STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL (Benoit and Dayne Mystery 3) by Winter Austin -a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 26, 2023

Déjà vu brings a chill in the case that will make or break more than just her career.

Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit’s worst nightmare returns when her deputies discover a young woman killed in the same circumstances as a death from 25 years earlier. That previous victim was Elizabeth’s best friend and Deputy Kyle Lundquist’s older sister. Elizabeth has spent a quarter of a century trying to nail the crooked ex-sheriff she knows is involved up to his elbows in this unresolved crime. She has a thick file of clues, but it’s going to take irrefutable proof to put both cases to bed.

Deputy Detective Lila Dayne draws on all her investigative skills, but still she can’t pin down their main suspect. Then prominent members of the community begin to disappear—clearly, there’s a bigger vendetta at play. Despite the legal consequences of being too close to the case, Elizabeth can’t keep away now.

When Elizabeth’s sister goes missing, it’s a no-holds-barred race against time in the showdown that’s been brewing in Eckardt County for decades.

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REVIEW: STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL is the third instalment in Winter Austin’s contemporary, adult BENOIT AND DAYNE murder, suspense thriller series focusing on small-town Sheriff Elizabeth “Ellie’ Benoit, and former Chicago police officer turned deputy Lila Dayne. STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from third person perspectives (Lila and Elizabeth) STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL focuses on the twenty-five year old, Eckardt County unsolved murder of Deputy Kyle Lundquist’s sister and Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit’s best friend Brendette Lundquist. With the approach of Halloween and the anniversary of the death, Deputy Detective Lila Dayne, Kyle’s co-worker and girlfriend, makes it her mission to uncover the truth. While Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit is in recovery from a recent appendectomy, Lila, without permission, opens up the cold case files but a ghost from the past pulls Lila into a current and familiar murder scene eerily reminiscent of what happened years before. Three girls: one dead, one missing, and another fearing for her life refuse to tell what happened or why until Sheriff Benoit is pulled into the investigation with more murder suspects, secrets and lies than the Sheriff’s office is capable of handling. As the body count grows, a strange cult-like aura emerges but are the clues pointing to a cult, or something more sinister involving one of their own. Battling in her recovery, Sheriff Ellie Benoit, along with her boyfriend Deputy Rafe Fontaine struggle with the direction of the investigation, a direction with many familiar faces that hits too close to home.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters, many of whom we have met the previous story lines including: Elizabeth’s sister Marnie; Deputy Kyle Lundquist; Deputy Rafe Fontaine; Deputy Ben Fitzgerald, Deputy Brent Meyer, Deputy Corey Young; ME Dr. Olivia Remington-Thorpe and her husband Dr. Dominic Thorpe, dispatcher Georgia Schmidt, and former Eckardt County Sheriff Kelley Sheehan; Elizabeth’s childhood friend Seraphina Russell and her mother Caroline; the local riff-raff, victims, and survivors. The requisite evil has many faces.

STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL is another detailed, complex and fascinating journey into murder and vengeance, secrets and lies, power and control, mystery and obsession. The premise is dramatic,intriguing, and intense; the characters are numerous, determined, and charismatic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Killer in Me
Hush, My Darling

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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A lifelong Mid-West gal, Winter rediscovered her love of her beloved Iowa with its hot summers and snowy winters. She grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around the table or a campfire. Since becoming a published author, she learned a mindset of a glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller author. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic thrillers. Combining her love of all things rural, agricultural, and military, she’s turned her small town life upside down.