Medusa Effect by A.J. Lape

Posted 3 August, 2021 by Heather in Blog, Book Review, Heather, Heather Book Review / 0 Comments

I received this book for free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Medusa Effect by A.J. LapeMedusa Effect by A.J. Lape
Series: Darcy Walker Investigations #4
on August 3, 2021
Genres: Adult, Crime, Humor, Mafia, Mystery, Contemporary, Suspense, Romance
Pages: 374
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
5 Stars

LAPD rookie Darcy Walker is back and entrenched in two crime thrillers that might kill her before walking a beat does.

Darcy Walker isn’t making enough bank to pay her bills. But delivering pizzas as a side hustle hits a snag when she finds her customer without a pulse. Problem is, the victim is Ugly Pizza’s biggest competitor, and her boss, Rollo, becomes a prime suspect.

Determined to clear his name when crimes from his past surface, life as a rookie soon goes high octane when she dodges gunfire in an active shooter incident at the Church to the Stars. Going against direct orders to leave the interrogation to the suits, Darcy uncovers shocking revelations that unearth a Hollywood scoop that is anything but holy. While chasing the truth in both investigations, she fends off a bounty on her own head, and the feeling somebody is trying to kill her too.

Is it someone connected to Rollo’s case? The church seeking payback? Or does a third party have an end game she doesn’t yet understand?

For fans of Stephanie Plum, Veronica Mars, Fortune Redding, and other mystery-thriller heroines, Medusa Effect will leave you laughing one minute…then hiding under your bed the next.

The Darcy Walker books are in the top three of my all time favorite series, and I anxiously await each new installment. Medusa Effect is the fourth book in the Darcy Walker Investigations series, featuring an older, somewhat wiser Darcy, yet she’s still spunky, resourceful, and uncontrollable when an unsolved mystery or death is dangled right in front of her. I love how Darcy befriends the strange, quirky people that are often overlooked or treated unfairly in society–not just because they can be useful to her in her job as a Los Angeles Police Department rookie cop, but because she truly cares about them.

Darcy’s strong suit has never been impulse control when it comes to her mouth or sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. And now that she’s graduated from the police academy and is on the night shift with her training officer, those things haven’t changed one bit. She still has a knack for stumbling upon dead bodies and insinuating herself into the resulting investigation, but now she’s in more danger since she’s getting beat up and shot at on the job as well as when she decides to do some undercover digging of her own.

In Medusa Effect, Darcy is neck deep in two investigations at once–unofficially, of course. One involves the murder of a rival pizzeria owner, and her side-hustle job of delivering pizzas for Rollo’s Ugly Pizza gives her the perfect way to sniff around to find leads and ultimately prove that her boss Rollo didn’t have anything to do with his competitor’s murder. There’s also a cult called Church To the Stars that is shady as hell, and when she finds out that her friend’s father is all in with the church–both monetarily and emotionally–she does some sleuthing on her own, striving to take down the slimy leader. But there’s a new drug in town called Pot of Gold, and she certainly never thought that she could find the source or how everything in Los Angeles is tangled in deception, lies, and danger when money is involved.

I give Medusa Effect a five out of five. I enjoy adult Darcy so much, as well as her boyfriend Dylan’s family. Dylan and Darcy’s relationship is a long distance one, with Dylan playing college football in Florida while she lives with his grandparents in California. Dylan was really present in this book, and their relationship is on solid ground–although Darcy always feels a bit shaky since they are so far apart. All of my favorite characters were here, from her father and sister to the head of one of the gangs to her informant back in Ohio. What I really love is how each character no matter how minor evolves and more about their past and present is revealed with each book. It’s hard to pick just one favorite thing, and A.J. Lape’s writing just sucks me into Darcy’s world from the very first page. This is a series where I want the next book right away, although it looks like I’ll have to wait until next year to get the next installment. Until then, I can just start reading all of the Darcy books over again. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mysteries with a great dose of humor and fantastic interpersonal relationships between the characters.

Find MEDUSA EFFECT

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play | BookbubGoodreads

About A.J. Lape

A. J. Lape is the author of the top-rated Darcy Walker Series, Detective Ruby Rivera Novella Series, and 15 Saddles Motor Cycle Club novellas. She lives in the unpredictable and chaotic weather of Cincinnati with her husband, two daughters, a dog, and hamster.

Graduating from the hills of Morehead State University with a Master’s degree in Communications, she double-majored in English and journalism but basically went to grad school because she wasn’t ready to grow up. A PI wannabe, she stops crime daily through her characters while adding a dose of hope, humor, faith, and edge-of-your seat thrills. If the FBI ever checks her computer, she may be wearing prison-orange due to the “wiki” articles she researches—all, of course, in the name of career research, insomnia, and straight-up boredom.

A perfect day for A. J. consists of writing in her favorite recliner, feeding her addiction to Coca-Cola, then lounging in her pajamas by 8PM. And sometimes a late night walk with her husband where she stares at the sky and contemplates the mysteries of the universe. She swears by two things: God is real, and so are aliens—and she hopes to one day be beamed up.

Connect with A.J. Lape

WebsiteTwitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub | Goodreads

 

Heather

The following two tabs change content below.
I'm a PhD chemist who loves sarcasm, music, and books-paranormal, mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, and romance. Most of my free time is spent at the martial arts studio these days--whether practicing Combat Hapkido or reading books while watching my son's Taekwondo classes, or even working up a sweat with Kickboxing for fun. Goodreads

Latest posts by Heather (see all)

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Divider

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge