Reviews
A Thousand Bones
A spinoff of Parrish's Edgar-nominated series about biracial detective Louis Kincaid (Joe is his girlfriend), the author skillfully makes A THOUSAND BONES the young woman's own story, from her on-the-job education to a crumbling relationship with her college boyfriend. Told in flashbacks to Louis, "A Thousand Bones" intensifies with suspense, insightful character studies and crisp dialogue. Parrish also peppers A THOUSAND BONES with many insightful details that Joe experiences as the department's first female deputy such as even the smallest men's uniforms don't fit. Scenes of a mother's grief are simply heartbreaking. The tension accelerates as the plot deepens during the final chapters that are as stunning as they are controversial. Parrish delivers an exciting story with "A Thousand Bones." Stories about Louis Kincaid are welcome, but we definitely want more Joe.
Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
If you were hoping that the new P.J. Parrish book would be another installment in the Louis Kincaid series, you only get half your wish. Kincaid takes a minor role in this tale that stars his girlfriend, Miami homicide detective Joette Frye. Joe has grown significantly from the young rookie who worked for the Echo Bay Police Department, where even most of the veteran cops had never drawn their weapons in the line of duty. As the story of her rookie year unfolds, so does the character of this determined, capable and unique woman --- a welcome addition to this popular series.
As we have come to expect from skilled writers, their characters draw us into the story and create a sense of urgency so vital to good police work. While Joe tends to be impulsive, her mentor seems to be overly cautious and the relationship between Joe and Detective Rafsky develops in a most satisfying way as they form a solid bond and strong partnership.
The poignancy with which Parrish (sisters Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols) deal with the parents of the girls who have gone missing over the years is another example of how the authors blend poetry with prose. On the other hand, one is overwhelmed when the mind of the perpetrator is revealed and victims are seen through the eyes of evil. Delving into the psyches of predators can be disturbing, but it definitely adds to the texture of the story. And, regardless of their disappointments and rejections, I want to see them pay for what they have done! And so do the cops who cannot rest until justice is done.
A THOUSAND BONES will hold your attention and run you through a gamut of emotions as the small-town cops work to solve the crimes and bring some resolution to those who have suffered. We look forward to more of Joe Frye and Louis Kincaid as they work through their own histories to bring new freedom into their relationship.
Maggie Harding, Bookreporter.com
A THOUSAND BONES is an outstanding police procedural that's easily one of the best crime novels of the year. The mesmerizing tale is told in a flashback format, chroncling events that took place in 1975, when rookie police officer Joette "Joe" Frye is investigating human bones found in a forest area. The carefully crafted tale is full of surprises, racing to a tense, rousing, bittersweet conclusion with unexpected consequences. Readers familiar with P.J. Parrish are likely to find this even better than other best?selling books by the sisters, which have focused on ex?cop turned private investigator Louis Kincaid.
Ray Walsh, Lansing State Journal
From the tantalizing prologue, I was hooked. The writing is solid, the book fast?paced and the setting very well?drawn. The book is by turn suspenseful, taut and ultimately harrowing, portraying events devastating to Joe. Louis Kincaid makes only brief appearances in the Prologue and Epilogue, but Joe Frye makes a fully realized and vivid protagonist in her own right. I have only read one or two earlier books by P. J. Parrish, but will certainly seek to correct that in short order I thoroughly enjoyed A THOUSAND BONES and highly recommend it.
Glorida Feit, Crimespree Magazine
P.J. Parrish's growing legion of fans have come to expect a new novel, documenting the tangled life of Louis Kincaid, every year since 1999. This year, Parrish has put Kincaid's career on hold to introduce a new series starring another law officer in the thriller A THOUSAND BONES. This is a dark thriller that examines what happens to a small?town law?enforcement unit when a serial killer on the loose stresses it to the breaking point and beyond.
It might just give you a sleepless night or two. This is one of those novels that grabs you by the throat and forces you to look into scary places you would prefer not to visit but can't resist.
