The Scorpion by Gerri Hill is a fantastic mystery featuring an author and detective who fall into the web of lies and murder.
Marty Edwards is investigating a ten year old cold case in which a young man was killed. According to everyone who knew him he was a good student and definitely not affiliated to a gang but the Brownsville Police Department called his killing gang related and closed the case without much investigating.
Marty is a journalist and author who has looked at a number of cold cases. Usually the police are happy for her to help them because solving cases is far more important than not. But the Brownsville Police department treat her with suspicion and do everything they can to discourage her investigation, including insisting that she is watched by a detective when she is looking at the evidence. That’s not the only strange thing going on though, a scorpion paperweight piece of evidence goes missing from the evidence box between her visits.
Detective Kristen Bailey is biding her time in the Brownsville Police Department. She is treated like an outsider who is not allowed to do actual police work. So when she is given the task of babysitting a reporter who is looking into a cold case she doesn’t think much of it at first. But when things don’t add up in the case and she finds herself and Marty being shot at she realises that someone doesn’t want them looking any further.
Marty and Kristen are forced to run for their lives while trying to solve a case with more loose ends than answers. And along the way they find that they may just be made for one another.
But, can they solve the case when it seems that the mysterious evil man known as The Scorpion wants them dead and cops seem to be too afraid to stop him?
The Characters
Marty is a great character to explore. We don’t get to see a lot of demisexuals in lesbian fiction so I appreciated that Hill took the effort to make her a complex character with a history and a romance.
For those wondering a demisexual is a person on the asexual spectrum who only feel sexual attraction when they have a strong personal relationship with someone.
Kristen Bailey wasn’t a particularly complex character but I am not sure we needed a complex character when the plot itself was driving the story.
In a mystery like this it is easy to add a ton of characters but this story kept the cast relatively small which made it much more manageable to keep track of everyone.
The Writing Style
I love the way Gerri Hill created a spiderweb of information and slowly connects the dots for the characters.
I love the feeling of things getting worse and worse for the main characters before the tide turns and they manage to change to outcome of their fates.
The Narration
Abby Craden did a marvellous job of narrating this audiobook. This book has male and female voices as well as a number scenes with action in, long dialogue scenes and intimate moments. Each piece was flawlessly done. This is a great indicator of just what a good narrator Craden is and I feel remarkably lucky to have her working in the sector.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Gerri Hill and Abby Craden are a dream team. Give me their books and I am a happy listener. I tend to listen to audiobooks when I do chores around the house and let’s just say that I enjoyed this one so much that I have a very clean kitchen now.
Cons And Heads Up
Heads up that there are a number of violent scenes in this one. Things like people getting shot or shot at. Nothing too terrible happens to the main characters, though.
The Conclusion
Gerri Hill excels at building a thrilling mystery with undertones of romance and heat.
I enjoyed the actual mystery and how it unravelled. Getting a mystery right is not easy because having it too complex means that your readers will get confused and having it overly simple means readers get bored or guess the conclusion before they should. So I give massive kudos to Hill for getting the balance just right.
Kristen and Marty have a slow build chemistry from the beginning and I loved how Hill had them explore one another’s histories and backstories through great dialogue and moments that felt real.
If you are looking for a TLDR then it’s this – Gerri Hill wrote a compelling mystery and Abby Craden did a fantastic job narrating it. There is a slow burn romance and I recommend it.
Excerpt from The Scorpion by Gerri Hill
Marty’s gaze moved across the room to the small desk, lighting on the business card the detective had given her. She could call her, but that seemed a bit brash. Maybe after their hour session tomorrow she could get her alone long enough to ask a few questions. Or better yet, invite her on a lunch date.
Marty was used to flirting with men to get answers. She saw no reason she couldn’t do the same with Detective Baily. Of course, her stereotyping could be way off, but she didn’t think so. It wasn’t that Baily exuded a masculine presence. She didn’t. Her dark hair was longer than Marty’s touching her shoulders. And even though her face has a natural attractiveness, Marty had noted that the woman wore just the barest touch of makeup. But lesbian police officers who were out had a certain air about them, she had discovered last year while researching a piece she was writing on discrimination in the workplace. So she would turn on her charm and try to get Bailey to join her for lunch. May she would wear a skirt tomorrow after all.
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Bits and Bobs
- ISBN number: 9781594931628
- Publisher: Bella Books
- Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio
- Narrator: Abby Craden
- Gerri Hill Online
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