Into the Night: Volume 2

Sarah Bailey

Dec 2018 · Hachette+ORM

About this eBook

After the shocking murder of a high-profile celebrity, Gemma Woodstock must pull back the layers of a gilded cage to discover who among the victim's friends and family can be trusted--and who may be the killer.

Troubled and brilliant, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock finds herself lost and alone after a recent move to Melbourne, brokenhearted by the decisions she's had to make. Her new workplace is a minefield and Detective Sergeant Nick Fleet, the partner she has been assigned, is uncommunicative and often hostile. When a homeless man is murdered and Gemma is put on the case, she can't help feeling a connection with the victim and his lonely, isolated existence.

Then Sterling Wade, an up-and-coming actor filming his breakout performance in a closed-off city street, is murdered in the middle of an action-packed shot, and Gemma and Nick have to put aside their differences to unravel the mysteries surrounding the actor's life and death. Who could commit such a brazen crime? Who stands to profit from it? Far too many people, and none of them can be trusted. Gemma can't imagine a pair of victims with less in common--and yet as Gemma and Fleet soon learn, both men were keeping secrets that may have led to their deaths.

With riveting suspense, razor-sharp writing, and a fascinating cast of characters, Into The Night proves Sarah Bailey is a major new talent to watch in the world of literary crime fiction.

Ratings and reviews

Full disclosure - I haven't read the first Gemma Woodstock novel, so I don't know if that would've made a difference in my opinion, but from what I saw of her here, I can't imagine that I'd like her any better. That, in a nutshell, sums up my problem with this story. I never warmed up to Gemma. Flawed characters can work really well in this type of story, but there needs to be something, some redeeming quality to make the reader want to know more about them. I didn't find that with this character. In fact, her continued bad decisions come back on her, which I would expect to happen. The problem is she doesn't learn from them, and it all just becomes irritating. The mystery is a bit too easy to figure out, but still could've made for an okay procedural if not for the repetition and conversations that go nowhere. Other than a few instances where I was left a bit confused by things mentioned - that I assume are from the first book - I was able to follow this one on its own. It just didn't hold my interest like a mystery should have and I found it a little too easy to set aside. To sum it up, what I found here didn't encourage me to want to check out that first book or to follow this series any further.

About the author

Sarah Bailey was born in Melbourne, Australia, where she has lived all her life and currently resides with her two young sons. She has a degree in journalism and a career in advertising. She is currently a partner at the creative agency Mr. Smith.