Cross Her Heart

Written by Melinda Leigh

Narrated by Christina Traister

A homicide detective’s violent family history repeats itself in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of murder, secrets, and retribution.

For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents’ murder-suicide…Until her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There’s just one chilling difference. Erin’s husband, Justin, has vanished.

Bree knows how explosive the line between love and hate can be, yet the evidence against her troubled brother-in-law isn’t adding up. Teaming up with Justin’s old friend, former sheriff’s investigator and K-9 handler Matt Flynn, Bree vows to uncover the secrets of her sister’s life and death, as she promised Erin’s children. But as her investigation unfolds, the danger hits close to home. Once again, Bree’s family is caught in a death grip. And this time, it could be fatal for her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781799750192

Melinda Leigh

#1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker. After joining Romance Writers of America, she decided writing was more fun than analyzing financial statements. Melinda’s debut novel, She Can Run, was nominated for Best First Novel by the International Thriller Writers. She’s also garnered Golden Leaf and Silver Falchion Awards, along with two nominations for a RITA and three Daphne du Maurier Awards. Her other novels include She Can Tell, She Can Scream, She Can Hide, She Can Kill, Midnight Exposure, Midnight Sacrifice, Midnight Betrayal, Midnight Obsession, Hour of Need, Minutes to Kill, Seconds to Live, Say You’re Sorry, Her Last Goodbye, Bones Don’t Lie, What I’ve Done, Secrets Never Die, and Save Your Breath. She holds a second-degree black belt in Kenpo karate, has taught women’s self-defense, and lives in a messy house with her family and a small herd of rescue pets. For more information, visit www.melindaleigh.com.

Reviews for Cross Her Heart

[Nneamaka M. Payne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another interesting reading love this authors work and the way most of backgrounds of each characters come into being. The way the author approaches all the events leading toward the end.

[Darcia Helle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cross Her Heart, the first Bree Taggert novel, is crime fiction with a twist of emotional family dynamics.

I love Bree’s character. She’s strong, independent, and complex. Her dark past haunts her but doesn’t define her.

Lots of mystery and suspense in this one, as Bree deals with her grief while unraveling her sister’s secrets and chasing down a killer.

I’m looking forward to continuing on with this series.

Great narration that had me believing I was right inside the story.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bree Taggert is a homicide detective in Philadelphia. She has managed to put a horrible childhood behind her - mostly. When she was eight, her abusive father killer her mother and then himself leaving three children. Bree was raised by a cousin while her younger siblings were raised by their grandparents. She's managed to rebuild her relationships with her siblings but have very mixed feelings about returning to her hometown.However, when she gets a call from her sister Erin, she drops everything to go to help her. Unfortunately when Bree arrives in town she finds that her sister has been murdered and her estranged husband Justin is missing. Erin's body was discovered by Matt Flynn, a former sheriff's deputy who is Justin's best friend. While he knows Justin had problems with drugs, he can't believe he would have killed Erin.Bree and Matt decide to investigate the crime themselves. Matt doesn't have good thoughts about the sheriff's department since the accident that ended his career might not have really been an accident. Bree just needs answers. Bree is also dealing with her sister Erin's two children because she knows the trauma that they are feeling. Things get even more complicated when Erin's ex and the father of her children shows up out of the blue and decides that he wants custody of the kids. Part of Bree's investigation is looking into this deadbeat dad and thinking that he might have had a reason to kill Erin. This was an entertaining thriller. I liked that the murderer had chapters told from his viewpoint. Fans of fast-paced thrillers will enjoy this new series.

[Mihaela · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mi-a placut fosrte mult, captivantă, plina de actiune si suspans

[Jamie Arias · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good storytelling, easy to follow. I put it on in the background while I worked and was able to follow the entire story.

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cross Her Heart
4 Stars

As a child, Bree Taggert and her siblings were witnesses to the horrific murder-suicide of their parents. Now a Philadelphia homicide detective, Bree returns home to Grey's Hollow after the fatal shooting of her sister for which her estranged husband is the prime suspect. Has history repeated itself or is something more sinister in play?

Series note: This book takes place in the same world as Leigh's Scarlet Falls and Morgan Dane series. There are minor references to characters and events, but these are not related to the current mystery.

While there are several plot and character similarities to Leigh's Scarlet Falls series, there are enough original elements and the mystery is well-written with engaging characters.

Bree and Matt are very likable and the hints at a future romance between them are intriguing. The inclusion of the dog characters is, of course, an added bonus.

In terms of the mystery, it is possible to identify the culprit as there are sufficient clues. Nevertheless, the police procedural aspects are entertaining and their are some exciting action scenes and a satisfying resolution.

Finally, Christina Traister's narration of the audiobook is very good, and I look forward to continuing with the series.

[fernemysteryreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The title intrigued me to read the description and I was drawn to read a novel featuring a female veteran Philadelphia homicide detective. I read the 1st sentence with the action continuing to escalate and I was immediately hooked. That was then.Detective Bree Taggert misses a call from her younger sister Erin. Erin is not answering her cell phone after leaving a voicemail for help. Erin sounded scared and the unusual behavior induces Erin to pack a bag and drive to upstate New York. Why did Erin call? Now Erin isn’t answering her phone or Bree’s voicemail. Why?Melinda Leigh has written a compelling story. What an introduction to this author’s writing! The novel is a page-turning combination of thriller, mystery, and romantic suspense. The action never stops racing against time with cliffhangers and twists as the impact of the past affects the present. The dialogue is realistic. The emotions of the characters are relatable without being sappy. With a retired K-9 dog that hasn’t forgotten any of his training, rescue dogs, humor, and romantic sparks at just the right places I couldn't stop reading. I must continue reading this series!

[hcnewton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.---WHAT'S CROSS HER HEART ABOUT?Bree Taggert is a homicide detective in Philadelphia. She's successful enough, has a great partner, and is able to generally keep her personal demons in their place.And she has more demons than most—her abusive father killed her mother and then himself with Bree and her two siblings nearby. She was raised by a demanding aunt while her brother and sister were raised by their grandparents, who couldn't handle their older sibling.Then Bree's sister, Erin, is murdered. Erin's estranged husband, Jason, is the prime suspect and is missing. Erin's body was discovered by Matt, Jason's friend. Before a shooting left him unable to work, he'd been a detective and a K-9 officer for the local sheriff's office. He's not in law enforcement anymore, but he still has the experience—his knowledge of Jason and his experience tell him that Jason's innocent. He just needs to prove it.Recent events have left the department without a sheriff, and while the Chief Deputy seems to be a good cop, he's not much of an investigator—recognizing this, he's willing to work with Erin and Matt, assuming they share information with him. He knows he won't stop them from looking into things, so he might as well profit from it.Bree wants someone to pay for the murder, so does Matt, but he wants his friend to be safe, too. The question is—will both of them be able to achieve their goals?FASTEST WAY TO MAKE ME A FAN......is to include a dog. More and more I find myself a sucker for a strong canine presence, and Leigh delivers one here. On top of an already compelling read, that's just icing on the cake.As I said, Matt was a K-9 officer before his shooting. His dog, Brody, left the department with him. Brody's a steady presence throughout the novel—Matt has to leave him home (or with Erin's niece) frequently, but he's still around, helping. Matt's sister runs a rescue shelter, too, and so there are plenty of dogs around.They're all depicted as helpful—both for in the hunt for Jason and the killer, but also in helping Erin's kids cope with their mother's death and some of the other things going on around them. This is done in just the way I'd like to read it.THE PILOT EPISODEEven if I didn't know that there were three books in this series already (and, I assume, more on the way), I'd have known more Bree Taggert books were intended to follow this. The title/subtitle might as well have been "The Pilot Episode." Sure, the emphasis of this novel is finding the murderer and possibly clearing Erin's estranged husband, but it's also about setting up the series.This is not necessarily a bad thing, really. I'm just describing things.Story beat after story beat you could just feel "oh, this is happening to establish this character/idea/etc. so we can revisit it later/in every book" or "this is going to play out for a while" or "this is how this relationship is going to be set up." It eliminates a bit of suspense from the book, but just a bit. And there's always the chance the reader's wrong about thinking something/someone is safe.FOOL ME ONCEEarly on—partially due to the pilot-y nature of the book, partially due to the way Leigh started the book, partially due to hubris—I was convinced I knew all the major plot points, how they'd be resolved, how the reveals would happen, who the killer was, what the ramifications of various events would be and what new status quo would be set up for the series.And for most of the book, I was either right or I gathered more evidence for my ideas. The key word is "most." I'm not going to say exactly when Leigh started proving me wrong, but it was somewhere in the last quarter of the book. Boy howdy, was I wrong. At least about the two or three most significant storylines—overall, I think I'd give myself a B for predictions. But the things I was wrong about? I was very, very wrong about them.I love that. She didn't cheat—everything was right there for the reader to pick up and interpret the clues as they should be interpreted, but Leigh did it in such a way that you'd think I'd never read a mystery novel before.So, she got me this time-I'll watch for her next time.SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT CROSS HER HEART?So, if I was so confident I knew what was going to happen, why did I keep reading? Because something about the way Leigh wrote this kept me from stopping. I can't point to any one thing (or handful), but this book got its hooks in me and wouldn't let go. I'd planned on reading a chapter or three just to dip my toes in the water one night—and ended up reading just shy of 100 pages! I gave serious consideration to just bailing on sleep until I finished, too.While a good hook, an original idea/take on an idea, or a type of character no one's thought of before are great to get you into a book. It's the execution of an idea that keeps you reading (and coming back for more). And Cross Her Heart is well-executed. I'd like to be able to point out one or three things she's doing that makes it work so well, but I can't. She's got some sort of alchemy going on here, and I just couldn't stop reading.I like this world that she's established, and see a lot of promise for this kind of series with these characters and this setting*. I'm in for at least the next two books—give this a shot and I think you'll be sticking around for more too.* I didn't have time or space to get into the way that Leigh weaves the personal and family stories into the mystery, but I really appreciated that too, and think it'll be a strength of future books. Hopefully, I can address it more fully soon.

