| Title | : | Bone Canyon (Eve Ronin, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 287 |
| Publication | : | First published January 5, 2021 |
A catastrophic wildfire scorches the Santa Monica Mountains, exposing the charred remains of a woman who disappeared years ago. The investigation is assigned to Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a position that forces her to prove herself again and again. This time, though, she has much more to prove.
Bones don’t lie, and these have a horrific story to tell. Eve tirelessly digs into the past, unearthing dark secrets that reveal nothing about the case is as it seems. With almost no one she can trust, her relentless pursuit of justice for the forgotten dead could put Eve’s own life in peril.
Bone Canyon (Eve Ronin, #2) Reviews
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Bone Canyon (Eve Ronin #2)
by Lee Goldberg, Nicol Zanzarella (Narrator)
Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, is a twenty something who is the first to admit she has her job because she stomped on the heads of those who were more experienced and deserving of the job. Viral video fame got her where she is and she's not going to apologize for it. Now she's going to clean out the corruption in the department and she'll break the rules to do it. It's almost like rules don't apply to Eve and when she breaks them she seems to be able to get others to falsify whatever she needs to stay out of trouble. This doesn't sit well with me but I need to get over it because this is Eve's rodeo.
Straight off of desk duty, from her injuries incurred in the last book, Eve is hitting the ground running. Bones have been found, exposed due to all the damage from the Santa Monica Mountains wildfire. And then more bones are found. Something doesn't look right and Eve thinks she knows who is to blame. As she makes her way towards a resolution, she doesn't care about collateral damage. She'll have no regrets, no second thoughts, justice is the goal and that's all she cares about.
My favorite character continues to be her partner Duncan Pavone aka Duncan Donuts. This man hasn't seen or heard of a grease covered piece of food that he's not willing to devour. Food is his thing, all he ever thinks about, two hours is about the longest he's willing to go without other dose of grease. This guy knows how to scarf down the junkiest of the junk.
But, I cringe every single time Duncan mentions how many days he has to retirement. I'm sure every time he says that number it's another nail in his coffin. Hanging around with Eve is going to get him killed. Is his death what is going to finally give Eve a twinge of regret? I doubt it and I'm only guessing about Duncan's future but I'm thinking it doesn't look too bright.
Pub January 5, 2021
This is a Kindle Unlimited selection. -
This is a mystery book, and this book is the 2nd book in the Eve Ronin series. I loved the series Mr. Monk by Lee Goldberg, so I really wanted to try out another series written by Lee Goldberg. I have to say I really liked this series, and I will current to read this series. I loved the characters. The mystery part was good, and I love how Eve did not let anything to stop her from looking into what happen to the girls. I think the pacing in this book is good. This book had me not wanting to put it down, so I had to finish reading this book before going to bed. I have to say there is some hard topics covered in this book like (rape, murder, and Cops doing bad things), so please look into what topics is covered in this book before reading it if you get upset by reading hard to read topics. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Thomas & Mercer) or author (Lee Goldberg) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.
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BONE CANYON by Lee Goldberg is the second book in the Eve Ronin police procedural and crime thriller series and is set in California. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Homicide Detective Eve Ronin and her soon to retire partner Duncan Pavone are assigned a case where the charred remains of a woman who disappeared six years ago are revealed after a wildfire has devastated both plants and homes in the area. Eve is the youngest homicide detective in the LASD and she continues to have to prove herself worthy of the position. However, nothing is ever easy.
Eve is an energetic and compelling main character and definitely someone you can root for. She works tirelessly, makes a few rookie mistakes while learning her job, but has clear goals that influenced the plot. Her motivations seemed believable, with well-drawn and appropriate emotions. As a reader, we begin to understand how Eve’s past affects her actions and emotions on this case. Duncan’s character has more depth in this novel as well as some of Eve’s family members. While the case is not straight-forward, Eve and Duncan move forward with seeking justice. Who can Eve trust besides Duncan? What really happened to the woman that died?
Overall, this is a tense and highly readable novel with wit, suspense, and some great twists as well as some violence. It is gritty, fast-paced and action-packed. The imagery (visual, auditory and olfactory) came through vividly. If you enjoy excellent mystery thrillers, then I recommend that you check out this one. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars. I am looking forward to reading book three in the series.
Thomas & Mercer and Lee Goldberg provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. -
Bone Canyon is the second in the Eve Ronin series. It’s a well done police procedural, featuring a strong woman protagonist. Eve is the youngest Homicide detective in the LA County Sheriff’s Department. This time, Eve and her partner Duncan, are investigating a cold case. Human bones have literally turned up after a wildfire in Bone Canyon. It doesn’t take long to identify the woman and things move fast from there.
There are conspiracy undertones to this story, with Eve unable to trust anyone in her department outside of her partner. Eve is a believable character. She’s young and is still learning the ropes. She’s driven and has yet to become disillusioned. I also appreciated her partner Dunkin Donuts (Duncan Pavone). Despite being steps away from retirement, he’s still engaged and willing to risk his own reputation. He’s also a great teacher for Eve and unlike many of the male detectives, wants her to succeed.
Goldberg writes with a gritty realism, touching on department politics and misogyny overtop the search for the rapists and killer(s).
We get elements of humor in the form of an attempt to make a tv series of Eve’s fast rise in the department. The joke became even more obvious when I read that Goldberg was the writer for several crime shows, such as Monk.
