Trace: CSI Reilly Steel (Volume 6)

Irish authors Melissa and Kevin Hill, aka Casey Hill, have added a new addition to their Reilly Steele series. Each novel in the series is based on the investigation of serial killers by forensic investigator Reilly Steele and homicide detectives, Chris Delaney and Pete Kennedy. The unique aspect of this series is the bizarre modus operandi of each of the serial killers and the serial killer in Trace is no different. In this novel, the suspect is motivated by food and not just any kind of food but gourmet masterpieces that he likes to serve to his victims which harbor a toxic ingredient. The serial killer's target are women that are very independent with no time for any extended relationship.Besides the serial killer plot, there are two subplots also taking place throughout the novel. The sister of forensic technician, Lucy Gorman, was abducted and presumably murdered when Gorman was a child. The abduction has been a cold case for many years but new evidence found in a previous novel, The Hidden, has reopened the case. Steele is determined to find the answers so that Lucy and her father, Garda Forensic Units Director Jack Gorman, can find closure. The other subplot involves Reilly Steele’s personal life. In my review of the series, I complained that Steele was just too perfect without any real flaws, well, the halo has tarnished and Steele is knocked off her pedestal. When Steele gets too upset about something, she becomes a bit of a girly girl and runs into the arms of the men that she has developed an attraction with which is getting her into a whole lot of trouble. With this little character flaw, the series will be taking on a whole new angle.Overall this is a nice cozy book to read on a weekend. It would be best to read two earlier novels in the series, The Hidden and The Watched before reading Trace.

The novel opens with the heroine, Reilly Steel, arriving at work after a forced vacation. During her previous case she had inhaled something that caused her to collapse. Now, her nose that been one of her best tools seems to be working overtime. Normal scents in her workplace are stronger now. Then a body of a young woman is found, and the material that had affected her previously had been found again at the crime scene. The action shifts to the crime scene being processed by her team and with the detectives with whom she usually teams. This main storyline proceeds from here with engaging twists and dead ends that quickly captured my attention. I read this novel sometimes way into the night when I should be sleeping.The author added a new feature, a second main storyline, in this novel. Grace Gorman, the sister of Lucy, a technician on the forensics team, and the daughter of Jack Gorman, a senior forensics team investigator had disappeared ten years earlier, but her necklace was discovered recently. Before her forced vacation, Reilly had promised Lucy that she would push the investigation. Now that Reilly was back, she started to fulfill that promise. Unfortunately, the murder by poison is gaining must public attention, and Reilly’s boss told her that there was no way she could keep working on Grace’s case during work time, not if she wanted to keep her job. While this second storyline is intertwined with the main storyline, it was easy to follow.The B-storyline again is rich. It has been more than three years since I finished the first four novels, but I picked up on the B-storyline immediately. Reilly’s personal life becomes more complicated. Her growing entanglements were skillfully woven into the main storyline. More background on her coworkers also enriched the reading enjoyment of this novel. If this is your first novel to read in this series, you can enjoy it without having read the previous four.There were not any sex scenes and only two instances of minor vulgar language, so you should not find anything objectionable here. While the setting is Ireland, I did not have any problems with the use of colloquial Irish English. Also, the murderer in this novel did not use extremely graphic and grotesque methods of murder that occurred in the first four novels. Therefore, this novel should not be objectionable for readers sensitive to sex, violence or language.I did not have any real dislikes in this novel. There were two things that I did like very much. The author did keep the detailed physiological side of the murderer’s mind as she did in the first four novels. Also, the author added short commentaries from the murderer throughout the novel. Besides providing more insight into the murderer’s mind, they also were the source of some misdirection in novel.Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel even after a three year break. In fact, I would like to read the rest of the series. I rate Trace with five stars.

Glaring continuity error was the last straw for me. I stopped read book five at the end of Chapter 4.Book 4 (The Watched):"‘Well, you’d probably know more about this than I do, but seems the stuff on the table was antimony.’ Reilly’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously?’ Antimony (sulphide stibnite) was a metallic substance, produced mainly in China and used in alloying metal and tin. The initial jump her mind made regarding the metalloid was related to alloying used in fire retardants, and also for bullets and ball bearings."Book five (Trace):"I may have attributed this to mere accident while eating, were it not for the powder, the same substance recently encountered by you Reilly.’ Thompson now pulled the sheet all the way up and turned away to retrieve a sample of the powder. ‘As we already found from our previous situation, the powder is once again antimine,’ she confirmed and Reilly nodded, expecting as much. ‘Good to have had this previous encounter as it doesn’t usually show up in your average toxicology test. It is derived of a natural product and comes from the seeds of a fruit called Joker fruit. The fruit itself is not poisonous and is a delicacy in Asia. But the seeds are extremely poisonous when eaten in large quantities.’ ‘This is indeed what killed your victim."

if your a fan of CSI and criminal minds this crime thriller will be one you won't be able to put down. Love the plot and now feel i know the key characters well. Can't wait to read follow up.

Bought all the books in this series and loving them. Not always helpful when I’m trying to read to get to sleep as I don’t want to put it down!

Absolutely excellent series, I was engrossed from beginning to end

An enjoyable read, love this series

Exciting and fresh