blue journal

When one of Randi Conway’s psychotherapy patients is found dead of a gunshot wound, the investigation is turned over to Lieutenant Anthony Walker.

Formerly a New York City cop, Walker now serves on the police force of an affluent community in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  He lives among the privileged gentry, where he understands that appearances are often far removed from reality.  This certainly proves to be true in the death of Elizabeth Knoebel, when Walker discovers that she had been keeping a private journal entitled “SEXUAL RITES”.

In her diary, Elizabeth was recording the explicit details of her sexual adventures with various men, many of whom were married to the women in her therapy group.  Elizabeth was a predator bent on seducing and, in some instances, humiliating these men, obsessed with a perverse mission that Walker believes led to her murder.

As Walker uncovers the secrets of Elizabeth’s memoir, he becomes convinced that her killer is another of Randi Conway’s patients.

But which one?

 

Thanks to the author for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book in a new series by LT Graham (pen name of an undisclosed successful suspense writer). The subtitle is “A Detective Anthony Walker novel”,  hinting that he will continue to be the main character around which the stories will be structured. Graham has done a good job with this one, and I’ll probably look for the second book once it comes out.
The plot is simple: a manipulative woman named Elizabeth Knoebel is murdered, and there is a large cast of characters who are suspects. Her husband is cold and hard to read; her therapist is legally obligated to not disclose anything she’s learned through therapy; and it comes out that Elizabeth was vilified by the other members of her therapy group.
There is some salacious content in the form of a journal that Elizabeth was writing, and the plot revolves around these questions: who are the men (and women) that she seduced, and who hated her enough to kill her?
THE BLUE JOURNAL is a basic police procedural, no fancy words, minimal blood and gore…but lots of suspense and red herrings. All the characters look guilty at one point or another in this book which means the solution is not obvious until the end. Walker is an amiable enough guy, and his background gradually becomes revealed to the reader, making him somewhat of a sympathetic character. There are a few other characters who are perhaps destined to be regulars in this burgeoning series as well, such as the police chief, at odds with Walker’s detective work; and Walker’s sidekick Kovie.
The beleaguered therapist, Randi Conway, seems to have no other patients except her marriage counseling group—they barge in and out of her office at will, and at times she feels that she’s lost control of the therapy. It got annoying to me that she was in such control of her emotions, or perhaps it just seemed that way, compared to Elizabeth’s lusty and conniving behavior.
Graham’s writing style is competent; there are a few loose ends that are not tied up at the end of the book, but that really doesn’t detract from the book as a whole. I would have liked to learn more about Elizabeth’s motivation, why she was writing that journal, why she was playing the games that she did. Her character is killed within the first few pages, and is only mentioned in recollection. The reader mainly gets to know her via her own words, as parts of her journal are included here and there. The x-rated content of the diary seems to be in harsh juxtaposition to the rest of the writing.  I know that the author framed the story this way to give us some insight into Elizabeth’s character, but after the first few times the action was broken up to switch to a journal entry, it just became repetitious. That’s really the only complaint I have about THE BLUE JOURNAL.
All and all, a solid first outing from this mystery writer. We shall see if Graham can keep the momentum going with the next book. Want your own copy? You can pick it up [easyazon_link identifier=”1633880605″ locale=”US” nw=”y” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″]here[/easyazon_link].