Like all of Parrish's work,A THOUSAND BONES makes you think.
Bob Morrison, Sarasota Herald Tribune
The sister?act team of P.J. Parrish has moved to a new publisher and in doing so temporarily put recurring lead character Louis Kincaid on hiatus to focus on his lover, police detective Joette Frye, and the case that introduced the once wide?eyed cadet to investigative procedure, workplace sexism and a thoroughly nasty spate of serial killings discovered after the fact. It's a smart move for Parrish on many levels, starting with the 1970s Michigan setting (that eschews still?nascent forensic analysis for thorough procedure) to the development of Joe's steely character as the 22?year?old cop faces demons that confront the most hardened of investigators. Most of all, Parrish's suspense skills have never been better, as the increasing tension grips the reader throughout until a conclusion that, like Joe, leads one to question the nature of moral ambiguity.
Sarah Weinman, Baltimore Sun
A riveting page?turner, I was kept up half the night reading because I just had to know what happened next. Of course, the worst thing about finishing a wonderful book is that you know you have to wait a year for the follow?up, but if A THOUSAND BONES is any indication of what PJ Parrish can do with this character it will be well worth the wait.
Sandra Ruttan, Spinetingler Magazine
A THOUSAND BONES is a police procedural and then a psychological battle laid in Echo Bay and other Michigan locales from Inkster to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Michigan fares well at the hands of the writers, who describe its beauty and seasons in vivid tone. The story is bloody, the murders graphic. I can't give much more away because the murderer is identified about halfway through the book and the rest becomes a battle of minds and wills, Joe's against the murderer's. She is soon a very real part of the murderer's sickness , trapped, a victim herself. If I say she eventually wins the struggle, that is only an expectation of all mysteries. But in the winning, Joe Frye loses a great deal, enough to force a lesser woman from the force. Everything is on the line for this struggling officer: life, marriage, even her sense of herself. The story is far reaching on many levels.
Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli, Traverse City (Mich) Record Eagle
Now many books into what is one of the strongest P.I. series being written at the moment, the Parrish sisters are putting Louis Kincaid on a bit of a hiatus. This book is so good that even if you love Louis you won't miss him in this outing. The minute the story goes back into Joe's past, I guarantee you you will be hooked for the entire, enjoyable ride. Every P.J. Parrish book has a great narrative -- and I don't think I've EVER sold these books to a reader who didn't like them (and I've sold books to readers who didn't like Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and James Lee Burke, so that's saying a lot). A THOUSAND BONES is no exception to the great narrative rule. As the book gets progressively darker and scarier, it's pretty much impossible to set it aside and stop reading it. The careful build really pays off. There's some very nice, atmospheric writing here as well as some really well drawn characters. When Louis is folded back in at the end of the book, it's almost jarring ? Joe Frye and Echo Bay will have you hooked all on their own. This is another powerful entry in what has easily become one of my favorite mystery series.
Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's Bookstore, Ann Arbor
This was my first P. J. Parrish but certainly will not be my last. Actually this is the first in a new series that evolves from their previous Louis Kincaid series. Well written and interesting, I look forward to more of the new series but also want to catch up on the backlist.
Jack Quick, The BookBitch.com
A THOUSAND BONES is a good police procedural. As the Echo Bay police work the case, Parrish lets the reader into the mind of the killer. One would think, perhaps, that this would let the reader know more than the police. Not so. Parrish has some plot twists that keep the reader from becoming complacent. Parrish's descriptions of northern Michigan in late October and early November are absolutely right on. Parrish also has the mindset of the region pegged. Somewhere in the middle of A THOUSAND BONES, the tenor of the book changes from that of a standard police procedural mystery to that of a suspense thriller. This shift goes almost unnoticed. The ending of A THOUSAND BONES will make the morally certain among us uncomfortable, although there is an obvious, almost Biblical, symmetry to the decisions made by the Echo Bay force. What that decision does to Joe as a person is harder to delineate, and it colors the rest of her career. Readers will have to see what it does to her relationship with Louis Kincaid.
