The Guilty Dead

Gregory Norwood, a wealthy Minnesota businessman, has been found dead in his home. His body has been found on the one year anniversary of his son’s drug overdose and appears to be a suicide. Detectives Gino and Magozzi are on the case, which from first glance appears to be an open close standard suicide. That is until they realize that Norwood was left-handed and the gun is resting in his right hand.

When another body is found with a connection to Norwood, the detectives believe they have a murderer on the run. But what would cause someone to want to kill Norwood? The investigation begins to reveal that the Norwood family may have been hiding some interesting secrets under the rug. It appears that this is not the first murder to occur show more in their family history. What happened to make someone decide to kill Gregory Norwood? Can Gino and Magozzi find the killer before they strike again?

I had such a great reading experience with NOTHING STAYS BURIED last year, that I knew I wanted to request THE GUILTY DEAD. Tracy did not let me down! The book opens with a murder that has been staged as a suicide and each storyline that begins unspooling from here has a connection in some way to the murder victim, Gregory Norwood. The Norwood family has been through the ringer, with a murder holding a family connection in the past, the loss of Trey, the son, last year, and now the death of the father. It seems that each of these deaths has something in common and now along with Detectives Gino and Magozzi, the reader is left to piece together the connections. The chapters are brief and typically contain a cliff hanger of sorts that drives the reader to continue reading, however, the next chapter you read is likely coming from another angle of the book. Before you know it you’ve devoured 100 pages in one sitting. The writing is so fluid that you are easily swept up into the crimes and their outcomes. THE GUILTY DEAD is an addictive, fast-paced crime fiction read that will leave you wanting more from your new or old favorite characters!

A special thank you to Crooked Lane Books for providing me a free review copy! show less

Wow, wow and wow. The Monkeewrench crew is back albeit in a diminished capacity. Wait, that didn’t sound quite right. They are all still there, Harley Davidson, Grace MacBride and her dog Charlie, Roadrunner and the perfectly coiffed Annie Belinsky and while they are kept busy with a potential terror attack on Minneapolis this story really focuses on the crime solving ability of homicide detectives Gino Rolseth and Leo Magozzi.

This book leaves out nothing: bad guys who are nasty bad but blend in so well; detectives who banter away the hardness of the job, the everyday work guy who has to make a judgement call and makes the smallest of mistakes; the politically inclined who try to wield and control the power; the very wealthy who are show more so very damaged; murder and more murder; scary twists and false starts, and they all go boom. Wow, wow and wow.

Within the carnage I found a few prized thoughts to share:
But what can a detective, or anyone ever hope for but a “perfect moment in an imperfect world.”
“….every child had a grand destiny: it was only life’s circumstances that whittled down the options once it was born.”

This is such a winning series – more please.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a copy. show less

I was happy to see that this series would be continued after the unfortunate death of one of this mother & daughter writing team. Traci did her mother proud with this writing.

There were two plots running throughout this story and that keeps you constantly guessing what was truly happening. In addition to the crime and suspense, there is the appearance of another “little monkeewrench”. Anyone that has read any of this series already loves the characters and more than likely finds it difficult to choose a favorite. Personally I like Charlie the dog. As with all of the previous books there were plenty of twists and turns as well as subterfuge and surprises. It was an easy, fast paced read. I would recommend this series to anyone that show more loves crime fiction show less

It appears I'm growing tired with this series. I know authors need to cater a little bit to new readers but the relationship between Harley and Roadrunner in this book is ridiculous, like they barely know each other and have to man-splain things to each other just so new readers will understand what's going on. The technology involved is very briefly explained, which is fine with me. The daughter half of this writing duo can still tell a good story with humor but I preferred Grace when she was wary of everyone and I'm not looking forward to a baby entering the Monkeewrench crew. Time for me to move on!

It has been quite a long while since I have read a Monkeewrench book. I used to read them pretty regularly. I don't know what happened as I did enjoy the books that I read. After finishing this book, I will make sure to not let long periods of time lapse between books. It was like I hadn't really left. Instantly, I was able to jump right into this book with no problems. The characters embraced me as did I to them.

Magozzi and Rolseth make good partners. They work very well together. Then, there is Magozzi and Grace's relationship. I like them together. They made a good couple. Yet, I like that their relationship did not distract from the main storyline. Which was full of a good steady pace with plenty of action. There wasn't really any show more down time, thus I really liked this factor. It was made better because of the characters. Fans of this series will enjoy this latest offering in this series. show less

FBI Agent Dahl contacts Harley for a meeting, the FBI cyber unit is unable to cope with tracking terrorists, they need software and asks if Monkeewrench could help. Harley knows that Agent Dahl is aware he is risking his career by asking this, and so tells him they have already been building a software to help law enforcement in this area and the beta test is set to begin. At the beta testing of Monkeewrench’s new software they are alerted to terror chatter that points to a bombing of City Hall They quickly notify Dahl and Shafer and plan to meet to update Special Agent Shafer of the software.

Meanwhile Leo and Gina are called out to the site of a “suicide”, the suicide of Gregory Norwood, Minnesota businessman and philanthropist. show more When walking through the house and estate, Gino and Leo are thinking this is a crime scene not a suicide. They will wait for the forensics and coroner’s report. Then they will begin their investigation.

Grace is 8 months pregnant and Leo is sleep deprived as their two cases start to come together.

Excellent read, that is fast-paced and with characters that are real to me in a story that made my heart pound. Recommended. show less

Gregory Norwood, Minnesota's most beloved philanthropist, is found holding a smoking gun, dead, one year after his son's death. But this is no suicide, and Grace MacBride aims to prove it.

This story is mostly about Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth investigating with only a little help from the Monkeewrench team and their computer expertise. The story is a bit complicated with numerous characters but it’s lively and fast-paced. There’s a sprinkling of humor throughout. It was an enjoyable read.