A Cold Day in Hell

A Cold Case Investigation Series, Book 1

By: Lissa Marie Redmond

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Lauren’s job as a cold case homicide detective is her life. And life just got complicated.

Lauren Riley is an accomplished detective who has always been on the opposite side of the courtroom from slick defense attorney Frank Violanti. But now he’s begging to hire her as a private investigator to help clear his client of murder. At first Lauren refuses, wanting nothing to do with the media circus surrounding the case - until she meets the 18-year-old suspect.

To keep an innocent teen from life in prison, Lauren must unravel the conflicting evidence and changing stories to get at the buried facts. But the more she digs, the more she discovers that nothing is what it first appears to be. As Lauren puts her career and life in danger, doubt lurks on every corner...and so does her stalker.

©2018 Lissa Marie Redmond (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Really Good Listen

It's hard to believe this one is a debut. There's lots going on, and it easily kept my attention. The main character is immensely likable and easy to root for. She's certainly not perfect, but she's doing her best... devoted mother, intelligent detective, and of course unlucky in love. I found myself more involved in the case than I usually am with mysteries, dying to know exactly what happened to the victim and why. I was not disappointed! There's a little bit of a creep factor to it, and lots of suspense and courtroom drama.

Lauren Riley is a highly respected detective who works on cold cases. With two grown daughters in college and nothing to do with her time but work, she takes a case as a private detective when she's offered a significant amount of money for it. It means working with Frank Vilanti, a defense attorney she has no respect for, but she's drawn in to assist once she meets the client: David, a recent high school graduate accused of murder. There's just something innocent about him, and she worries she'll regret it if she doesn't help with his case and prove he isn't guilty.

Digging deep into the case while still working cold cases at her main gig, she's stressed to the max... and there's some who believe she never should have taken on David's case in the first place. She alternates between working cold cases with her partner Reese, who is like a brother to her, to dealing with the overconfident and sometimes off-putting Vilanti. As if that weren't enough to deal with, she's being watched and monitored by a different player.

This story does wrap things up by the end, but leaves a thread hanging that will leave you looking forward to the next book. I'm already checking to see when it's coming out!

Emily Sutton-Smith was amazing with the delivery of the story

A Great Story until…..

I really enjoyed this story until the trial. (I’m trying to not include spoilers)
Some of the objections and closing arguments were so unrealistic that it brought me out of the story. That was disappointing.

Holds your interest !!

Enjoyed it from the start to finish!! Going to read another!! And another and another!!!

Don’t waste your credit or your time!

Main character is a police detective yet she allowed and still allows another police officer (also a detective now) to beat the cr@p out of her. Coward! Instead of being in jail he is still running around with authority.

If you are going to write a crime book, at least make it realistic.

Made it to chapter 8

Made it to chapter 8 before the story took a turn I can’t abide by, a policeman punching a woman police officer with no repercussions. I stopped listening and won’t read this author again.