Regina's Reads

Joe Bashir is a new detective crime thriller series by one of my favorite authors. Had it not been for Sophie Littlefield authoring this series, I might not have picked it up -- detective mysteries are not my go-to genre. So glad I follow Sophie's books! This series is yes a detective series, but while the murder mysteries are complex and tight the true action is character driven.

The story in each novel centers on a police detective, Joe Bashir. Readers of Littlefield's other books know how Sophie carefully develops her characters, leading readers slowly and deeply into the characters' psyche. And this is what Littlefield does with Joe Bashir. Blood Bond introduces Joe Bashir to the readers, we meet his family and the tension that Joe maintains between maintaining his cultural identity v. feeling fully mainstreamed in US life. Shattered Bond continues that exploration of Joe's life and mixes in a romantic interest. But there are layers - Joe's parents, Joe's work colleagues, Joe's love interest and the targets and witnesses to the crime. Readers get to meet these characters and see the differences in Joe's interactions with all of them.

The mystery, which I guess I should discuss since this is a mystery novel -- is good and twisty. There is a killing of a young high school girl and the suspects are various parents, friends and an ex-boyfriend. Added in to the mix is that some of these girls are from extremely well off homes and several live surprisingly mysterious lives.

So who would like this series? Did you like Sophie Littlefield's Aftertime series? And did you like what she did with the characters and their interactions with each other? Then yeah, you would like this series. Readers who liked Cuckoo's Calling would like this book -- although Shattered Bond is shorter and less complex than Cuckoo's Calling. Are you a fan of Psycop, and you like how JCP develops her characters? Then you would enjoy this series.