P. J. Coldren, Reviewing the Evidence
I did not want to stop reading until all was revealed. The tension and pace of this first?rate police procedural are unrelenting. And, as gruesome as some of the revelations are, there are touches of humanity ? between officers, between Joe and her mother, and especially with Theo Toussaint, the local newspaper publisher, that preserve a sense of hope that there will be a positive outcome to this dark period in Joe's life. I cannot wait to see where P. J. Parrish will next take their characters. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Sally Powers, I Love a Mystery
A THOUSAND BONES takes readers through the mayhem created when a small, sleepy town becomes the center of a murder investigation. As Joe simultaneously tries to find her footing in her new job and maintain her footing in her relationship with Louis, a single bone is found in the woods that will send her world into a tailspin and change her life forever. This is a chilling tale, full of suspense with an ending you'll have to read to believe.
Jessica Smith, Fresh Fiction
Parrish uses her last, stunning Louis Kincaid novel (2006's An Unquiet Grave) as a jumping-off point for Kincaid's lover Joe Frye, the lone female homicide detective in the Miami-Dade Police Department. Told in flashback, Frye recounts her investigation of serial murders 13 years earlier, in 1975. Frye's uneventful rookie year in the Leelanau County, Mich., sheriff's department undergoes a drastic change with the discovery of human bones in the woods of Echo Bay. Soon, the discovery of more bones and a multitude of artifacts point police to the conclusion that the remains belong to more than one victim. Mysterious Native American glyphs carved into a tree nearby provide the lead Frye needs-if only she could decipher where they're taking her. Even after the clues fall carefully into place, revealing the killer's identity and pushing Frye into his sights, the book continues to sizzle with taut suspense and the promise of a tumultuous conclusion. Keen attention to detail and thorough character development get equal billing with scintillating thrills, giving Parrish another top-notch whodunit that just may leave fans thinking, "Louis who?"
–Publishers Weekly
A Thousand Bones is PJ Parrish's best work to date. It's 470 pages long, and I read it in two nights. I literally could not put it down. We all know PJ Parrish as the author of the seven books in the Louis Kincaid series. Somewhere in the last few books, they introduced a female Miami homicide detective Joe Frye, who was such a strong character, she seemed to jump right out of the pages. A Thousand Bones is Joe's story as she tells it to Louis Kincaid. And it's one hell of a story. This turns out to be a serial killer book, with the manner of killing absolutely horrific. And Joe almost gets herself killed in the same way he killed the other young women. Parrish is a master at keeping the reader at the edge of one's seat, or reading way into the night as was my case, and tells a great story. I kept wondering what it was Joe was ashamed of about in this story, since everything she did was excellent police work, and she risked her life to bring this killer to justice. And then Parrish hits you with it - Bam! And you realize why the story needed to be told.
- Joanne Sinchuk, owner Murder on the Beach Bookstore
Following up her strong supportive role in A KILLING RAIN, Frye takes the lead from her lover Kincaid who plays the minor second banana, but no one will care as a star is born. Frye is delightful as that case in her first season as a cop haunts her in 1988 so much so it is difficult for her to talk to anyone, even Kincaid, about it. The police procedural is cleverly designed, but even after the killer is known by Frye and readers, the tale smoothly switches into a cat and mouse encounter with the cop being the rodent. P.J. Parrish provides a powerful refreshing spin to his Kincaid saga with this sequel that begs for more Frye cases.
- Harriet Klausner
An Unquiet Grave
"Bestseller Parrish's gripping and atmospheric new Louis Kincaid novel is a quality read that will remind many of Dennis Lehane. Parrish manages to make would could be a formulaic plot fresh, both through her gift at creating sympathetic main and secondary characters and through her skill creating suspense and sustaining a mood. The author's ability to raise goose bumps puts her in the front rank of thriller writers."
