Highly unusual animals will always keep my attention. I mentioned in my review of the last book that I would love to see more human/animal interaction ... looks like my own psychic abilities worked on the author! ;)

Plus, Hollis is finally coming to terms with her extensive emotional baggage! Character development in a good way.

The supporting characters of Mayor Pierson and his mobster friend Ashworth were far more interesting than the protagonists or the mystery. I want to know about their friendship.

The portions of the novel where Evelyn was in the lab alternating between analyzing data and making investigative leaps were too few compared to her mental complaints about her ex-husband and his new wife. Don't get me wrong, character background is extremely important in crime novels to assess motivations, but this just wasn't an effective way to go about it.

(Also? Grumpy, sullen teenagers are so boring to read about.)

The attempt at romance between Evie and the new homicide detective was badly done. There was a resolute lack of chemistry between them for all the emotions the author was telling me they were feeling after only a few days. The epilogue (

complete with declaration of love barely a handful of weeks after the story

) really only does more awkward damage.

Self-sacrificing good girl Katie is at it again when she nearly allows herself to be murdered by her own appendix.

Spoiler alert: she lives.

I bit my nails as a kid. This book did not help.

This one was all sorts of twisty.

I like that Charlie and Sean's issues were not solved during the course of one book after meeting again under such inauspicious circumstances. I think that shows a lot of restraint on the part of the author, considering Charlie's traumatic background.