The Devil You Know

P.J. Tracy’s new series is back for its third instalment – and sunny Los Angeles never held so many dark secrets as it does in The Devil You Know.

When Hollywood actor Evan Hobbs is targeted by a nasty deepfake video, it looks like it will be the final death knoll for a career already well into a downhill slide. But after an earthquake rattles the Beverly Hills, his body is discovered amid a landslide, and suddenly the death knoll is all too literal – and Tinseltown has any number of sins its inhabitants will kill to keep buried.

I’ve been enjoying this new series from an author I’ve loved for years, but The Devil You Know is absolutely my favorite so far. It feels like this is the book where P.J. Tracy has really hit her stride, getting comfortable with the characters and combining them with a tense, twisty storyline that hits every story beat at the perfect moment.

Margaret Nolan definitely comes to the fore here, Sam and Melody being present but very much taking a back seat to our series protagonist. I enjoyed that change of pace – as much as I love those characters, I’ve been very keen to see Margaret get her time in the spotlight, and this feels like the first in the series that centers her as the main character over Sam.

The plot is still satisfyingly complex, but I felt the action was a little more grounded in this outing as well. I like that – it’s a little more plausible, but still had me captivated and needing to know how it all happened. All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to seeing this series continue to develop and grow.