I was excited to get my hands – and eyes – on Carolyn Arnold's newest book and newest series when it was first published. However, due to a writer’s – or rather a book blogger’s block (I didn’t know that was a thing till I experienced it!) I’m over a year late in posting my review.

I was unable to post reviews for over 6 months, due to what I’m calling bookblogger’s block. I had received an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) of The Little Grave but only managed to sit down and write the review a year-and-a-half later.

So without further ado, I’d like you to meet Carolyn Arnold's The Little Grave, the first book in The Amanda Steele Series.

Synopsis

Detective Amanda Steele stops just inside the doorway, recognizing the victim’s face instantly. He seems so vulnerable in death; soft, human, even harmless. But she can never forget the evil he has inflicted. Her heart is hammering as she remembers her precious daughter, with her red curls and infectious laugh, and how she was lowered into that little grave…

It’s been five years since Detective Amanda Steele’s life was derailed in the path of an oncoming drunk driver. The small community of Dumfries, Virginia, may have moved on from the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter, but Amanda cannot. When the driver who killed her family is found murdered in a motel room, she can’t keep away from the case.

Fighting her sergeant to be allowed to work an investigation with such a personal connection to her, Amanda is in a race to prove that she can uncover the truth. But the more she digs into the past of the man who destroyed her future, the more shocking discoveries she makes. And when Amanda finds the link between a silver bracelet in his possession and the brutal unsolved murder of a young exotic dancer, she realizes she’s caught up in something darker than she ever imagined and suspects that more girls could be in danger.

But as Amanda edges toward the truth, she gets closer to a secret as personal as it is deadly. Amanda has stumbled upon a dangerous killer, and she must face some terrible truths in order to catch this killer – and save his next victim as she couldn’t save her own daughter…

A gripping, page-turning thriller full of mystery and suspense. Perfect for fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Regan and Robert Dugoni.

Book Review of The Little Grave

The Little Grave by Carolyn Arnold is the first book in a new mystery thriller series published by Bookouture. And it's amazing!

If there was ever a thrilling opening worth remembering, it’s Arnold’s opening lines for The Little Grave. The story opens with:

“Five and a half year ago, January

Her past didn’t sit and stay like an obedient dog. It was more a wolf that stalked her every move, breathed down her neck, and inched closer with every passing second.”

The Little Grave is a multi-layered thriller. Amanda Steele is an FBI agent who investigates murders. But her life has been a mess for the past five-and-a-half years after she lost her daughter in a tragic accident.

Then a call arrives for a murdered victim. An lo! And behold! It’s the man who had been drunk behind a wheel and claimed her family’s lives!

Amanda shouldn’t be investigating this crime. It’s too personal. And because it’s too personal, Amanda joins the investigation for as long as she can.

“She didn’t see Palmer as human–he was the monster, the boogieman who had taken her family.”

While it’s a good riddance that Chad Palmer, the man who had killed her daughter, was dead. The investigation leads to a ton of questions and many suspects, some even hitting closer to home.

book quote from The Little Grave by Carolyn Arnold. The quote reads “Could the only thing that had kept Palmer alive been the fact he was behind bars?”

Like most mysteries, we don’t see a lot of character development in The Little Grave. But we do get to see Amanda from all sides, not just her police-side. We see the darker side, where Amanda isn’t the law-abiding citizen she should be.

“Tendrils of anger twisted through her, squeezing, gripping, like vines to brick, working to pry the stone loose and destroy the structure.”

There many things I enjoy about Carolyn Arnold’s mystery thrillers:

- They read like a CSI TV show but they go deeper into the characters’ lives and motivations

- The characters are deep, flawed, and realistic

- Carolyn’s word choice and imagery is vivid

- The author plays on the reader’s senses and emotions

And The Little Grave ticks each of those boxes.

“Amanda’s head pounded like a tiny man with no sense of rhythm was playing steel drums in her skull.”

Another reason why The Little Grave is such a beautiful but painful story is that hits really close to home for the main character Amanda Steele.

Overall rating for The Little Grave by Carolyn Arnold: 5 stars.

For more book quotes from Carolyn Arnold’s The Little Grave and other books, follow me on Instagram.

Other books by Carolyn Arnold reviewed on the Nadaness In Motion blog: