Nancy Mehl's "Mind Games"

FBI profiler Kaely Quinn, daughter of a convicted serial killer, tries to stay out of the spotlight, but it's difficult with a reporter dogging her steps. When the reporter receives a threatening letter to Kaely, written in the form of a poem and hinting at multiple murders to come, they aren't sure whether to believe him, until a man fitting the description of the first victim in the poem is found dead. Then the hunt is on to find the killer before more people--and ultimately Kaely herself--meet their intended fates.

Mind Games is right--let's just say, it's not only the serial killer trying to mess with people's heads. There were some serious surprises in this story . . . I can only assume that they will be addressed in books to come, because that is a terrible (but brilliant) thing to drop on an unsuspecting reader.

I liked Kaely better than some other heroines with super-traumatic pasts that I've read--she's got major issues (no surprise), which aren't neatly wrapped up in the end, but there's hope on the horizon. And she wasn't cold, or completely holding everyone at arm's length; just incredibly wary with her trust, and with good reason. I like that Noah was careful in how he handled working with her and not letting his frustrations get the better of him; he's a good guy. I look forward to seeing him grow. And I enjoyed the team, particularly their boss, Solomon. It really felt like a high-profile, multi-agency case, where there were a lot of people working together (not just the main characters), and the majority of which were intent on catching a killer, not encouraging interdepartmental squabbles. Which is as it should be.

I was a little disappointed to have guessed the killer right away (not that I was without doubts on occasion). Though to be fair, my logic was based on experience with mystery novels rather than clues, which did ultimately point to the killer, but the author was pretty crafty in how she laid them out. It was still a satisfying mystery and clever suspense.

I'm glad to see there's another book already on the horizon, because this one demands a sequel, or more. (Not to say the case doesn't get solved--it does. But Mind Games.)

Thank you Bethany House and Goodreads for a free book. I was not required to write a review, and all opinions are my own.

Kaely Quinn Profiler
1. Mind Games
2. Fire Storm 
3. Dead End (spring 2020)