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TLC Review: All the Broken Girls by Linda Hurtado Bond

Title: All the Broken Girls
Author: Linda Hurtado Bond
Year published: 2022
Category: Adult fiction (thriller)
Pages: 368 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5

Location: (my 2022 Google Reading map)USA (FL)

SummaryWhen one falls

Crime reporter Mari Alvarez was never able to solve her mother’s murder ten years ago. But when a woman is gunned down on the doorstep of her West Tampa neighborhood, Mari can’t shake the eerie sense of connection.

The others will break

Now there have been two murders in two days. Each crime scene awash with arcane clues―and without a trace of DNA from the killer. And for each victim, a doll. The first is missing an eye. The second is missing a heart. But are these clues leading to the killer…or messages for Mari?

Unless she plays the game...

Caught up in a maelstrom of Old-World superstition, secrets, and ties to her own past, Mari has only one option. Put the puzzle together before someone else dies―even if it destroys her career. But there’s no escaping the hungry spider’s web when it’s been made just for you…

Review: The fact that the author is a journalist shows in this well written thriller. The main character is a TV journalist and I felt like her experiences, what she knows, and the language she uses were authentic. In addition, the action takes place in West Tampa, Florida in the heart of the Cuban-American community, which is where the author lives. Both of these elements mean that the details are really good. The feel of the neighborhoods was really well done, the many references to Santaría, and the relationships among the characters were powerful.

There is also a lot of personal emotion in this novel. While it's a thriller and we're trying to figure out who the bad guy is (and there are many potential candidates), there is also an element that runs throughout the book of the impact of murder on a community and the surviving family members. How do they deal with tragedy and what happens to those left behind? I liked this aspect in particular as it just didn't focus on the killing. I think this novel is a good addition to the ranks of the many thrillers I've been reading.

Challenges for which this counts:
  • Literary Escapes--Florida


Reviews:

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