The 7th Month (short story)

The 7th Month by Lisa Gardner
D.D. Warren series #5.5. Gardner Universe #11.5. Police procedural thriller novella. Can be read as a stand-alone but best read in series order.
Detective D.D. Warren isn’t used to being idle and a desk job has her fidgety. To keep herself busy while seven months pregnant, she takes on a consulting job for a serial killer movie being filmed in Boston. The consulting turns to investigation when the former consultant is found beaten to death. Everyone on the movie set is a suspect and D.D. needs to get quick answers when a second cast member is attacked or it might just be her next.

Fast moving, and quick murder and investigation while D.D. is uncomfortable and feeling protective of her unborn child. The show more usual deep analysis and questioning by D.D. Her sarcasm adds humor to the settings and situations.
Impressively detailed for a novella with a woman trying to ignore her seventh month situation by focusing on her job. There is always another murder to solve. show less

Read: February 2018
Rating: 4/5 stars

DD Warren is seven months pregnant and relegated to desk duty when she is approached about being a police consultant to a movie being filmed nearby. Of course, things aren't as straightforward as they seem and DD must work with an undercover FBI agent to uncover the crime taking place on set.

I liked this interlude between the main novels in the series and it was good to see DD and Alex's relationship on the page again. Of course the highlight of the plot was DD and Alex becoming parents to their baby boy Jack.

I especially love the fact that DD is an older mother - 41 years old at the time of this story - and she gets to be the established career woman as well as a new mum at this stage in her life.

I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but I read this because it was a link between the previous D.D. Warren book (Love you More) and the final one - to date, at least (Catch Me).

It was still good, the usual style-markers that define Lisa Garner's books were present, but because it was a short story, the denouement happened too quickly and didn't leave enough time for all the tension and twists and turns to develop as much as I would have liked.

It's hard to compare a "long short story" or "short novella" to the author's full-length novels. This one is a good detective story, from setting up a murder to solving it in a span of 2 days, (and under 2 hours in the unabridged audio version). As in most short fiction, there's little room for extras such as character development, background, scenery, etc. Readers familiar with the D. D. Warren series will be pleased to see a slightly different angle on Warren's life just prior to the events of CATCH ME, Gardner's next novel.

Excellent narration distinguished characters, genders, and moods without going overboard.

A good short story about a couple of days in the life of D.D. Warren, Ms. Gardner's serial heroine. The title is in reference to her pregnancy, in its 7th month. I enjoyed the story well enough, but more appreciate the author's way of dealing with the character's pregnancy. Much better to deal with this period of the character's life than all in one book (of course, in my opinion).

While I do not like short stories, this one was better than average. DD Warren is on desk duty because of her pregnancy when she is hired to replace a retired cop consulting for a movie. When the cop is found dead, DD is caught in the middle of things and has to solve the crime.

Detective Warner is on desk duty due to her impending pregnancy. In her social life she debating whether to move-in with her child's father. She gets caught up in a murder investigation when asked to give technical advice to a filming company.
This was a good foray into this series to see if I was going to enjoy it. I didn't really. While the plot was good, the main character, DD Warren is annoying as crap. This short story kept me from wasting a lot of time on a whole novel.