Detective Leanne Everhart swore she’d never return to her hometown near Marfa but after her father’s death and with her brother needing support, she finds herself back in a town still fractured by a decades-old murder. When a Jane Doe is discovered at the edge of the desert, Leanne begins to suspect the new crime is tied to the wrongful conviction in that old case; and to multiple shelved cold cases involving unnamed women. As she digs deeper, she uncovers the possibility of a serial killer who has been hunting vulnerable women for twenty years.
I love Laura Griffin’s books. Romantic suspense is my jam, especially when I need a palate cleanser. I can always count on her for a strong mystery plot, a detective-driven storyline, and a romance with some spice. Plus, they’re almost always set in Texas, which I adore. That said, Innocence Road leaned much more heavily into the police procedural side than the romance.
Leanne was such a complicated character and honestly, that tracks, because I tend to love complicated cop characters. She’s carrying the weight of her dad’s legacy on her shoulders, which again tracks with my love for a complicated cop character. She back home, and now she’s working at her father’s old precinct trying to prove herself. Plus there is a man who clearly wants more, but she isn’t ready to let anyone in even if she can’t let him go. And then she stumbles into a case that’s bigger than anyone wants it to be and her to make life just a little more complicated.
I appreciated her grit. I appreciated how fiercely she wanted to do right by the women who had been murdered and shelved like afterthoughts. She was willing to cross lines, to put herself in a bad light, even to risk her own future because these women were people. They deserved justice. Even if there were consequences for her. Even if she didn’t make it out unscathed. And who better to look out for other women, than women.
The only thing I really wanted more of was the romance. In Griffin’s Texas-based series like The Texas Murder Files, each book balances suspense and romance beautifully. Here, the relationship felt more secondary, and I found myself wishing for deeper emotional development from the romance aspect, though we could get that if this turns into a series. It took me a little while to fully connect with where the story was headed, and Leanne was a bit frustrating at first, but peeling back her layers and understanding what made her tick made the journey worthwhile.
Overall, this was a strong police procedural with a compelling, flawed heroine and a haunting small-town atmosphere. Not my top Laura Griffin, but still an enjoyable read.
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Innocence Road is out now. Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
