REPRISAL ROAD

Chicago Detective Joe Erickson arrives at an apartment where a young woman, an up-and-coming model, has been found murdered. Discovered at the scene are dead roses, along with a card reading "Sic semper scortilla," Latin for "thus always to bitches." A week later, another young woman, also a model, is found murdered in her apartment. Dead roses and a card with the same message are found at this scene as well. Who killed these women? And what is the significance of the dead roses and the card? With no clues as to the identity of the perpetrator, Joe and his partner begin an investigation that eventually leads them to disturbing revelations about what motivated the crimes and who was responsible.

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"Lynn-Steven Johanson creates a compelling cat-and-mouse murder mystery that sends two detectives on the chase of their careers...readers who delight in detective stories that are powerfully rendered will find the characterization, suspense, and puzzle make for compelling whodunit reading."

—D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"Two young women, both former high school classmates, are found brutally murdered, each with dead long-stem roses by their side. When Chicago police homicide detectives Joe Erickson and Sam Renaldo begin their investigation, they soon learn that two other classmates, one in Indianapolis and one in Milwaukee, have been murdered in a similar fashion. Were the women’s deaths the work of a random serial killer, or is there a darker reason in their past that connects them? And who is next? Detectives Erickson and Renaldo race against time to identify the killer before another body drops. Reprisal Road is a gripping police procedural that will keep the reader turning pages long into the night."

~ Gregory Stout, author of the award-winning Jackson Gamble Series

"In Reprisal Road, Lynn-Steven Johanson serves up an intriguing dish of red herrings, with a side order of meticulous police procedure. Detective Joe Erickson, with the help of his profiler lady friend, methodically follows every lead, determined to stop a murderer from killing again. And their dog is adorable!"

~ Kassandra Lamb, author of the C.o.P. on the Scene Mysteries