[Review] Ten Days Gone - Beverly Long

Summary: In all their years working for the Baywood police department, detectives A.L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan have never seen anything like it. Four women dead in forty days, each killed ten days apart. With nothing connecting the victims and very little evidence, the clock is already counting down to when the next body drops. A.L. and Rena will have to act fast if they’re going to find the killer’s next victim before he does.

But identifying the killer’s next likely target is only half the battle. With pressure pushing in from all sides, a promising breakthrough leads the detectives to Tess Lyons, a woman whose past trauma has left her too damaged to appreciate the danger she’s in. Unwilling to let another woman die, A.L. and Rena will put everything on the line to keep Tess safe and end the killer’s deadly spree once and for all—before time runs out again. (Pub Date: Feb 18, 2020)

2.5.

This is an investigation thriller for whose mystery we know when the serial killer will strike, for he's been making a victim every ten days, the investigators still need to know, though, whom and why. The clock is ticking.

I think this had a lot to be at least an okay story. We had good crimes and a good reason to feel the pressure of having find the culprit. The book also had good discoveries, which would make the investigation fun as we follow the two investigators. I also think both Rena and A.L. seemed like nice characters.

Then everything went wrong.

It was little by little, so I didn't notice at first. The first red flag was that I just didn't care enough to resume my read if I stopped to do anything. Because it was not a closed circle of suspects from the beginning, even though we eventually meet the culprit before knowing it was them, it wasn't like I could know who it was with what we had. This is more the type of mystery for you to sit and enjoy the ride. It just wasn't so interesting for me to stay put and enjoy.

The first problem, and that I think should be a big no in a detective story, there was a lot of personal stuff that held no relation to the plot. I feel that is nice on a TV series because you need to care about the characters to keep watching the episodes, but it's not the same for a book that isn't even a series yet. If you want personal stuff, they need to be related to the investigation or else they're a big distraction. It was interesting the story revolving Rena's marriage but it could be cut from it all and it wouldn't have made a difference. A.L.'s still had something but the romance he gets is my second complaint: forced and awkward. I think they fell way too fast and a little out of nowhere, making me uncomfortable.

I still had a third issue: the writing was confusing sometimes. We kept changing views and it took me a while to get used and understand who the narration was talking about. Moreover, something with the style made the read the not flow well. It's supposed to be an easy read, there aren't big words or too-long sentences, but it wasn't so for me. I wish I were able to point out the reason.

As for development and conclusion, I don't have any complaint. Unfortunately, I don't think there was anything memorable either. The main characters were nice but what was happening to them was either the usual in books or just unnecessary, as explained. This got in my way to appreciate them.

I think this book could satisfy readers of crime investigation who like stories involving the detectives without going straight to the point. While I avoid it, I do think there will be people who like it.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 2 out of 5.