I liked this short mystery story more than I anticipated considering that I am unfamiliar with the series. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that it is set in Boston with some excursions into a suburb I know well!

Kirsten Potter did a good job narrating. I will have to try some more D.D. Warren books... ( )

Not a big fan of novellas, but I liked this one better than most. Boston detective DD Warren is convinced by her husband to speak to mystery writers at a symposium. She recounts a case involving a dead man in a seedy hotel, missing a leg, which is discovered on a bed of dry ice in the bathroom. The dead guy had a long time obsession with this leg, which he felt was not his. Weird. ( )

This was a short story about one of my favourite detectives, D.D. Warren. D.D. is on vacation with her husband Alex and his idea of fun is to be a guest speaker at a Police Academy Writer's Conference. He warns her that the bloodier and gorier the crime, the higher the interest level. Alex heads off to his blood spatter workshop and leaves D.D. on her own to present to a roomful of wishful and accomplished writers about "The Insider's Guide to Policing Procedures. She has only 50 minutes to teach them something and to hold their attention. She is extremely nervous, but once she starts, the crowd is on the edge of their seats. I loved the name dropping of Karin Slaughter and Kathy Reichs, another two of my favourite authors. D.D. tells them that she is going to tell them about one of her most interesting cases. She will tell them 3 truths and a lie and they need to figure out what the lie is. The case she describes is very peculiar and the crown thinks various things are lies because they are so far-fetched. It involves a hooker, drugs and a dismembered leg. This was a highly entertaining crime and her delivery of the facts kept me guessing.

This is just a small glimpse into the life of D.D. Warren, Boston detective extraordinaire. It adds another slice to her character. I thoroughly recommend that you read any and all of the D.D. Warren books or for that matter, any of Lisa Gardner's books. There is also a sneak peak at her next D.D. Warren novel coming out in February.

I received a copy of this book from the Mysteries and Crime Thrillers Blog in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Boston Homicide Detective D.D. Warren faces a terrifying challenge--standing in front of an audience of thriller writers and educating them about the realities of police work for an entire fifty-minute class. They are ravenous. They are bloodthirsty. Most police work is relatively dull.

So D.D. reaches deep into her bag of tricks, and pulls out one of her twistiest cases. It features drugs, prostitution, a dead body, and a severed leg.

A severed leg packed in dry ice.

And security cameras show no one entering or leaving the motel room until the night manager checked and found the body, and vomited. And then called the police.

This is a short story, and Gardner keeps it moving fast, and builds the tension with surprising twists and well-used detail. It may help a bit to have some prior familiarity with the larger series, but it's not vital. What's key here is the puzzle, and it's very well-done.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

I do love Lisa Gardner’s novel, but didn’t care for this novella. Although it’s part of a series, it wouldn’t really matter if the reader hadn’t read previous ones, doesn’t follow a sequence. I just wasn’t engaged at all ( )