Book Review: Dead End (Kaely Quinn Profiler #3)

Dead End (Kaely Quinn Profiler #3)

Author:  Nancy Mehl

Publisher:  Bethany House (2020)

320 pages

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

First Lines:  "Chief of Police Everett Sawyer stood over the body they'd just dug up in the old rail yard north of the city.  The medical examiner, Jim Arndt, knelt next to the dead woman, his gloved hands carefully inspecting the evidence."

Summary:  Kaely Quinn and her partner, Noah Hunter, are called in to work a copycat killer case.  Kaely is called in because the killer is copying her father, Ed Oliphant, a serial killer known as Raggedy Man.  

Because of some of the things the copycat killer is doing that weren't made known to the public, the police believe he must be working with Ed.  The police and FBI have tried everything to get Ed to talk and he is not saying anything.  The only thing they haven't tried is sending Kaely to talk to him.  

Kaely doesn't want to see or talk to her father.  But she realizes that she might be the only hope of stopping this new killer.  Noah doesn't think Kaely should do it.  He is afraid it will be too much for her.  Kaely decides she will do it and Noah is sent along to assist her.  Will her father talk to her?  Does he have information that will help the police catch the copycat killer?

My thoughts:  This was a great finish to the Kaely Quinn series.  I really enjoyed the psychological aspects and how they were presented.  Kaely is an expert on psychopaths and she shares some of her expertise with us.

"I told you, he's a psychopath.  They have no remorse, and they don't have the ability to learn from experience.  It's impossible for this man to feel guilt or ever accept responsibility for the vile deeds he committed."

"'Sociopaths are similar to psychopaths, but they're volatile and disorganized,' Kaely said. 'Psychopaths can mimic feelings even though they don't have them.  They can be charming.  And they're organized.  Calculating.'"

Kaely still has a lot to work through in regards to her relationship with her father.  It was fascinating to walk through the process with her.  Her faith plays a major role in her healing process and the author helps us to understand how she could easily go down the wrong path and become angry and bitter and how evil could hijack her healing.  She also helps us understand more about where evil comes from and how it can affect people's lives.  Honestly, without the faith component, this series would have been very creepy.  

Kaely and Noah continue to work through their feelings toward one another, unfortunately most of the time each is doing it in their own mind.  Their relationship is not the major focus of the story and that was fine with me.  They continue to work well together and help one another in their personal struggles.  The mystery kept me guessing until the culprit was revealed.  There were several suspects and some red herrings that threw me off the track.  But everything is wrapped up nicely by the end. 

I have enjoyed all three books in this series and I look forward to what Nancy Mehl will write in the future.