This is a fun, entertaining book that moves at a crisp pace and kept me engaged every step of the way. I will definitely be looking for book three.
My thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book. -
Eve Ronin, a young detective in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, is called to a scene where human bones have been discovered. The impacts of a wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains has laid the ground bare and pushed a human skull into the garden of a local resident, and soon enough more bones are being found. It seems that these are the remains of a young woman who went missing some years ago, a woman who had reported that she’d been raped by a group of men a short time before her disappearance. Then a second set of bones is found.
Eve’s experienced partner, Duncan, is seeing out his last months before retirement to a condo in Palm Springs. He’s busily showing her the ropes whilst also attempting to help her navigate the internal politics of the department. He is conscious that Eve’s rapid rise to her current role is a result of her off-duty arrest of an abusive movie star which was filmed by a bystander and posted online. It went viral, turning her into a popular hero and prompting the powers that be to award her a promotion. Unfortunately, this is the cause of much tension amongst her colleagues, many of whom feel her actions to have been publicity seeking and self-serving. So when evidence in the ‘bones’ case points a finger in the direction of some of her colleagues it’s clear she’s going to need all the help she can get.
Like a young Harry Bosch, Eve is eager, intense and pushy. She’s good looking and her story has attracted attention from some intent on turning her life into a television series. Despite the lure of riches that would follow she’s not interested – she wants to be a good cop: to erase uncertainty and achieve justice for the dead. This all leads to some great exchanges and the story really bounces along with the various threads vying for attention. I’d really enjoyed the first book in this series and I loved this one too. Everything here appeals to me from the setting of this stories, in an enclave of the rich who have escaped nearby LA, to the well-structured plotlines and especially the punchy Eve. I can’t wait for the next episode.
My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
Bone Canyon is the follow-up second installment in Lee Goldberg’s Eve Ronin procedural/crime thriller series. Both books are smoothly-written, tense, twisty, and exciting; everything we want from the genre, right?
Eve Ronin is a strong, complex lead, and I am loving watching her grow as a character.
If you are a crime thriller/procedural fan, this series is a must-read.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog:
www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram:
www.instagram.com/tarheelreader -
Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/re...
Lee Goldberg is back with the second novel in his Even Ronin series, which pulls the reader into two parallel cases when bones are discovered after a major brush fire ravages the area. Both cases pull at the heartstrings, but for different reasons, leaving the reader to guess what the killers might have been thinking. Quick paced and easily devoured, this is perfect for those who love gritty police procedurals.
Eve Ronin has had quite the rise through the ranks of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Videos of her gritty antics hit social media and she earned quite the reputation for herself, something that others within the LASD have been holding against her. With little interest in capitalising on her fame, Ronin is forced to rebuff those in the industry who see stardom and an easy television career based on her life.
When Ronin and her partner are called out to a recently fire-ravaged area, they discover part of a skull. Some slow and thorough investigating by a forensics anthropologist not only offers up a lead as to who the victim might be, but also reveals much of her skeletal remains, scattered around the property. Ronin begins piecing it all together and identifies the victim as Sabrina Morton, with the help of a surgical implant.
While Ronin chases down some people who may be able to help piece together what Sabrina was doing in the days before she died, she learns that there were some horrible things that befell this young woman. Sabrina and her roommate went to party on the beach and were gang-raped by a bunch of surfers, all sporting a similar tattoo. After Ronin is able to get hold of a sketch of this tat, she learns that it’s a common mark worn by many of the sheriff’s deputies in the area. Could Sabrina have been attacked by off-duty officers and killed to keep her silent?
While working various angles, another set of bones turns up, those of Debbie Crawford, a fifty-something woman who has a long-standing beef with her rich neighbour. Ronin begins to look into this case and sees the feud has been building, such that having her killed would surely have eased the headache that was developing across the fence line. Still, there’s something not entirely kosher with the way things are presented to her, leaving Ronin to open new lines of inquiry.
As Ronin begins accusing deputies of rape and likely murder, she becomes more of a villain than she is already, leading to verbal and physical attacks. Yet, Ronin refuses to back down, sure that she should be seeking justice over covering her own backside. Two killers are out there and they must be brought to justice, even if it costs Ronin her badge, or worse!
Lee Goldberg proves again that he is a master storyteller with this piece. His ability to develop strong plots and use a fast-paced narrative keeps the reader on their toes as things progress. Poignant characters also help keep things enthralling until the final reveal for the attentive reader.
Eve Ronin remains a relatable protanogist, even though she is young and still somewhat naive when it comes to priorities. Her backstory pops up throughout the piece, though it is how she handles it that prove to be an entertaining subplot. Gritty and seeking to make a difference with her badge drives Ronin to do what she feels is right, even when she steps on toes to get there. With a peppering of some personal interactions at key points in the story, Goldberg has crafted a character that will definitely remain highly entertaining for as long as the series continues.
The cast of strong secondary characters keeps the reader wanting to learn more. Each complements Ronin in their own way, though there are some who are able to stand alone and provide entertainment value in how they are portrayed. With some returning faces and a number of one-offs, Goldberg keeps his story moving with all the banter throughout, offering up many suspects for these two murders and forcing the readers to point at those they would accuse.
