Sacrifice by Carolyn Arnold – a Review

Sacrifice is Carolyn Arnold’s third book in her Madison Knight series.  Carolyn Arnold continues to make Madison Knight a great crime series, and each book just gets better and better.  Arnold once again shows her knowledge of police procedures, as Sacrifice is a terrific suspenseful detective crime thriller, somewhat similar to JD Robb’s In Death series. 

Madison Knight, our tough wonderful fearless detective, becomes embroiled in a case that will pit her against some major obstacles along the way. A rich scion’s son is found drowned, in what looks like a possible drug related murder. Working with her steady partner, Terry, Madison immediately suspects that her Chief is hiding some important information, as he is friends with the father of the dead man.  In almost every move she tries to take, she knows if she makes one bad move, the Chief will have her fired.  With all that pressure, Madison never falters, as she refuses to compromise her standards.  This does get her into trouble all the time, even with her partner Terry.  But make no mistake, Madison is a terrific detective, hardnosed, and determined;  you know somehow, someway, she will unravel all the complicating clues to find the murderer.

But complicated it is, as Arnold weaves a mystery that has turns and twists almost all the way through to the end.  This is a fast paced story, and you can’t put the book down, as you want to know what happens next.

Madison also has her own personal issues, with her mother, and with her boyfriend, Blake.  I liked Blake, a top lawyer, who seemed to be the one for Madison.  But he is also on the other side, a lawyer representing those who Madison tries to bring to justice.  Is this relationship doomed??  Madison can still rely on her dog Hershey for comfort.  🙂

One of the wonderful things about Arnold’s storytelling, is we continue throughout the book to see how the criminal procedurals work, whether it be multiple suspects, various clues, forensics/dna, other crooked cops, lawyers protecting their clients, etc.  Arnold pulls out all the stops, and Madison is a wonderful heroine.  She isn’t always nice, but she is a murder cop, so what would we expect.  But even with her tough & brash disposition, she is very vulnerable and lonely.  Madison doesn’t really have a great support team; as Terry is ok, a bit better then the previous two books, her police superiors are usually unsupportive, which stinks, as she is a great detective, her love life is a mess, but she has one good friend, and does have Hershey.  🙂 

This was a fantastic story all the way to the end.  I stayed up late to finish this book, as I needed to find out how it would end.  With all the twists and turns, you kept finding yourself going back and forth as to who the murderer was, which was so well done by Arnold.  If you love crime dramas, mysteries, and a tough female cop, this series is not to be missed.  I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author