Drugs and Scandal
Since I’ve enjoyed both of Liz Milliron’s other series, I’ve been meaning to go back and read Root of All Evil, her first novel and the first book in her Laurel Highlands series. I’ve even had this book for several years. I’m glad I finally sat down to read this book.
The series centers on Jim Duncan, a Pennsylvania State Trooper in Fayette County, and Sally Castle, an assistant public defender for the county. Despite the fact that these two would often be on the opposite sides, the two have formed a friendship that has the potential to turn into something more.
As this book starts, rumors that Aaron Trafford is back in the area have reached Jim’s ears. It’s bad news for sure since Aaron dodged a drug conviction the year before. He was guilty. Everyone knew he was guilty. But somehow, he got off. Jim wants to get Aaron this time before he gets too established.
Meanwhile, Sally walks into work on a Monday morning to find one of her co-workers dead, shot in his office. Colin had been acting squirrely all weekend, but what was he involved in? Determined to find out, Sally steps outside of her job to poke around.
As the cases begin to converge, Sally becomes even more involved, much to Jim’s dismay. Will the duo figure out what is going on?
As I said earlier, I’ve enjoyed Liz’s other books, so I was expecting to enjoy this book when I sat down to read it. I did find a couple of things that bothered me, but they might be my fault as much as the book’s fault.
The book started well, not wasting too much time on the set up before we are really plunged into the mystery. However, I did feel the pacing was a bit uneven in the middle before picking up again as we raced toward the climax. But that might be me. Real life got in the way of my reading and kept me from reading at my normal pace, so that might be why it felt this way to me. Either way, I appreciated the logic of the climax even if it required the characters to act in a way I didn’t feel was the smartest.
I knew there were some short stories with these characters, but I didn’t investigate where they fell into the series chronology before picking up this book. Turns out, they take place before this book. As a die hard read in order person, I should have investigated just a bit more. However, a bit more of an introduction to the characters would have been nice here. I felt like we were thrust in with little context at the beginning of the story. Still, you can bet I will be getting that short story collection, Murder Most Scenic, and reading it soon.
That’s not to say I didn’t get to know the characters and their relationships as the book progressed. The story is pretty much split between Sally and Jim’s points of view. The changes are always easy to identify, which I am grateful for. This allowed us to get to know both of them really well, and I do like them both as characters. I’m rooting for them to get together already. The rest of the characters are also well developed based on how much page time we get. I’m curious to see who will become series regulars and who were just introduced for this book. I have a few I’m not sure about, although I wouldn’t mind seeing them again.
Liz is good friends with Annette Dashofy, and Annette has borrowed Jim Duncan in a couple of her Zoe Chambers Mysteries. A significant part of the last book in that series takes place here, as well. Sadly, that’s my only real knowledge of this part of the country, but I enjoyed getting to visit it in back to back books since it made it feel like I was in more familiar territory.
This is a police procedural, so it has some more content and a darker tone than some of the books I read. Know that going in and you should be okay.
I’m glad I finally got a chance to visit the Laurel Highlands and officially meet Jim and Sally. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before I get a chance to visit them again. If you are looking for a good first novel, you’ll be glad you picked up Root of All Evil.
Visit the rest of the Laurel Highlands Mysteries.
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