When I first started reading this novel I thought I would hate it, and whilst some of the characters drove me mad the whole way through, it turned into an enjoyable read.

this was a really good read, with great characters and a great mystery. I overall enjoyed reading this and look forward to more from the author.

Excellent psychological thriller! It moved at a fast pace with twists and turns throughout! Well-developed characters and plot. Highly recommend!

On the Edge of Darkness is offensive and not a book I would recommend. The writing is media and I would recommend some editing.

Review for "On the edge of Darkness" by C. L. Avey.
Was available to read and review on NetGalley. Unsure if still available.

This book is about a detective who has a ten year old case come back to haunt him when victims with the same MO are being murdered. I got stuck into this book from the beginning and I found it very well written. I found the characters likeable and realistic as well as strong. I thought the storyline was excellent BUT unfortunately, for me, the killer was obvious from about half way if not before. However, i did still find that even after I had strong suspicions of the killer that the book still had some suspense filled moments. I also enjoyed that all loose ends were wrapped up nicely and although I suspected the killer I didn't suspect that explanation. I recommend this to fans of crime, murder, mystery, suspense and thrillers. I gave this book 4/5, only losing a star due to, for me, I just thought it could have been that bit better by not making the killer quite so obvious, again for me.

This is the best crime mystery novel I have read in the sense that I had no clue who the killer was until near the end, but I was under the impression that the daughter was going to be kidnapped sooner because of the blurb.

If you are interested in reading a book that will have you guessing until the end, then this is a book I would highly recommend.

For my full review: https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

4 out of 5 stars.

On the edge of darkness by C L Avery.
Over the past decade as a homicide detective with the Austin police department, Ransom Kidder has always nailed the bad guy. All of them that is, except one: the Travis Heights Slasher, who killed three people and then vanished without a trace ten years ago.

Now, from out of the blue, he's back, and the bodies are piling up. There's no shortage of forensic evidence, yet the knife-wielding monster somehow seems able to hide in plain sight—and always one step out of reach. A frantic Detective Kidder soon finds himself in a desperate race against time to find the sadistic killer before his own daughter becomes the next victim. Only thing is, he's looking in all the wrong places.
A fantastic read with some great characters. Loved Camille and Kidder. Didn't expect that. Lots of action. 5*.

Fast And Interesting Murder Mystery!

This fast paced book revolves around a homicide detective (Ransom Kidder) and his precious eighteen year old daughter who has lived with him for the past three years and is the center of his world outside of his busy and emotionally draining workload. Unexpectedly one morning his daughter reveals to Ransom that she is gay and moving out of their home and he cannot accept this information and they have a terrible argument that cannot be resolved. Then, the detective is called to a brutal and horrific crime scene of a young woman that clicks of the unsolved case from ten years ago that has never stopped haunting Ransom. DNA is found that leads to a suspect but then another murder happens, identical to the first crime scene while their main and only suspect is in their custody which means he couldn't have committed the 2nd murder but his DNA is found on this victim also.

This was a fun although dark mystery that I had solved early on but their were some twists that I had not solved so I was pleased with how the book successfully wrapped everything up by the end of the story. There were some offensive words and statements in the book but this was realistic as some people still think this way about homosexuality. The storyline does focus more on the relationship between father and daughter but there are other solid characters that keep the story moving and interesting. I would definitively read another book by C. L. Avery and would like to see a follow-up book for this detective.

I want to thank the publisher "Booksgosocial" and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC!

I have given a rating of 3 Unsub 🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!

In this, his second novel, C L Avery comes up with a compelling, not-easily-figured-out mystery with a clever resolution. Since “The Edge of Darkness” is a mystery novel before all other things, this is exactly where you want to be. Up to the last chapter, I was left scratching my head on how the details would come together. Having gone through a few hundred mysteries, that doesn’t happen much anymore and I really appreciated that.

The down side to this excellent mystery is that I was able to figure out who the killer was from early on. I didn’t have a clue how or why they did it, but I pegged them. I was also disappointed that the author didn’t take more time to elucidate the how and why of the killings. It was so clever, I would have liked it to be drawn out a little more and explored a little more carefully. I felt like the whole reveal at the end only lasted a few pages. It was the best part of the book and it just wasn’t allowed to shine.

The B plot involved a detective who is emotionally struggling (aren’t they always?). His relationship with his daughter has become deeply strained since she came out as gay. This was the part I found to be most problematic. The interactions between father and daughter sometimes seemed a bit two-dimensional. Det. Kidder fell for traps an experienced single father of a teenager girl and man who professionally reads people, just shouldn’t have fallen for. I also felt like his daughter, by the time she’s in peril, would not have kept hammering away, ignoring, and disregarding her police detective dad. Her survival instinct just never seemed to kick in. I also struggled with how ignorant Det. Kidder could be about homosexuality. It’s not that there aren’t people who share his same ideas, but I felt like he held notions a big city detective would have lost after 10+ yrs on the job.

This isn’t a great murder mystery novel, but it’s solid and enjoyable. I was left curious to see what further adventures Det Kidder would have, how his relationship with his daughter would proceed, and whether he found love in the last chapter. I would read sequels if they are written.

Predictable, trite and quite honestly, offensive.
Gay women being murdered, a detective whose daughter has come out to him and his response? Really REALLY OTT and quite honestly was less about the murder and the very predictable/rushed ending and more about bigotry. Of course, it exists, but it's representation here was just... unoriginal, uninspired and served only as a terrible backdrop for a story that might have been so much better, had it been handled in a better way.

Detective Kidder has an old unsolved case and the murderer seems to be back, murdering young gay women in a particularly nasty way. Kidder also has horrendous difficulty with his response to his 18 year old daughter who has finally told him that she is gay too. His response is totally over the top and much of the story deals with this relationship. I suppose that, sadly, there are such overly bigotted people out there but this went on for far too long. His excuses/reasons/responses are just so out of date. The murder story takes second place most of the time although it comes round in the end. Utterly predictable who the perpetrator was but an interesting and different quirk of biology brought in at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Homicide Detective Ransom Kidder has closed all of his murder cases .... all except one from 10 years ago. They called the killer the Travis Heights Slasher who killed three people and disappeared.

Until now.....

It looks like he's returned ... when the first body shows up, there is plenty of forensic evidence, but he seems to be hiding in plain sight.

And then there are more bodies ... all young women ... all who were gay. The killer turns his sights on Ransom taunting him by letter ... and then the threats begin. The killer has targeted Ransom's 18-year-old- daughter, who has just informed her father that she's gay and she's moving into her girlfriend's apartment.

How does he protect her when she is at odds with her father and mostly won't talk to him?

This is a crime fiction, with the emphasis being mainly on the Kidder father and daughter. His unwillingness to accept who and what she is leads to all kinds of arguments .... they never seem to change. The mystery is really a secondary telling. I guessed where it was going rather easily. Not a lot of great suspense and the ending seemed to be a bit rushed.

Many thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

3.5 STARS