Echo Road

Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot have combined their considerable talents to bring together two of their popular crime series investigators, Sheriff Bree Taggert and FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick, and what a team they make! Despite living on opposite sides of the country, Bree in Grey’s Hollow, New York, and Mercy in Oregon, certain similarities in their current cases lead Mercy to Bree’s doorstep.

Bree is investigating the unsavory discovery of two bodies dumped in suitcases at the side of the road by an unfortunate maintenance worker. Both are bodies of young women with long brown hair and bright Barbie pink nail polish on their fingernails and toenails, although autopsy will reveal they were killed at different times.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, Mercy is investigating the disappearance of the daughter of a senator, 17-year-old Paige Holcroft. So far, they’ve managed to keep her name away from the press and public, but Mercy knows it’s just a matter of time before the news leaks out. Caught briefly on a security camera, it appears Paige left of her own volition, but dressed differently from her usual casual style in a slinky dress, high heels, and wearing bright pink fingernail polish. She took a suitcase with her but left behind her license, car, phone, and laptop and deleted all her social media accounts, not something a teenager would willingly do.

Fearing one of the bodies in a suitcase could be Paige, Mercy decides to take Paige’s dental charts to the morgue in Oregon to see if either body is a match. Initially irritated by Mercy turning up in her jurisdiction, Bree is distrustful of her, and the two circle around each other, keeping details of their cases close. Although neither body turned out to be Paige, there were sufficient similarities in the cases for Mercy to ask to continue working with Bree to find who lured and killed the women.

This is a complex case, but the gripping, fast-paced plot is carefully laid out in alternating chapters narrated by Bree and Mercy. We also hear from the killer, who is ruthless and arrogant after getting away with several murders. He likes to play a dangerous game and doesn’t believe a female sheriff could possibly be smart enough to catch him.

This is one character crossover that totally works. Mercy and Bree are already so well developed in their own series, but there is sufficient information for the new reader to get a good feel for their personalities, and the interaction between them is dynamic and fun. Although initially keeping their distance, over time they come to respect each other and forge a good team. They also discover they have similar family situations. By the time the cases are resolved, they are firm friends, and, hopefully for readers, this means the writing duo of Elliot and Leigh will allow their paths to cross again in the future.

With thanks to the publisher Montlake for a copy to read.