Flashpoint

Lynn Hightower

Oct 2015 · The Sonora Blair Mysteries Book 1 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A New York Times Notable Book: Cincinnati homicide detective Sonora Blair hunts a serial killer who’s playing with fire in Shamus Award–winning author Lynn Hightower’s chilling thriller

A single mother of two children and a police specialist with the Cincinnati Homicide Division, Sonora Blair is still awake in the middle of the night when the call comes in. Mark Daniels has been found in Mount Airy Forest handcuffed to the steering wheel of his car, doused with accelerant, and set on fire. As the hideously burned college student lies dying in the ER, he describes his killer: blond, female, and a total stranger.
 
But Mark may not have been the intended victim. Evidence points to a sexual fixation on his older brother, Keaton, a teacher currently separated from his wife. Then the murderer—who has been dubbed “Flash” by the media—calls Sonora one night, taunting and mocking her. As the investigation heats up, the harassment continues. The female psychopath knows intimate details about Sonora’s family and her past. As the criminal’s monstrous plan becomes chillingly apparent, Sonora must risk everything to corner a cunning killer.
 
Flashpoint is the 1st book in the Sonora Blair Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Ratings and reviews

She's a single mom with two children and an ulcer. She also carries a badge and gun, as she is a homicide detective. She is Sonora Blair. The victim is a young man who has evidently been abducted, shot, handcuffed to the steering wheel of his car, doused with gasoline and burned to death. The killer is a woman ... and she's done this before. Once Sonora and her team start investigating, she becomes a target. And the killer really gets serious when she thinks the brother of the young man she killed is interested in Sonora. Fearing for her family, Sonora is in a race to find out who and why. Terrific mystery with just a touch of romance. Tightly woven plot. Believable characters. No clues to the who and the why. Very well written. This is one series that I am definitely going to be following! 4.5 Stars My thanks to the author / NetGalley / Open Road Integrated Media who furnished a digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

About the author

Lynn Hightower grew up in the South and graduated from the University of Kentucky, where she studied creative writing with Wendell Berry and earned a journalism degree. She is the author of ten novels, including two mystery series, one featuring homicide detective Sonora Blair and the other featuring private investigator Lena Padgett. Flashpoint, the first Sonora Blair mystery, was a New York Times Notable Book. Satan’s Lambs, the first Lena Padget mystery, won the Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel. Hightower has also written the Elaki series of futuristic police procedurals, which begins with Alien Blues.

Hightower’s novels, which have been translated into seven foreign languages, have appeared on the Times (London) bestseller list and have been nominated for the Kentucky Literary Award, the Kentucky Librarians First Choice Award, and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, where she was named Creative Writing Instructor of the Year in 2012. The author lives with her husband in Kentucky.