For software pioneer Martin Post, the third richest man in America, his private compound on the Florida coast is a sunny no-man’s-land separating his family from the rest of the world. Now, expert forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies of the renowned Locard Institute have been summoned to its dark side.
Martin’s pregnant daughter, Ashley, had ventured on a day trip in her motorboat into the Gulf, only to wash up dead on a nearby shore. Although the local coroner determined her death was an accident, Ellie and Rachael soon confirm Martin’s gravest fear: His daughter was murdered. Was it a kidnapping gone wrong? Or something even more brutal? Ashley and her husband, Greg, had been working working with Martin on a revolutionary new defense initiative for the US military – could espionage have played a part in her death? Martin believes Greg is behind the murder, and the spoiled charmer does set off Rachel’s deception radar. If the widower didn’t kill Ashley himself, why isn’t he more upset that she’s dead?
Drawn into the Posts’ increasingly dangerous family dynamic, Ellie and Rachael must work hard and fast to discover what secrets are buried at the heart of the crime. Because the churning waters of the Gulf are getting rougher. And soon, Ellie and Rachael themselves will be in danger of getting crushed in their depths.
THE DEEPEST KILL (A Locard Institute Thriller Book #3) by Lisa Black is another exciting crime thriller in the Locard Institute series featuring two female forensic experts who unite to solve deadly crimes from all over the country. While this is the third book in the series, they can all be read as standalone stories, but you continue to learn more about each of the main protagonists’ personal lives and backgrounds in each and I have enjoyed reading them in published order for that reason.
Dr. Rachel Davies and Dr. Ellie Carr, from the Locard Institute travel to Florida when they are hired by software billionaire Martin Post. Post does not believe his daughter’s death was an accident even though that was the local M.E.’s determination. All the evidence points to the son-in-law who claims his innocence, but Rachel and Ellie continue to discover small inconsistencies. With each new discovery, Rachel and Ellie put themselves in the crosshairs of a killer who will stop at nothing to obtain their goals.
This is a crime thriller that pulled me in right from the start. The peril and suspense in the plot continue to escalate throughout with plenty of twists and red herrings. The clues Rachel and Ellie discovered along the way were intriguing and display the ingenuity of the author’s experience in the forensics field. Intertwined with the crime thriller plot were revelations from Ellie’s past, both personal and about her mother’s death. I felt there was an excellent balance between character development, crime plot, and description of forensics in this addition to the series.
I highly recommend this exciting crime thriller, the entire Locard Institute Thriller series, and this author.
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About the Author
Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.
She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.
For software pioneer Martin Post, the third richest man in America, his private compound on the Florida coast is a sunny no-man’s-land separating his family from the rest of the world. Now, expert forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies of the renowned Locard Institute have been summoned to its dark side.
Martin’s pregnant daughter, Ashley, had ventured on a day trip in her motorboat into the Gulf, only to wash up dead on a nearby shore. Although the local coroner determined her death was an accident, Ellie and Rachael soon confirm Martin’s gravest fear: His daughter was murdered. Was it a kidnapping gone wrong? Or something even more brutal? Ashley and her husband, Greg, had been working working with Martin on a revolutionary new defense initiative for the US military – could espionage have played a part in her death? Martin believes Greg is behind the murder, and the spoiled charmer does set off Rachel’s deception radar. If the widower didn’t kill Ashley himself, why isn’t he more upset that she’s dead?
Drawn into the Posts’ increasingly dangerous family dynamic, Ellie and Rachael must work hard and fast to discover what secrets are buried at the heart of the crime. Because the churning waters of the Gulf are getting rougher. And soon, Ellie and Rachael themselves will be in danger of getting crushed in their depths.
***
Elise’s Thoughts
The Deepest Kill by Lisa Black brings back forensic investigators Dr Ellie Carr and Dr Rachael Davies of the Locard Institute. Once again readers get a glimpse into the forensic world as Black uses her own experiences as a forensic scientist to intertwine information within the riveting plot and readers will not be disappointed.
Carr and Davies are asked by billionaire Martin Post to investigate his pregnant daughter’s death. Ashley had taken out her boat into the Florida Gulf, and just disappeared until her body washed ashore. Both scientists determine that her death was not accidental but murder. Her husband, Greg, is considered the number one suspect. But because Greg, Ashley, and Post were working on a revolutionary defense initiative for the US military, some think that foreign agents might be involved. Thus, FBI agents Michael Tyler and Luis Alvarez are brought into the investigation.
Also adding to the storyline is the coast setting and the weather that appear as a character. Not to mention that Black gives more details of Ellie’s backstory whose mother died under suspicious circumstances and her death was also ruled drowning.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Lisa Black: Throughout the series readers will discover more of Ellie’s history that is relevant to what is happening. This story popped into my head as I was thinking about defense contracting and the Laci Peterson case. I describe it as the Laci Peterson case if her father was Bill Gates, although I never worked on it. I did watch a documentary about it.