- Publishers Weekly
"An Unquiet Grave is a wonderfully tense and atmospheric novel. The seventh novel featuring Louis Kincaid keeps the reading guessing until the end."
- Miami Herald
"An Unquiet Grave is a standout thriller. It is an intriguing and atmospheric story set largely on the grounds of an abandoned insane asylum, a haunting location that contains many dark and barbarous secrets. With fresh characters and plot, An Unquiet Grave, is suspense novel of the highest order.
- Chicago Sun-Times
"Kincaid makes for a fine hero, somber and mature for his relative youth. He's quiet, smart and methodical, not always making wisecracks like the stereotypical private eye. The old saying holds that 'still waters run deep" and it's certainly the case with Kincaid. A powerful story...finely crafted suspense."
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"P. J. Parrish has taken a spot among the elite half dozen mystery/thriller authors who have something to say and know how to say it. The book continues the tale of Kincaid's journey of self discovery. As in all the Kincaid sagas, this part of the story is at least as important as the mystery he is working on. Many writers shy away from the human element of their stories. Parrish uses Kincaid's struggle to determine who he is and what world - black or white - he belongs in as a strong story element. Parrish is at her absolute best conveying the sense of the cold, gloomy rat-infested darkness that eventually envelops Louis in something as close to mortal fear as he has ever felt. This is the most satisfying installment of the Kincaid saga."
- Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune
"This is a superb, highly atmospheric, thought-provoking thriller with strong characterizations. Particularly noteworthy are tense, exciting scenes in the dark underground tunnels of an abandoned Michigan insane asylum."
- Lansing (Michigan) State-Journal
"Despite its goose-bump quotient, An Unquiet Grave is, at its core, a love story gone wrong."
- Fort Myers (Florida) News-Press
"In learning of his foster father's tortured past, Kincaid reopens some of his old wounds, making the investigation emotional and painful as well as challenging. This story takes some chilling twists and turns but Kincaid proves equal to the task. He has grown since the first book and the series has grown along with him. This is the best one yet."
- MyShelf.com
"This is a series that just grown with every title."
- ReviewingTheEvidence.com
A Killing Rain
(nominated for Shamus award)
"Not many authors today so successfully combine an examination of the characters' psychological lives with hardcore action and unrelenting suspense the way that Parrish can...This combination of suspense and thoughtfulness makes for truly compelling reading...The settings are well sketched and the atmosphere always thick with danger..."
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"A missing child and a truly vicious family of killers make for a brisk race against time in Parrish's latest thriller. A lean, fast-paced yarn...a dandy surprise ending."
- Publishers Weekly
"From the startling opening to the stunning finale, A Killing Rain is a masterpiece of shock and surprise, a gritty Florida tale told with relentless skill. P. J. Parrish's best book yet."
- Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene magazine
"A high quality series...Parrish uses the former cop Kincaid's background as a less-than-perfect father to sharpen the edges of a story about the tense family situation of an elusive lawyer Kincaid wants to have a relationship with, ending up in two killings. Parrish is as good as any detective writer working -- and a lot more affordable."
- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
"A good, fast read, satisfying plot and characters you'll want to meet again. Parrish weaves romance in with the more brutal events that transpire in this race to save a child's life. 'Rain' is an all-consuming read.
- San Antonio (Tx) Express-News
"This story of the power of love, friendship and commitment is sure to entertain from start to finish."
- Romantic Times
"A taunt thriller that is tough to put down."
- Massachusetts/New Hampshire Eagle Tribune
"Louis Kincaid ranks right up there with Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch and Laurie King's Kate Martinelli. What they have in common and what endears them to readers is their innate inner goodness and their tenacity, despite their daily struggles with their inner demons."
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"If you haven't discovered the fast-paced action, terrifying suspense and hair-pin plot twists of rising star P.J. Parrish yet, now's the time.
