This was better than the last few books in the series have been – although that’s not saying much, to be honest. The writing and characters finally matured a little bit. Grandma Mazur had some depth rather than being the usual source of zingy one-liners and comic relief. Stephanie’s mum and dad were involved and more three-dimensional. And while Steph is always complaining about her job, it was more realistic this time, and she seemed to be taking it a bit more seriously.

Ranger and Morelli were the same as always, no surprises there. Most of the book was predictable, with very few surprises and only a few spots with some intensity. Overall, the entire book was more serious and thoughtful, which was different for this series but a nice change from the last few supernatural crazy books.