EC: Do you like switching off from featuring as the main character, Ellie, and Rachel?
LB: I want both in the story. It depends on what needs to be done because their expertise is in different areas. It depends on what they are investigating. If it deals with pathology and anatomy Rachel will be featured more, but if it is about fingerprints then Ellie will be featured. It depends on what is called for with the investigation.
EC: Deception, detection, and body language are mentioned. Does it play a role in forensic analysis?
LB: Not really, it was what a detective does. But a class was offered for the police officers in detection and deception. I was allowed to attend it. It was a two-day class which I found interesting. I got a lot of ideas for this story. For example, what was told about people’s feet. I put a scene in about it. People know that they should cover their faces, but a person’s feet can betray them. There must be a baseline that should be interpreted.
EC: Did the setting play a role in the story? I laughed when I read what you said about your husband and moving to Florida.
LB: I live in Florida now. I have accepted the move he wanted to make, but still would rather have stayed where I was because I loved Cleveland where my job and family are. I wanted to present how I felt when I first came here. It was a shock. I hoped to have a little fun presenting an outsider’s view of Florida. There are hurricanes, and in summer it is hotter than heck and very humid. Florida has two seasons, raining season and not raining season.
EC: What about the boat scenes?
LB: When I was a child in Lake Erie, we had a boat, so I am comfortable around boats. I love boats. This was also inspired by the Laci Peterson case because they think the husband dumped her body in the water.
EC: You put in the forensics about the water?
LB: Yes, being in the water changes a body. The way it decomposes and what happens to it after death. A body is affected greatly after being submerged. This helped me to keep the mystery going.
EC: Was the father’s dead wife presented like a hologram?
LB: No. I was basing it on smart phones, Alexa, and Siri, all the artificial types. He just gave it his wife’s name so when he asked a question he referred to her name.
EC: How would you describe Ellie?
LB: Someone who wants to fit in, committed, athletic, and does not handle change very well. She does have insomnia. Having to move around a lot as a child has made her a little insecure. Having her adjust to new living situations made her crave stability. She was always raised by aunts, uncles, and cousins.
EC: How would you describe the husband, Greg?
LB: Energetic, amiable, rich, shallow, and arrogant. Picture a spoiled frat boy. He is used to women giving him what he wants because he is cute and the rest of the world giving him what he wants because he is rich. He was born rich.
EC: What about your next book?
LB: It is titled Not Who We Expected. The plot has this aging rock star trying to make a comeback. He calls the Locard Institute because of his missing daughter and is very worried after the boyfriend turns up dead.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
The Locard Institute is a state-of-the-art forensic research center where experts from around the world come together to confront and solve the world’s most challenging and perplexing crimes. When Dr. Ellie Carr arrives for her first day as an instructor at the prestigious facility, the buildings glimmer amid the brilliant fall foliage on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. But within hours a colleague, Dr. Barbara Wright, is found dead on the floor of a supply closet. Her death appears to be an accident—but Ellie and her new supervisor, Dr. Rachael Davies, suspect a more sinister explanation.
A young woman attending a professional training program then disappears, only to be found in a gruesome tableau. Other than their link to the Institute, there seems to be no connection between the student and Dr. Wright. Although forensic traces are elusive, Ellie and Rachael are determined to find the bizarre link between the violent and diverse deaths.
As reporters shatter the privacy of Ellie’s new workplace, she searches old files and finds evidence of a crime that feels much too personal. But who, among those dedicated to justice, could be the threat? No matter how skilled she and Rachael may be in uncovering the truth, they may not be able to prevent a well-schooled killer from striking again.
WHAT HARMS YOU (Locard Institute Thriller Book #2) by Lisa Black is a gripping forensic crime thriller and the second book in the Locard Institute Thriller series featuring two dynamic female forensic experts. Even though this is the second book in this series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
Dr. Ellie Carr has arrived for her first day teaching at the prestigious Locard Institute on the Chesapeake Bay and within hours the teacher she is replacing is found dead. What appears to be a terrible accident leaves Ellie and her new supervisor, Dr. Rachel Davies, unsettled. As they investigate their colleague’s death, a female Suadi national attending the professional training program goes missing and is soon discovered dead.
Ellie and Rachel must now work to discover if there is a link between the two diverse deaths among the professional law enforcement agents attending this training program and discover who is responsible before he or she strikes again.
I love when I get to read a new Lisa Black thriller and learn more about forensic techniques besides watching her main characters put them to use in solving crimes. This story introduces the reader to the halls of the Locard Institute, right along with Ellie and where the crimes take place. I enjoyed the interactions between Ellie and Rachel who, while at different phases of their careers, still work well as colleagues and recognize each other’s strengths. The murders and mysterious killer keep the tension high and the reader on the edge of their seat. The scientific analysis Ellie and Rachel use for solving crimes as well as teaching their program attendees is woven throughout the plotline without slowing the pace and I always find highly interesting.