The premise of the piece is not only strong, but highly engaging. The plot moves along at a quick pace, thanks to a strong narrative and clipped dialogue. Goldberg has a lot of practice in the genre and it shows, keeping the reader wanting more with every turn of the page. Short chapters that propel the story forward keep the reader on the edge of their seat until everything comes together at the end. A highly entertaining story in a genre that is quite full of cops and their hunt for the elusive suspect or killer.
Kudos, Mr. Goldberg, for another strong effort. I cannot wait to see what else you have in store for your fans in the near future.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
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A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... -
“The Bone Canyon” is book two of Lee Goldberg’s Eve Ronin police procedural series. It may be yet another LA-based police series, but Goldberg knows how to tell a compelling story and this one is hard to put down because the pages actually do turn themselves as your eyes 👀 stay glued to the book.
Based at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in The mountainous Los Angeles suburbs a canyon’s drive from Malibu and steps from the urban sprawl of the San Fernando Valley, it’s an area subject to huge sweeping brush fires 🔥 and this one threatens to end the world, but when the smoke clears, skeleton pieces are unearthed. And, to a trained anthropologist, these are not the remains of fire victims.
With precious little to go on, Eve Ronin and her partner Donuts 🍩 Duncan, who is counting down the days to retirement, open up a cold case that leads them places they didn’t imagine. The skeletons in the hillside are not the only ones unearthed and echoes of coverups and corruption from years past can’t be ignored.
A great series that has its own unique spin on police work. It’s a quick easy read but real worthwhile.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review. -
After the wildfires left many of the canyons in LA County devoid of trees some bones started to appear, presumably freed from where they had lain hidden and were scattered down the hillside. A few had already been identified as victims of gang killings that had been dumped the canyon but the most recent discovery was of a young woman. Dr Daniel Brooks, a forensic anthropologist, was able to deduce a lot from the bones. Luckily some metal plates in an elbow reconstruction helped to identify the victim by the serial number.
Sabrina Morton disappeared six years ago. She had reported being gang raped on the beach and could only remember a tattoo that all her attackers had on their calves. She got a friend to draw it for her and the day after she started asking surfers on the beach if they recognised it - she disappeared. The obvious conclusion being that the rapists wanted to silence her. What the report didn’t include but Detective Eve Ronin got from the girl’s parents was that she was there with a friend who was also raped but chose not to report it. The tattoo turned out to be one that many of the Los Angles Sheriff’s Department deputies had. Great! When the rape kit cannot be found and the file appears to incomplete it looks like another cover up.
Eve is determined to get justice for Sabrina but has, yet again, placed a large target on her back. Then more bones are found and these turn out to belong to a 57 year old woman who disappeared two years ago. Surely the cases can’t be related! In an increasingly hostile environment where Eve only trusts her soon to be retired partner Detective Duncan Pavone she persists in her mission but soon there is another discovery that throws a completely different light on the whole case.
I’m not sure I like the cowboy culture in the LASD and the constant pressure for Eve (the Deathfist) to be involved in a show about her but she finally agrees as she needs some extra cash after her house and vehicle get trashed. Her mother - well I’d want to strangle her. There is a developing love interest with Daniel Brooks but it’s not mushy or steamy. Anyway he’ll be away for a few months so may not feature in the next book. I enjoyed this but I’m hoping the series gets a little less ‘Hollywood’ soon. -
Bone Canyon is the second book in the Eve Ronin series. I love a gritty police procedural/crime thriller! This can be read as a standalone as it recaps so much of book one. Though I would still suggest reading Lost Hills first, it's excellent.
Book two serves us with two parallel cases. Eve and her near retired partner Duncan are called in when human bones are discovered after a major wildfire in the Santa Monica mountains. The evidence they uncover takes them on a wild ride. I did not see that ending coming...
Eve, the youngest homicide detective in the LA Sheriff's Department is such a kick ass character. She goes with her gut and doesn't let anyone or anything hold her back. Her ability to put the puzzle pieces together and solve big crimes is impressive. I can't wait to see what she does next.
I would recommend this series and am looking forward to the next book.
Huge thank you to MBC Books and Thomas & Mercer for my copy.
Trigger warnings: rape -
Scorched earth leaves remnants still burning.
There's jaw-dropping beauty in the hills of Southern California. But all it takes is a quick spark carried by the wayward winds and disaster ignites.
Eve Ronin, a flick of a match herself, has been called to a private property in the hills. Ronin is the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. She's being mentored by Duncan Pavone who's on the cusp of retirement and counting the days. He breaks into a sweat every time he has to reel in Ronin who's quick on the draw in more ways than one.
The homeowner brings Ronin to the back of his property. An empty eyesocket in a human skull stares up at her. Not a normal lawn ornament. Ronin calls for assistance and soon the backyard has been taped and tiny orange flags will denote the location of more bones here and there. Apparently, the sweep of the wildfires has revealed some deadly little treasures. As forensics work on identification, it soon will point to a cold case from six years ago. A young woman had gone missing leaving her parents with no answers until now.
Lee Goldberg presents a multi-layered mystery here with quite a few avenues to head down. His main character of Eve Ronin is a complicated one who is leaning hard in the direction of responsibility and professionalism while taking on the snappiness of a dysfunctional family and their obtuse issues that constantly involve her. Ronin still suffers from knee-jerk responses as she tries to level off from her youth and inexperience to more stable ground. I'm sure as the series progresses we'll find Ronin maturing and analyzing situations more carefully. Her mentor, Duncan Pavone, adds humor with his donuts and fried chicken, but he's a force to be reckoned with.
