A thrilling psycho related premise with biblical and religious fanaticism/cult theme following Poe (and Tilly) in a brutal murder investigation of a conservative church leader who has been found tied to a tree and stoned to death. Such neat and well structured for its multiple back and forth timelines in between the episodic events of the murder and Poe in his memory of revisiting the crime scene while sitting and talking to a trauma therapist about his nightmares at a psychiatric hospital.

Pacey with short chapters (plus point!) and it piqued me on how dark and tense it goes— from Cornelius Green’s death that suddenly unraveled a connection to a tragic murder case from 15 years prior to a harrowing finding that relates to one’s morality madness due to past trauma and abuse, bit dense and puzzling with suspicious characters; I was spooked during the finding Aaron’s photo scene, a foreseen suspense yet it thrilled me on how Poe would go altering the truth and exposing the villain.

Tilly’s straightforwardness still a charm, she’s brilliant like always and loved her interaction and dynamic with Poe. Pity Snoopy for need to survive those sarcastic remarks but like Poe, I can’t trust Snoopy too for his sneaky motive. It gets bit aggressive and too twisty later, of justice, resentment and revenge, and as I thought the crime revelation was the end, Poe brought me into the present setting with his psychological episode; quite cunning and I loved how one of the character go unreliable and enthrallingly unhinged at the end.

**tw: graphic suicide scenes

(Thank you Pansing Distribution for sending me a copy to review!)