Dirty Little Secrets - Liliana Hart

J.J. Graves has seen a lot of dead bodies in her line of work...
She's not only in the mortuary business, but she's also the coroner for King George County, Virginia. When a grisly murder is discovered in the small town of Bloody Mary, it's up to J.J. and her best friend, Detective Jack Lawson, to bring the victim justice.
The murders are piling up...
The residents of Blood Mary are dropping like flies, and when a popular mystery writer shows up on J.J.'s doorstep with plans of writing his new book about the Bloody Mary Serial Killer, J.J. has to decide if he might be going above and beyond the call of duty to create the spine tinglers he's so well known for. It only clouds the issue and puts her reputation on the line when the attraction between them spirals out of control.
And passions are rising...
J.J and Jack are in a race against time. They discover each victim had a shocking secret, and the very foundation of J.J.'s life is in danger of crumbling when it turns out she’s harboring secrets of her own—secrets that make her the perfect victim in a deadly game.

Well it seems I am a series kind of girl. I do so like them that even when I find a free book to download from Amazon I eventually discover that it is part of a series.

Dirty Little Secrets seemed like an interesting read from the back blurb and it actually was despite a few problems. The main character, JJ, is a mortician in a small town. She took over her parent's business after their deaths and she is still dealing with the pain and doubt from that event when one of her friends is found murdered. JJ is best friends with the chief of police and together they start an investigation about what really went on.

At the same time a mystery writer shows up in town in search of material for his new book and the chemistry between him and JJ is instantaneous.

I think what I enjoyed the most was JJ's voice. How she doesn't take herself too serious and has genuine concerns about her life and especially her love life. Her relationship with Brody is too quick but my main complaint is that we never see it developed. I also enjoyed her relationship with Jack. Not many books have such strong main characters without presenting them in a relationship. Despite the underlying attraction it's nice to see them just as friends.

The parts I had problems with was the killer's identity - I felt it came out of nowhere. And the resolution of JJ's love life also seemed a bit abrupt to me. It was a nice enough story to spend an afternoon with and should book 2 be free too I'll be sure to grab it.

Grade: 3.5/5