While there's humorous banter throughout, Goldberg shifts this story lined with murder, rape, sabotage, and just plain bottom feeder characters. We'll come to find that Ronin is a survivor with everything that Goldberg throws at her.....and there's plenty. She has an innate sense when things are off kilter and not aligning. And that's something that can't be taught.
Bone Canyon is the second book in this series. (Yup, I've got to go back and pick up the first.) But it certainly reads as a standalone. All you bloodhounds out there may figure out the who is who, but the hunt to the end is an entertaining one. The Momma character needs to take a hike in the desert for a few years. (She got on my last nerve.) But the Eve Ronin Series does show great promise and there sure is enough material in them there hills for years to come. -
![Terence M - [back to abnormal :]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1652839090i/6658001._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
3.5-Stars (^4.0) - "I Liked it a Lot"
Lee Goldberg - Bone Canyon (Eve Ronin, #2) [Audible]
Audiobook - 08:24 Hours - Narrator: Nicol Zanzarella
"Bone Canyon" was a quick and very enjoyable "read" for me. I listened to it over two nights, ruining my mandated sleeping hours😴, but providing the stimulation required to get my reading/listening mojo active again. When the narrator said "You have been listening to ...", I sighed with quiet satisfaction and dropped off to bye-byes.
So, why the equivocation by rating Bone Canyon as being worth only 3.5 stars instead of a full 4.0?
In my review of Goldberg's "Lost Hills, Eve Ronin, #1" (4Stars), I quietly complained that the audiobook was probably a little short (06:41 hours), although this was better than "...being too long and in need of a good editor ...". At 08:24 hours, "Bone Canyon" is an acceptable length for a light, pacy, 'police procedural', but oddly enough I think the audiobook sounded a bit padded-out overall.
I enjoyed the development of the character, Homicide Detective Eve Ronin in her second appearance, and generally the plot(s) and story-lines were developed well, particularly the involvement of the sheriff's deputies in the surfing murder, and the solving of the mysteries surrounding the other "Bones" discoveries, but as a rookie, Ronin's crime solving achievements did stretch the bounds of credibility.
I thought the whole "making a TV series" saga was superfluous and distracting. Eve Ronin's mother was a pain and contributed nothing significant to the story. On the other hand, Eve's partner, Duncan 'Donuts' Pavone, is a tower of strength and support for her, as is her friendly forensic anthropologist, who adds a touch of, erm, romance to her life.
Edited 02 March 2021, for this addendum:
I neglected to note above that I enjoyed the reading by competent actor/narrator, Nicol Zanzarella, who also narrated very well in the first Eve Ronin book, "Lost Hills".
I look forward to October '21 when Eve Ronin, #3, "Gated Prey" hits the audiobook stands! -
Eve Ronin is the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She was promoted to this position when a video of her arrest of an abusive movie star went viral. There is a lot of resentment within the department over her promotion because it is felt there were other more qualified candidates. She believes that she must prove she deserves the promotion. This is the second book in the series.
The story opens in the aftermath of a wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains. Bodies are being found. Eve and her partner, Duncan "Donuts" Pavone, have been dispatched to investigate a report of a body found on a homeowner's property. Well a human skull. Further investigation will reveal more bones and the identity of a woman who went missing six years ago. A woman who disappeared shortly after reporting that she had been raped. A woman who apparently did not get the help she needed from the sheriff's department. Eve is determined to see that justice is done.
Her reopening the investigation of the cold case seems to have revealed a conspiracy and the only person she can trust is her partner ... who is counting the days until he retires. But Eve is relentless and is willing to go outside her department in order to solve the case. The result is more resentment, more enemies and attempts on her life. Only her partner seems to have her back.
Video has made Eve a celebrity. First there was viral video of the arrest of the movie star then there was video of her saving a child. This is California and there are many who want to make a television series about Eve. Including her mother. Eve doesn't want any part of her life becoming a television show. She just wants to do her job. It is difficult enough being taken seriously. But can she hold out?
Lee Goldberg is a prolific writer whose credits include television shows such as "Monk", "Diagnosis Murder", and "Spenser: For Hire". This is a thriller but there is plenty of humor too. Particularly centering around Eve's relationship with her mother and there is Duncan. There is a reason he is called "Donuts". If you like thrillers where the protagonist is a strong woman I believe you will enjoy this story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series ...
Gated Prey. -
Once again Goldberg surprised me with a well-written and well considered story with a bunch of interesting characters.
I read this book shortly after I finished the first in this series. But it's not really necessary, you can read this one even if you don't know the previous one. Although if you read the first book beforehand, your experience will be even more complete. This is because Goldberg's stories are very consistent. This applies to both the storyline in individual books and the consistency between books throughout the series. In this book, the case Eve is working on is tied to information that we already know from the previous book. This makes the world in which the book is set very coherent and planned.
But this consistency also applies to the plot of this book. This is a very solid story, with no holes or obvious omissions. Goldberg can also give you that great feeling when all the little things you used to think only as background suddenly pop into place and form one intricate but fascinating whole. Even if the first half of the book is a bit slow, the later twists fully make up for it.
The author knows his craft very well and is able to build pretty nice characters. His characters behave rationally, and they do not lack intelligence. They are multidimensional and non-obvious. Just look at Duncan, who is seemingly a lazy cop waiting to retire, but shows all his experience and cleverness in the suspect interrogation scenes.
