have been caught in editing. Plus so much unnecessary detail and telling instead of showing.  

However, I did love the suspense and there were definitely twists I didn't see coming until right before they were revealed. A bit intense there for a bit toward the end too. 

So, yes the book had some flaws, but I do still plan on reading the next book. Hopefully Kaely will feel like Kaely again. I will say, now I sort of want to reread the original Kaely Quinn Profiler books again.