I highly recommend this exciting crime thriller in this series and all the forensic thrillers by this author.
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About the Author
Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.
She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.
RED FLAGS (Locard Forensic Institute Thriller Book #1) by Lisa Black is an intense and intricately plotted first book in a new forensic thriller series featuring two female forensic experts and the Locard Forensic Institute.
FBI analyst Dr. Ellie Carr from the D.C. Evidence Response Team is called to the scene of a kidnapping. When she arrives, it is to find the missing baby belongs to her cousin, Becca who Ellie has been estranged from for many years. What Ellie discovers is her cousin is now a part of a D.C. power couple of lobbyists on the verge of making millions when their friend’s kid focused on-line gaming company goes public. Ellie has been all over the house and can find no evidence of a break-in.
Becca’s husband, Hunter hires the Locard Forensic Institute and Dr, Rachel Davies. Ellie is reluctant at first to work with Rachel, but in working the kidnapping, they begin to trust each other. As more children are kidnapped, Ellie and Rachel are in a race to discover who the kidnappers are and why they are focusing on the children of the gaming company involved in a Senate hearing on children’s’ on-line gaming regulations.
I always enjoy Ms. Black’s intelligent main characters and her detailed explanations of different types of forensic science. There is a lot going on in this book and while some is extremely interesting, especially the chat and ad regulations in children’s on-line gaming, there are times when the information, especially about IPOs slowed down the pace a bit. The plot is a web of several interconnecting yet different motives and crimes that all come together in an ending that surprised me. Ellie and Rachel’s professional relationship is realistically portrayed and paced throughout from standoffish and suspicious to understanding and the start of a friendship and partnership.
I am looking forward to following both Ellie and Rachel in their personal lives and on their future investigations in this new series.
***
About the Author
Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.
She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black launches a pulse-pounding new series with a taut, compelling forensic thriller that introduces Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies, who must combine their expertise to solve deadly crimes . . .
When D.C. crime scene analyst Dr. Ellie Carr is called to investigate the heartrending case of a missing baby, she’s shocked to discover that the child’s mother is her own cousin. Close during their impoverished childhoods, Ellie and Rebecca eventually drifted apart. Rebecca is now half of a Washington power couple, and she and her wealthy lobbyist husband, Hunter, have been living a charmed life in an opulent mansion—until their infant son is taken.
“Every contact leaves a trace.” That’s the basic principle of forensic science followed by pathologist Dr. Rachael Davies. A reluctant Ellie is teamed with Rachael, employed by Hunter to help with the investigation. Rachael is assistant dean at the prestigious Locard Forensic Institute, named in honor of the French criminologist who inspired the profession. But in this case, discovering where those traces lead quickly becomes a dangerous journey through a web of greed and deadly ambition.
At first antagonists, then allies, Ellie and Rachael race to find the baby alive and bring the kidnappers to justice. What seemed like a simple ransom grab reveals links to a lobbying effort to loosen regulations on a billion-dollar gaming empire. Unless they can piece together the evidence before the Senate hearing, Rebecca’s son—and others like him—will face an unthinkable fate . . .
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Elise’s Thoughts
Red Flags by Lisa Black combines a clever mystery with a forensic thriller. This first in the series introduces Dr. Ellie Carr, part of the FBI’s evidence response team, with Dr. Rachel Davies, a pathologist at the private forensics’ lab, Locard Institute. Having a forensic background herself, the author Black weaves her own professional experience into the plot, making it a realistic story.
Dr. Ellie Carr is called to investigate the vanishing of 4-month-old Mason Carlisle, who disappeared without a trace. The baby’s dad, Hunter, owns a lobbying firm, while the mother, Rebecca is a policy adviser to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ellie cannot believe it when she discovers that Rebecca is a cousin whom she was close with as a child but has not seen in more than fifteen years. Thinking that she should recuse herself, Ellie finds out that she is staying on the case. By leaving her in an official capacity she wonders if the FBI wants her to be a spy or a scapegoat since Rebecca and Hunter are suspects.
To make matters worse, Hunter decides to have Dr. Rachael Davies, a pathologist with the Locard Institute join in the investigation. At first, Rachael and Ellie were standoffish towards each other, but slowly a friendship develops as they begin to rely on each other. After the parents of Hunter’s co-workers also have their children kidnapped it becomes a race against time to bring back the children alive. It seems that the Carlisles’ professions and their involvement in a gaming industry become the clues from which Rachael and Ellie begin to unwind the investigation.
As the pages are turned the tension rises. The investigation is interesting and the detail about forensics is a bonus. The twists offer different red herrings to keep readers guessing.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Is this the first in a new series?
