REVIEW
The Wolf at the Door by Kate Wiley
Margaret Phalen FBI #2
~ Possible cold case murders on the Appalachian Trail has Margot and her team moving away from their usual cold case duties to find an active serial killer ~
What I liked: * That the book is able to standalone – I did not realize when I started reading that the lead character had a five-book series with her as a detective working in the SFPD before a spinoff series with her at the FBI was started. I had no trouble following the story.
* Margot Phalen: daughter of serial killer Ed Finch, skilled police detective, excellent interviewer of serial killers, traumatized by past events hinted at that were probably shared in previous books, in a committed relationship with Wex Fox
* Wes Fox: high school coach, left his job at the SFPD when Margot moved to the FBI, was accused of murder in a previous book and exonerated, understands and loves Margot
* The team that Margot works with
* The setting – have heard about the Appalachian Trail and admire those that have walked all of it
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* The police procedural aspects of the story
* That there was more than one murder/er and story thread to follow with one lingering for the next book or possibly more than one book
* That Margot and her team were able to solve the mystery of who the serial killer was and bring justice for the families of the survivors
What I didn’t like: * Thinking about how differently those that hunt and kill humans must think from the way I do
* The loss of innocent lives and the suffering some of them went through
* That I had a strong suspicion who the murderer was the first time they showed up on the page – and I was right
* That I was curious about Margot and her past and knew that the only way I could find out this information would be to find and read the previous books.
Did I like this book? Yes – but think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read all of the previous books Margot starred in
Would I read more in this series/books by this author? Maybe, if the blurb sounded interesting
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3-4 Stars
BLURB
When seven skeletons are unearthed along the Appalachian Trail, FBI Special Agent Margot Phalen thinks she already knows who put them there. Margot knows how predators hunt. As the daughter of one of America’s most notorious serial killers, she’s turned her dark past into a weapon, becoming the Bureau’s expert at getting inside the minds of monsters. Wyatt Holmes has been behind bars for a decade, convicted of hunting hikers like animals through the Tennessee wilderness. He claims wolves led him to his prey. Everyone thinks he’s insane and surely responsible for the newly discovered skeletons—until the bodies start telling a different story. The burial patterns are wrong. The timeline doesn’t fit. And as Margot ventures deeper into the wilderness where Holmes once stalked hikers, she discovers a horrifying truth: someone else is out there. This time, she isn’t the only one hunting—in fact, she’s become the target. A heart-pounding thriller that will leave you breathless. Perfect for fans of Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter and Gregg Olsen.