The author is able to make great use of stereotypes when he needs them to give his characters a bit of a comic face and make fun of them when it suits him. This is not a book that I would put on the "funny" shelf, but there is no shortage of subtle, light humour. The author winks at the reader from time to time and it works great. This gives the effect of good, effortless humour.
Finally, this book will appeal to everyone who likes when the setting is almost an additional character in the book. There is no randomness here. This story is set very well in the Los Angeles area.
I definitely recommend this book and look forward to seeing more Eve and Duncan stories.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
I just finished my second in this series with this author and it was a good book. The story was a good one and it moved at a good pace . The ending was very strong and I figured it out at the same time the main character did lol. I liked the main character and all the secondary characters were good and made sense. The dialogue was strong and flowed well for all the characters. This book just squeaked by with 4 stars on the dot it was a 4.0 .There were a couple of things I did not like and one of them was the mom character she is getting old fast, we get the point and I would like to see less of her in future books. One thing about the main character that he has to be careful with is that she can be a little grating or too perfect it is a close call. I wish she would listen to her partner more but that is a minor flaw. It was a good book with a good ending he did a good job there. I will read the next book in the series. I say go ahead and give this book and series a spin.
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A recent wildfire in the Santa Monica mountains has had a surprising side effect. The bodies of several people dead for many years have started to be found since the brush that’s been hiding them is no longer around. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Eve Ronin and her partner, Duncan Pavone, have landed the most recent one of these cold cases. Their case proves to be complicated when they identify the body as that of a twenty-something who vanished several years before. As they begin to investigate, they make several startling discoveries. What exactly lead to her murder?
I enjoyed the first book in this series, and I wasn’t disappointed with this one in the slightest. Part of the fun is learning the twists of the case as they unfold, and then watching Eve try to make sense of it all. There is plenty of action on the way to a wonderful climax. Eve is a strong main character, and I enjoyed getting to know her better here. I did feel like a few of the supporting players could be stronger, but maybe that was my reaction to their poor attitudes which aren’t fully explained. While the overall tone of the book is serious, as it should be given the case, there are some very fun moments, most of them coming at the expense of Hollywood. This isn’t one of my typical cozies, so there is language, sex, and violence; be prepared before you pick up the book. I’m glad I picked up this fast paced, twisty mystery.
Read my full review at
Carstairs Considers. -
"Bone Canyon" is a great follow up in the Eve Ronin series. Once again the author delivers a fast paced police procedural where you feel as if you were watching a movie or one of those shows Eve's mom is trying to get her to sign up for.
Several weeks after the events of "Lost Hills" Eve is back on the job. When some bones get discovered thanks to the big fire that devastated the county, Eve and her partner Duncan get involved in some old cases that are pretty close to their hearts. Meanwhile she's also dealing with Hollywood knocking on her door after her recent notoriety and some colleagues that still see her as undeserving of her position in the sheriff's department.
In my "Lost Hills" review I wrote that I was curious to see how her male colleagues were gonna treat her after solving a triple murder case and I'm sad to see that she's still being treated as sh*t.
Eve Ronin is a very well developed character, with some flaws and contradictions that make her even more engaging. I liked how she was reluctant to let herself be dazzled by the promise of money and fame, being her one and only intent to get justice for the victims.
The story dealt with some issues that always manage to make me angry as rape, blaming the victim with some terrible expressions like "she was asking for it" or "she deserved it", and abuse of power by the police.Sadly, these matters are not only fiction as we can see everyday on the news and I loved how Eve dealt with them.
There was a final twist I wasn't expecting at all and that served to tie everything together, although truth be told I would have liked a very different ending.
Great series with a fantastic lead character you can't help to root for.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. -
Thank you to Net Galley, the publishers and the author Lee Goldberg for an ARC copy for an honest review. Book 2 in the Eve Ronin series.
A catastrophic wildfire scorches the Santa Monica Mountains, exposing the charred remains of a woman who disappeared years ago. The investigation is assigned to Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a position that forces her to prove herself again and again. This time, though, she has much more to prove.
Bones don’t lie, and these have a horrific story to tell. Eve tirelessly digs into the past, unearthing dark secrets that reveal nothing about the case is as it seems. With almost no one she can trust, her relentless pursuit of justice for the forgotten dead could put Eve’s own life in peril.
It may be yet another LA-based police series, but Goldberg knows how to tell a compelling story with a great female character, although not read number one in the series, this second in the series explains so well the detail of book one, and I felt completely into this book, very well paced, gripping thriller.
Several weeks after the events of "Lost Hills" Eve is back on the job. When some bones get discovered thanks to the big fire that devastated the county, Eve and her partner Duncan get involved in some old cases that are pretty close to their hearts, and yes Duncan is a great asset to this series.
Fall back from the first in the series is she's also dealing with Hollywood knocking on her door after her recent notoriety and some colleagues that still see her as undeserving of her position in the sheriff's department.
Eve Ronin is a compelling character who has her flaws, still learning her job and well supported by Duncan or Donuts.
A crafty, clever, compelling, well paced mystery thriller, a good story with some great twists.
Clear four star, close to five stars! -
The first book in this series - Lost Hills - didn't disappoint, and neither did this one (in fact, I think it's better). Los Angeles Sheriff's Department homicide detective Eve Ronin isn't perfect - nor is she likely to become besties with most of her department colleagues - but she gets the job done even if she has to step on some really big toes to do it.