- Mystery Guild
"Louis Kincaid is an intriguing outsider hero, a flawed knight in the vein of Travis McGee and other great Sunshine State literary sleuths."
- Rob Thomas, Capital Times, Madison, Wis.
"Another top-notch thriller featuring Louis Kincaid. The carefully crafted plot is exceptionally unpredictable."
- Ray Walsh, State Journal (Michigan)
"I literally could not put this book down. Two night later, I'd completed the book and was determined to read the previous books with Louis Kincaid."
- Daily Corinthian (Tunica, Miss)
Parrish has a strong knack for creating intricate plots, which she does again here, basing the plot on a single mother's worse nightmare but also touching on the tragedy of human bondage and even homosexuality, and all the while exploring the corners of Louis Kincaid's heart. This time the adventures take us from Florida's West Coast, to the Everglades and Miami. This series has always been as much about character development as it is a good mystery. In A Killing Rain, we once again see Kincaid make choices that are consistent with his past, but also show that he is growing as a person.
- MostlyFiction.com
P. J. Parrish has a winner here. It is chock full of evil people, good guys, greedy types, mystery, intrigue and romance. The plot is intricate and you must pay attention or you just might lose an important tidbit that will make sense when you understand what happened. Parrish has captured the lives of very real people who are living with their pasts and attempting to make their futures better. You can even feel some sympathy for the bad guys because they are more than just monsters. Parrish makes them real, feeling people. I would recommend this novel to those who love mysteries that make you think.
- DallasBlack.com
Sister-act P.J. Parrish (Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols in real life) continue their Louis Kincaid saga in this taut thriller set in a wet chilly January Florida setting. With a topical background based on the importing of indentured third world workers, this story moves rapidly and crisply to sodden showdown on the Tamiami Trail. Along the way Louis finds an opportunity to work his way back into law enforcement, a potential new squeeze, and an opportunity to confront his own demons. A Killing Rain is a strong addition to P.J. Parrish's already firmly established Louis Kincaid series, and provides a number of potential mean streets that Kincaid might walk down in upcoming titles.
- Richard Helms, two-time Shamus Award-nominated author of the Pat Gallegher and Eamon Gold mystery series
Island of Bones
(nominated for Shamus award)
"The newest addition to Parrish's Louis Kincaid mystery series lures readers in from the outset when a young woman's bullet-ridden corpse is found tangled in mangrove roots on Florida's beautiful, tropical seacoast. Kincaid is hired by a woman who fears her father, Frank Woods, a middle-aged, nondescript librarian with murky connections to missing women dating back as far as 35 years, may be the killer. Although all signs point to Wood's guilt, his confession and apparent suicide never sit well with Kincaid. He reluctantly teams up with Mel Landeta, a gruff but ultimately likely police officer, and they return to the last place Wood visited -- the Island of Bones.
The tension builds to a near palpable level as the pair uncovers secrets as dark and warped as the primal landscape. World-weary, contemplative Landeta is the perfect foil for Kincaid, a true man of action. Their camaraderie, combined with Parrish's crisp dialogue and skill at stringing out the suspense, are what make this carefully constructed mystery so absorbing.
Parrish's second Kincaid mystery, Dead of Winter, earned a nomination for an Edgar, and this book merits another. Anyone who has read Parrish's mysteries will undoubtedly clamor for this one."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A killer ending will have you looking forward to the next entry in the series."
- Nancy Pate, Orlando Sentinel
"Because she works in the critically snubbed thicket of original mass market paperbacks, P. J. Parrish's terrific books about Florida private eye Louis Kincaid don't always get the respect they deserve. Her latest is a worthy addition to the series. There are some striking verbal pictures of the Florida coast, especially after a hurricane, and a memorable scene on the deserted island of the title where grim truths are revealed. For the price of a fast-food meal, you can have a nourishing, satisfying reading experience that will lat a lot longer."
- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
"Island of Bones opens like a hurricane and blows you away through the final page. It's a major league thriller that is hard to stop reading."
