ARC REVIEW: Close Her Eyes – by Lisa Regan

Title: Close Her Eyes
(Detective Josie Quinn #17)
Author: Lisa Regan
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: May 3rd 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: April 5th 2023
Pages: 285

“Sometimes it’s harder to focus on what actually happened than on what could have happened.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

It’s no secret that the Detective Josie Quinn series is one of my favorites and it’s a series that I’ve been following ever since the first book was published back in 2018. My heart skips a beat every time a new sequel becomes available, because this series hasn’t failed me yet… Close Her Eyes is already book number seventeen of a series that shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s an explosive sequel at that! Make sure to brace yourself for an intense, action-packed and frankly shocking ride.

Before I continue, I do have to give a little warning that this is a series that focuses a lot on the personal development of the characters as well as the investigations. It’s important to read the books in order both to understand the dynamics between the different characters and to avoid major spoilers. Close Her Eyes can technically be read as a stand-alone and some of the dynamics and past events are explained, but this sequel simply doesn’t have the same impact if you don’t have the full picture of what happened in the previous books and just how close this group of characters has become. Besides, the whole series is excellent and well worth your time in the first place!

Like I said before: make sure to brace yourself before starting this sequel, because Close Her Eyes is back to the series’ old tricks and will hit once again hard on a personal level. Local Medical Examiner Anya Feist seems to be connected to the newest case, and the spotlight is on her character as we learn more about her past. The case itself is turning to be more and more complicated with each chapter, and there is plenty of action and danger to be found along the way. There are a couple of twists that hit particularly hard, and my mind is still trying to digest these newest developments… I sure didn’t expect yet another blow this soon.

That said, Close Her Eyes moves just as fast as always, and I simply couldn’t stop turning those pages. There is just something about the writing style and plot that makes this series highly addictive and truly unputdownable. The fact that it is yet another case that hits close to home only increases that urgency to know what will happens next… A little trigger warning is in place, because this particular sequel has a lot of focus on topics including domestic abuse, gaslighting, torture, rape and addiction. It’s not an easy read, and I definitely needed a dose of chocolate after finishing it.

All in all Close Her Eyes turned out to be another successful detective thriller sequel and yet another winner. If you like your thrillers on the fast and action-packed side, don’t mind a lot of twists and the plot going quite dark and intense, this is a excellent series to keep in mind! Things can be said about the credibility of the plots, but the entertainment factor is high.