It begins as Eve and her almost-retired partner, Duncan Pavone, are called to investigate human remains discovered in the rubble of a wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains. As it turns out - with help from hunky and single forensic anthropologist Daniel Brooks - the tidbits belong to a woman who went missing several years ago not long after she'd reported a crime to police that somehow, in intervening years, got lost in the system.
That, of course, makes Eve's ears perk up and her nose twitch. Despite warnings to cool her heels from a few of the aforementioned colleagues - most of whom are convinced she got her homicide job by grandstanding - she plods on with the help of Duncan, who says he has nothing to lose by ruffling a few feathers. Good thing, because some of those feathers not only get ruffled, but totally bent out of shape.
The investigation goes slower than Eve would like - patience isn't one of her virtues - with roadblocks coming from unexpected places that bring a whole new meaning of dead end. The conclusion brings a twist; I was expecting one that I hoped was wrong, and, happily, I was (sorry, my lips are sealed). All told, another winner, for which I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for a pre-release copy. -
Bone Canyon is the second book in the Eve Ronin series about a young homicide detective in the LA County Sheriff’s Department. It’s not crucial to have read the first book, Lost Hills, as you get the necessary backstory and this doesn’t spoil that one, although events from it are referred to quite often. Unlike the author’s Ian Ludlow series, these are straight police thrillers without the spoof/comedy element, and while they don’t break any new ground, I like Eve as a heroine and they are well plotted and written.
Eve has only just returned to active duty after breaking her wrist on her last case, when she is called to the discovery of human bones on the hillside, uncovered by recent wildfires. The remains are identified as those of a young woman who went missing six years earlier, soon after reporting that she had been gang raped. Already unpopular in her department because of her history, and being hounded by Hollywood who want to make her story into a TV series, Eve will expose dark secrets which make her a target for those she should be able to trust.
I had commented in my review of the last book that it was a bit too much of an homage to Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series and that I hoped he would have the confidence to develop on his own. By coincidence we just started listening to one of the recent Bosch audiobooks, which highlighted the similarities here once more. It’s not a bad thing - Connelly is a master of the genre but I’m going to run out of his books soon so am happy to have more thrillers like them to read. Eve shows the same grit, disdain for authority and determination to do right by the victim as Bosch.
I enjoyed the scenes with her rather dysfunctional family and even quite enjoyed the romance angle (unusual for me!) It’s not too gruesome or violent and I enjoyed the forensic aspects.
I was slightly disappointed by the reveal - I can’t say too much without spoilers, but I was enjoying this being a cold case mystery - it seems authors can’t help inserting this particular trope wherever they can, but it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. One thread was also left hanging but will hopefully be dealt with in the next book. I liked the references to Hollywood & The Vine from the Ian Ludlow books (meaning that they’re in the same “universe”) and would love to see a crossover between the series - which is totally possible with how things were left!
My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. Bone Canyon is published on January 5th 2021. -
The second in the series featuring Eve Ronin, its certainly an improvement on the first one, but not without its faults.
This time Eve is involved in investigating some human bones that are found on the hills of Los Angeles. Soon after another set of human bones are found nearby. Both deaths may be connected or totally unrelated.
It’s a story about rape, murder, police corruption etc.,so I found it had a lot more meat on its bones than the first, which had a linear single story that was a whole load of nothing really.
This one is a lot more interesting. There’s a lot going on and we are kept guessing for a long time.
Eve is a pretty interesting character overall who I think just about has enough weight to carry a novel.
What I didn’t particularly enjoy was the constant insistence from family members that she should sign up to have a tv show made about her, despite her not wanting that in any way(if you read the first book you will find out why). Her siblings especially just lay it into her about it, not listening a jot to what she has to say. Felt totally unrealistic.
Her mother(who features in both books)is also incredibly irritating and unbelievable as a character. A failed Hollywood actress who projects it all on to her daughter. She is tedious in the extreme to read and a completely one dimensional, cliched character that adds nothing to the series.
When the book is concentrating on the police work and investigating, it’s much more interesting. That’s when you are “in” the book and being swept up with a good story. Such a shame you are yanked out of it on so many occasions with the “Hollywood”nonsense. It ruins any flow the book begins to create.
Look it’s an improve the on the first, which I felt was a novella padded out into a short novel, and it’s certainly going in the right direction but there are too many flaws here to ignore and I can’t score it any higher than three stars like I did the first.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lee Goldberg for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
Eve is a police officer in Southern California, and is called in to investigate the case of some recently found bones, which belong to a women who went missing after reporting a gang rape six years ago. Apparently, she had remembered a tattoo, and the artist who had recreated it for her identifies it as belonging to a brotherhood of cops. Her fellow officers already dislike her; would they actually do anything to harm her to get revenge? And did they rape and murder Sabrina? Then another body is found nearby, and the case becomes even more complicated, as Eve tries to ascertain if the two murders are in any way related. The identity of the murderer was a surprise to me--this is a well written series, and I look forward to reading the next book in the Eve Ronin series.Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.
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This is the second book in the Eve Ronin series. Although I didn’t love
Lost Hills but I like
Lee Goldberg. I have read some of his other books including the entire Fox and O’Hare series that he coauthored with Janet Evanovich. I thought U would give this a chance. I am glad I did as I liked it better. Oh! BTW: It really it isn’t necessary that you read the first in this series as this is an entirely different story. It does start with a bit of a continuing from “Lost Hills”, in that Eve is recovering from a broken wrist and is now back on duty but has to have Physical Therapy. ’
Eve is the youngest Homicide detective in the LA Country Sheriff’s Department. Living near LA it seems the Sheriff’s Department is in the news daily.