- Robert Parker, author of the Spenser series
"I'm hooked on P. J. Parrish. Nobody else creates such a compelling mix of real characters, genuine emotion and fast-paced suspense. Island of Bones is her best yet.
- Barbara Parker, author of Suspicion of Madness
"The sins of generations past haunt Louis Kincaid and the case he takes on in P.J. Parrish's beautifully evoked, darkly moral tale set in that coastal territory where even the elemental distinction between land and sea can be as blurred as that between good and evil."
- S. J. Rozan, Edgar, Shamus award winning author of Winter and Night
"A story that could be consumed rapidly. But resist that urge, for Island of Bones is a well-researched and well-wrought novel that deserves one's thorough attention. A deeply satisfying reading experience."
- Jennifer Jordan, January Magazine
"Publishers Weekly notes that Parrish's second mystery earned an Edgar nomination and thinks this one should as well. I agree!"
- Alan Caruba, Bookviews
"A complex tale of death and deceit...it's a fast-paced top-notch atmospheric thriller full of complex characters and long-hidden secrets."
- Lansing (Mich.) State Journal
"With the beautiful scenery of Florida as a backdrop, we are taken on a fast-paced journey through a world filled with lonely, desperate woman, a family with a secret too horrible to mention and one man determined to bring it all to an end. Kincaid is a sharp, complex character who grabs hold of a case like a bulldog with a bone and doesn't let go until he has solved it, no matter what it might cost him. A definite must read."
- Kathy Thomason, Murder and Mayhem Book Club
Thicker Than Water
(nominated for Shamus and Anthony awards)
"Thicker Than Water is not only a sharp, intriguing mystery but also an interesting contemplation on justice and way it works -- or doesn't. As always, Louis Kincaid is a deceptively complex, terrific character. We'll welcome him back anytime."
- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
"The novels of P.J. Parrish deserve critical attention...as suspenseful and sharply written as any of those highly hyped books by household names such as Michael Connelly and James Patterson."
- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
"A tangled web in which the innocent are not always good and the guilty hide behind walls of wealth. Crisp prose and evocative descriptions of southern Florida set the tone in this grim mystery, but it's the story's sympathetic characters and sudden twists that will leave the readers hungering for more."
- Publishers Weekly
"A pretzel-like plot...an ambitious and engrossing tale of tangled secrets and blood ties. The likeable, persistent Louis Kincaid continues to grow as a character. He and P. J. Parrish get better with every book.
- Nancy Pate, Orlando Sentinel
"Thicker Than Water is the kind of book that grabs you and won't let go. I absolutely loved it. Nobody is writing better private eye fiction anywhere than P. J. Parrish."
- Steve Hamilton, author of North of Nowhere
"Powerful stuff, especially in the familial interplay and social observation. The quiet sadness that underpins it all really got to me, the way Ross Macdonald always does. Among my favorite Florida crime writers are Charles Willeford, John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain and T. J. McGregor. And now, I'll have to add P. J. Parrish."
- Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene magazine
"A stunner of a book. Amazingly skilled at creating a sense of place, P.J. Parrish stays true to her characters. I can't wait to see Louis's growth as he learns more about the world."
- Robyn Glazer, Romantic Times
"I highly recommend this series, starting with the first book right up until this one. If you've been keeping up with this series, let me tell you, Thicker than Water will not disappoint. I don't know how the author comes up with such credible misdirection and so many.
- MostlyFiction.com
Paint It Black
(nominated for Shamus and Anthony awards)
"If you haven't read the other Louis Kincaid novels by P. J. Parrish, Paint It Black will send you scurrying in search of them. It's a deft, fast-paced plot, knowledgeable writing on police procedure and an interesting lead character propel you through the book, but it's the inclusion of intriguing ideas on racism and identity that elevate it."
- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
"Absorbing...interesting characters, some nifty action a couple of unusual murder weapons and, most important, a thoughtful examination of racial attitudes. Louis Kincaid continues to evolve as an interesting young man trying to come to grips with his past and his future."