Lisa Black: I planned this as a series. For my other series, I thought to write one book and then it grew into a series when the publisher wants more. This one I planned it so my characters would have a lot of background, direction, personal issues, and a set-up where they would not be tied up in one city since I love to travel. My past two series were set in Cleveland.
EC: What about the Locard Institute?
LB: A private institute that does training, research and private cases regarding forensic cases, anything from ballistics to DNA analysis. They can go to different places including internationally. They investigate extortion, kidnapping, and murder. I like to have different crimes occur. I am fascinated with white collar crime like extortion, con men, and fraud.
EC: How would you describe Ellie?
LB: She is a crime scene specialist. But in this case, she finds out that part of this very wealthy family includes her cousin with whom she lived for a time when she was young. They were as close as sisters. She is very much at loose ends. After her mother died, she lived with her grandmother, then an aunt/uncle with some cousins, and was moved to other aunts/uncles. She was always loved and well cared for, but a lot of moving around for a child, forcing her to act like a guest. Now she is recently divorced with her ex-husband as her boss. Ellie is detailed, does not like to make waves, and is not pushy. She tries to make herself invincible, not front and center.
EC: How would you describe Rachael, the assistant director of the Locard Institute?
LB: She is a lot more stable than Ellie. After her sister died, she and her mother are raising her 2-year-old nephew. Her life outside of her family is the Locard Institute. She is an observer, confidant, patient, tries to keep a neutral face, and smoother than Ellie in working with people.
EC: Did your professional experience help you to write these stories?
LB: As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, I have analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood, and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I am a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. Some organizations I belong to are the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. I know what happens at a crime scene, what realistically would happen. The police officer, the detective, the forensic personal, and the pathologist, each have a distinct skill. The FBI does cooperate with the local police, but there are jurisdictional issues.
EC: You explain the different emotions of victims?
LB: You are referring to this quote, “Victims could ping-pong back and forth between despair and seeming normality, sobbing with deep animal cries one minute and making a joke the next, transitioning through three extreme emotions in the span of one sentence.” There are all sorts of different responses of people in crime scenes. Sometimes they have a horrible scream. Two people in the same family in the same house can have different emotions. I went to a burglary once; the mother was sobbing like her heart was broken.
EC: On-line gaming plays a crucial role in this story? I thought of the Brad Paisley song, “online.”
LB: Yes. I thought how anyone can say anything on the Internet. A pedophile can be in a chat room pretending to be a fourteen-year-old. This is every mother’s worst nightmare. Now it is required for a parent to put all this personal information in so their child can play a game. I thought what is happening to all this information. Is it being data mined or is your child being targeted by advertising? Games are designed to keep children playing, literally addicting bordering on psychological manipulation. Children can buy accessories within this game like weapons or costumes. Actor Jack Black’s eight-year-old son ran up $7,000. The game itself is free, but it’s the in-app purchases that make the money. There are congressional hearings that try to come up with new regulations.
EC: Next book?
LB: The title is What Harms You, out next August. It is book two. The Locard Institute offers training for law enforcement personnel. The story has a serial killer going to this CSI School, the Locard Institute. The serial killer learns information so as not to get caught.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
EVERY KIND OF WICKED (A Gardiner and Renner Book #6) by Lisa Black is a fast-paced, intricately plotted addition to this forensic/police procedural thriller series set in Cleveland, Ohio featuring a female forensics expert and a male detective tied together by a dark secret. This series is best read in order due to the evolving character arc between the two main characters, but the crime plots in each book can stand alone.
A young man is found dead in the snow in the Erie Street Cemetery and Jack Renner is assigned to investigate with Maggie Gardiner on scene to look for any forensic evidence. Maggie’s ex-husband, Rick is assigned to investigate the death of a junkie in what appears to be an overdose by the Westside Market. At first, they are considered separate cases, but they begin to merge when both cases lead back to a pill-pushing doctor they are having difficulty finding.
When Maggie is called to the scene of a murdered woman connected to Rick’s case, she discovers a bloody fingerprint, and it belongs to Rick. Rick is missing and Maggie refuses to believe he could be involved in this murder. As Jack and Maggie investigate the several murders they find connections to a call-center scam operation as well as a Medicare scam. Maggie’s world is about to be changed forever.
This was such an exciting addition to the series! I could not put it down. You have two crime plots that at first do not seem connected and then Ms. Black merges them into one terrible criminal operation which was completely unexpected. Maggie faces personal emotional trauma during this story that was a complete surprise and then the ending through me for a complete loop. I love that this series is set in my hometown and I can visualize all the locations in the book.
This is definitely one of the best books in this series! I cannot wait for the next book. I highly recommend this series and author.
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About Lisa Black
Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.
She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.