Although Eve is a “go getter” she is still a rookie who has a lot to learn. I like her relationship with her older partner Duncan Pavone, who is close to retiring. He’s nickname is “Donuts” for good reason.
.Duncan is a good mentor to Eve. Unlike many men who have a low expectation of women, he wants Eve to be successful .Eve also has a nickname~ Deathfist”. She got his name when a video of her arresting a movie star for assaulting his girlfriend. In fact, there is talk of Eve staring in a movie herself!
Eve and Duncan are called to investigate bones that are found after the wildfires that torched the Santa Monica Mountains recently. The owner of the property who found the bones said he recently did landscaping and there certainly weren’t any bones in his yard then. Turns out the bones had been scattered after the fires and end up being a “cold case’. The skull is a woman who disappeared years ago.
Eve with the help of anthropoids, who is brought in to help identify the woman, must solve if the missing woman had an accident or was murdered.
Eve and Duncan are likeable believable characters. I look forward to the next story in this series
I always enjoy reading the Author’s Note and Acknowledgements at the end of the book and this was very interesting. There is no doubt that Mr. Goldberg did a lot of research. He attended homicide investigators’ training conferences for law enforcement professionals. There is a lot of forensic investigation in the story and again Mr. Goldberg looked to experts and researched professionals in the field of criminal justice, as well as a whole paragraph full of names of other experts. Needless to say, all of this made the story seem more nonfiction. However, he does state that he took creative liberties with areas that didn’t require an expert.
Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early release. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for professional review purposes only. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 5, 2021 -
Excellent police procedural about a young Los Angeles Sheriff's detective struggling to find justice for the victims after human bones were discovered in a ravine after a wildfire. Eve "Deathfist" Ronin is a tough, charismatic and resourceful young woman who doggedly pursues an honest investigation at the expense of the politics involved. Unfortunately for Eve, many of her male LASD police are not supportive of her investigations for a variety of nefarious reasons... Unlike most crime fiction series I read, I thought this book #2 was better than the first. I'm looking forward to reading book #3 in October.
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'Bone Canyon' was like good TV streaming across my imagination. I slipped into Lee Goldberg's perfectly paced story the way people slip into a warm bath - relaxing as I let the plot flow around me.
I admire Lee Goldberg's craftsmanship - but only after the fact - while I'm reading the story I'm too immersed in it to think about how it's being done. Lee Goldberg is a master of the four Ps of a good police procedural: People, Place, Plot and Pace and he keeps them perfectly balanced.
The people are the hook. Eve Ronin is easy to like: earnest, focused, hard to intimidate and with no agenda other than discovering what really happened in each case she's working. As we saw in the first book, 'Lost Hills'. what makes Eve stand out is that she became the youngest Homicide detective in the LA County Sheriff’s Department by leveraging a viral video of her taking down a famous mixed martial arts movie star who was abusing his girlfriend. This, and the triple homicide she solved in the first book and the second viral video that captured its dramatic conclusion, have established Eve as a publicity hound with political ambitions.
This undeserved reputation is cemented because her bosses are so deeply political that they see Eve's denial of any political ambition as evidence of its existence and by Hollywood agents who are determined to turn her fame into revenue from a show based on her life. I enjoyed watching Eve's struggle as politicians and producers try to turn her into who they want her to be while she's trying to focus on finding out who the skeletons found the hills belonged to and how they died.
The chemistry between Eve and her I'm-retiring-in-less-than-200-days Partner-turned-mentor works well for plot exposition and for making Eve a little more vulnerable. She's also made more human by her struggles with her self-absorbed parents, her hookup with an eccentric but attractive forensic scientist obsessed with bones and the stories they tell him and her resistance to doing the exercises that her determined surfer-boy physiotherapist wants her to do to repair the wrist she injured in the 'Lost Hills'
By setting the story in Los Angeles County, rather than Los Angeles itself, Lee Goldberg has given Eve a larger, more varied and less well-known territory to work in and he brings it alive with small details that show how a local would see the place rather than how it's presented in travel guides. I liked that, as well as including details about local eateries, architecture and the pervasive influence of the movie business, he used the geography of the canyons and the recent wildfires to drive the plot.
The plot is full of surprises. The more Eve digs, the more bones she finds and the more complicated the story becomes. We get stories of rapes and murders that may or may not be connected, possible police corruption either covering up or carrying out the crimes and a sleazy hate-him-on-sight TV star who I really hoped wouldn't make it to the end of the book. Apart from forensic evidence being processed faster than seems likely and Eve having a little more luck than you might expect, the plot and the exposition felt plausible. I liked that the victims of the crime remained as important as the race to solve the puzzle and the that the often sordid history of the Los Angeles police was built in to the plot and confronted without being either glossed over or demonised.
The pacing is pretty much perfect. Engagement with people and plot disposition march along side-by-side, amplifying each other's impact and keeping me eagerly turning the pages. Some very tense action scenes are mixed in with moments of internal politics, details of forensic investigations, interviews with suspects and witnesses and Eve's private life.