- Nancy Pate, Orlando Sentinel
"Fast-paced and engrossing."
- Lansing (Mich.) State Journal
"A wonderful journey into the minds of a psychopathic killer and those who hunt him."
- Angie Dixon, MysteriousReaders.com
"Excellent -- P. J. Parrish is a superb storyteller."
- Alan Caruba, National Book Critics Circle
Dead of Winter
(nominated for Edgar and Anthony awards)
"Dead of Winter is a wild ride with a really fine writer."
- John Sandford, author of the "Prey" series
"Dead of Winter moves along briskly, pulling the reader along for an invigorating ride."
- Baltimore Sun
"Brisk -- tight -- a fast-paced, well-conceived yarn."
- Chicago Tribune
"Snow falls and so do the sinister hints. Things loom but they're never what they seem -- especially not for a black man in a mostly white town. Unfamiliar with Loon Lake, Kincaid nevertheless manages to work out who's killing his fellow police officers and why. Along the way, he makes some discoveries about his own prejudices and burdens. Dead of Winter moves briskly, pulling the reader along for an invigorating ride. P. J. Parrish [has] earned their place in crime fiction with tightly developed plots, and readers will see much more of them in the future. Truly, they are a writing team to watch."
- Bookreporter.com
"Out of the many manuscripts we receive here at the Mystery Guild®, I try to find the real gems. When I came to this one, I liked it right off-it was the title. Then I started reading about this frozen little town called Loon Lake in Michigan, where a cop is blown away by a single shotgun blast. Arriving sometime later to apply for the murdered officer's job is Louis Kincaid. He's given the position immediately, but is disturbed by the unsolved case, and he wants in on it. However, the tight-knit department takes some getting used to, and Kincaid is the outsider. Then, a second cop is killed. Now it's personal and I was hooked. With the chill of fear creeping in, the cops have to move fast. And Kincaid knows the secrets are out there--probably buried under the thick carpet of endless snow."
- Jay Franco, Assistant Editor, Mystery Guild
"Smoothly written....an involving police procedural, as solidly constructed as the block of ice that encases one corpse. The story offers a couple of well-timed surprises and its real strength is Louis Kincaid himself, a standup guy who tries not to let his own emotions and troubled past sway his moral compass."
- Orlando Sentinel
"Pulls the reader in for an invigorating ride."
- Baltimore Sun
"An involving police procedural, as solidly constructed as the block of ice that encases one corpse."
- Orlando Sentinel
Dark of the Moon
"Full of intrigue and edge-of-the-seat suspense. But best of all is the character at its center: Louis Kincaid. Dogged and noble, carrying his history close to his heart, Kincaid is a welcome addition to the literary landscape of crime fiction."
- Michael Connelly, author of City of Bones
"Parrish has created a fast-paced, old-fashioned thriller. It's fun having a hero who can talk about truth and justice with a straight face, instead of the usual world-weary detective. Dark of the Moon is guaranteed to keep readers entertained."
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"P. J. Parrish has woven a taut thriller of racism past and present, love in its many forms and the growth that can come from acceptance."
- The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
"A taut page-turner..."
- San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle
"Put Dark of the Moon" at the top of your must-read list. Louis Kincaid is a tough, three-dimensional man with all the psychological and complexity of a James Lee Burke character. A solid novel with excitement and intelligence galore. Parrish is an author to read, collect and root for."
- James W. Hall, author of Body Language
"Louis Kincaid, who is cut from the same stylish cloth as John Ball's Virgil Tibbs, is an absorbing character."
- Publishers Weekly
"Parrish vividly creates a determined investigator and a divided community with a violent secret. With plenty of action, Dark of the Moon keeps readers entertained."
- Booklist
"A southern version of Snow Falling on Cedars...an exceptional novel."
- Jeremiah Healy, author of The Only Good Lawyer