I found this second visit with Eve Ronin as entertaining as the first. I'm a little more invested in her now and I'm keen to get to the next two books in the series. -
Bone Canyon is the second instalment in the Eve Ronin series, featuring Eve as the youngest Homicide Detective in the history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, based out of Lost Hills, Calabasas. Eve is raring to go having been on office duty for weeks after breaking her wrist in her very first murder investigation for the department. She and mentor Duncan Pavone, who is only four months away from retirement, are assigned to a case when Sherwood Mintner, a resident of Hueso Canyon in the San Fernando Valley, calls after discovering a piece of human skull in his backyard which he claims wasn't there before the raging, widespread wildfires that have now turned the Santa Monica Mountains charcoal black and suggests it may have been buried. They call in forensic anthropologist Dr Daniel Brooks who rapidly unearths more remains; they turn out to be those of Sabrina Morton who disappeared six years ago after filing a complaint, along with a friend, claiming they had been brutally gang-raped on a local beach that at the time was seemingly investigated by Detective, now Assistant Sheriff, Ted Nakamura. Visiting Sabrina’s parents, Albert and Claire, they inform Eve that their daughter had told them that a distinguishing feature of each of the guys that took turns with her was that they all had the exact same tattoo on their lower leg.
Perhaps as part of some secret group or ritual, but Eve is baffled when the reports of the incident mention nothing about tattoos at all. Beginning to think there's a police cover-up happening she vows to get to the bottom of the case once and for all. When the body of another older woman is discovered Eve believes the cases to be related. Learning the tattoos are shared by the majority of the male police force at Lost Hills she realises she's in mortal danger and must tread carefully. This is a compulsive, scintillating and multilayered thriller with enough action, emotion, intensity and drama to keep you totally enthralled and at Goldberg's mercy throughout. Eve is growing into herself as a protagonist, and although she is resented by colleagues for her achievements she tries to ignore the jealousy all around her. On top of her caseload she is being chased by Hollywood screenwriters who want to option her story for the big screen so that must get rather irritating after a while; this is another source of their bitter envy. You can also add the fact that she's now viewed with suspicion by male officers due to her relentlessly digging up the past in an attempt to gain justice for Sabrina, the other women and their loved ones to the list of problems. A tense, pacy and sinister read and a twisted trail involving murder, rape, sexism, sycophantic behaviour, corruption and dark secrets. A riveting, page-turner I highly recommended. -
I read the first book in this series about six weeks ago and really liked the main character Eve Ronin. If you haven't read the first book, let me tell you just a bit about Eve. She's still pretty new to homicide and is the youngest detective. She was promoted to this job due to the positive viral response of a video in which she took down an abuser. Now, this promotion didn't put her in the good graces of all those others in line for the job but she's determined to prove to everyone that she can do a fabulous job.
Six weeks ago, a wildfire ravaged an area above Los Angeles. A human skull has been found and smaller bones are all over. An anthropologist finds the bones of a second skeleton. Eve is determined to get justice for the women even if she has to take down half the police department.
I'm still high on Eve. She's a good cop, a driven one, genuinely interested in helping do good for the people she serves. I also like her partner Duncan who is only 4 months from retirement but he has her back in every way. I was pleasantly surprised at the hint of romance in this one and hope to see them as a couple in future books. -
still going on strong
Ok I’ve had enough of Eve’s mother , she is so controlling and superficial it’s just too much I really don’t like her.
This was another suspenseful read, I can’t wait to see what case Eve is going to be investigating next with her donut loving partner, like her detecting skills she is a sharp woman 🤍
And just like in the previous book Nicole delivered 🤍 -
“Bone Canyon” by Lee Goldberg is the second book featuring Eve Ronin, investigator for the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Ronin is young, energetic, and single-minded. She is relatively new on the job yet believable and tenacious. She has much to learn and much to prove.
The Southern California setting plays an important role when a wildfire uncovers the remains of a long vanished woman, and Ronin and her partner Duncan Pavone investigate this harsh “cold case.” Ronin struggles to balance the quest for justice against the pressures of politics. The plot is fast-paced with some grit, but Goldberg manages to intersperse the tension with little bits of humor. The story is also enhanced by a narrative that engages all the senses, - the sights, the smells, and the sounds.
“Bone Canyon” is quick to read with compelling action and complex characters. The plot is deliberate, planned, and organized, yet has plenty of suspense and unusual twists. I received a review copy of “Bone Canyon” from Lee Goldberg, and Thomas & Mayer Publishing. I enjoyed the first book in the series and liked this one even better. Now, I am just waiting for the next book. I think this will be a long-running series. -
The second book in the series around Eve Ronin, the young homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department. Ronin found herself in the position of solving crimes that made her a media hero that the Sheriff could use to distract from problems within his department, thus allowing her a very early and dramatic rise from deputy to detective.
In this second outing, Eve is assigned with her partner, a soon to be retiring older detective, a case involving the discovery of bones in a canyon after fires ravaged the region and laid bare ground previous overgrown. The bones belonged to a woman who had been missing for six years; a woman who had claimed to be raped by three men shortly before she disappeared.
The case would lead to discoveries of misconduct that again reached into the County Sheriff department and adding more fuel for those who already had a grudge against Ronin when she pointed the finger inside the department.
Lee Goldberg is a screen writer for several mystery TV shows many of us have watched. His ability to present a mystery, the investigation, and resolution into a compact form shows in these books. They are enjoyable, fun reads.