[crazy4reading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up as a Prime Reading and it didn't disappoint. Now I have added another series to my ever growing list of series to read.This is the first book in the Bree Taggert series. Bree is a Philadelphia Homicide Detective with a family history of violence that she has kept tucked away until she received a call from her younger sister Erin.The Taggert family's history is that Bree, Erin and Adam's father abused and shot and killed their mother before killing himself. Bree was the oldest at the time. Adam was just a baby. I really enjoyed the characters as I met them in the book.Bree her police partner Dana, ex deputy Matt, Adam, Erin's children Luke and Kayla are just some of the characters we meet. I fell in love with all of them and they way they interacted with each other.Bree receives a phone call from her sister Erin and decides that she has to go back to her home town when her sister doesn't answer her phone. Bree knows something is wrong and learns that her sister has been murdered also brings up her childhood memories that her sister's death is similar to that of their mother's.I loved how Matt and Bree work together to find Justin and who murdered Erin. Are they both after the same thing or is Bree really wanting to find Justin thinking that he is the one who murdered Erin?I couldn't put this book down! I wanted to find out who did it and why!! I love books like that! I will be reading the next book in this series.

[samantha71020 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cross Her Heart was a really good page turner that fit my reading mood perfectly. I was in the mood for a book that would keep me reading and unable to set down - and that's exactly what this book did! I've been struggling to really concentrate lately with everything that's going on in the world so I needed a book like this that helped keep my mind off of everything. Because let me tell you that this book starts off fast paced and that didn't stop until the very end. One of the things that surprised me about this book is how dark it was and how much of a role grief played in this novel. I feel like you don't always get to see the effects of grief in a mystery like we did in this book. It really gave this book a realistic feel that I couldn't help but appreciate. I also liked how this book kept me guessing throughout the book. I didn't have a clue on how everything was going to turn out until I was actually supposed to know. This book begins a new series but the ending wrapped everything up perfectly. I couldn't help appreciating the fact that there were just a few new questions that were left that I'm hoping we will get answers to in future books. I will definitely be continuing on with this series, that's for sure!Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book and am excited to have found this author! She's got another series for me to check out while I wait for the next book in this series to release which has me happy. I love finding new mystery authors to follow especially because that seems to be all I want to read lately. I need ALL of the mystery recommendations at this point. I think that readers that enjoy mysteries, suspense, and even those romantic suspense readers would enjoy this one. There isn't a romance in this book BUT there are hints that one might be forming in future books which I am definitely here for. Recommended!Bottom Line: A solid beginning to this new mystery series! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book!Disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. Honest thoughts are my own.

[celticlady53 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cross Her Heart is about a family, two sisters and a brother, who's father killed their mother in a fit of rage. Twenty-five years later Bree Taggart, now a Philadelphia homicide detective, sister Erin is murdered. Erin's husband Justin is the main suspect. Bree teams up with Justin's old friend, a former sheriff's investigator who is also a K-9 handler Matt Flynn. Matt does not believe that Justin would kill his wife, Bree is more skeptical but is determined to find Justin as he is missing. There is also the problem of what happens to Erin's two children, Does Bree get custody or their father, who is not a reliable person, has never been part of the kids' lives. This story is the first in a series. A book that is easy to read, suspenseful enough to keep the reader interested. Believable characters and a great plot. I totally enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next one by Melinda Leigh!

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Melinda Leigh is a new author for me and I don't know why I haven't found her before now. This book was a roller coaster ride that I couldn't put down until the end. I'm happy to see that this is book 1 of a new series because Bree Taggrt is a character that I want to read about again. She's a kickass homicide investigator who has a lot of empathy for everyone around her.Bree Taggert is a Philadelphia homicide detective working on a case when she receives a text from her sister asking for help. Bree, her sister Erin and her brother Adam all had a violent upbringing because they knew that their Dad beat their mother until it all ended with a murder suicide that changed their lives forever. As Bree drives 5 hours to her sister - which is also the town she grew up that is full of bad memories . When she arrives, she finds out that her sister is dead. The police are convinced that the murderer is Erin's husband Justin and Bree agrees until she meets Matt, Justin's best friend, a former police officer, who is convinced that Justin is innocent. The problem is that Justin has disappeared and they need to find him to solve this crime.Bree and Matt decide to wok together to try to find Justin but they soon become aware that there is someone out there who wants to keep Bree from finding out the answers and his secrets put Bree into great danger.I loved the characters in Cross her Heart especially Bree. The plot slowly unravels and will keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out who killed Erin. I am thrilled that this is the first book in a new series and look forward to spending more time with these characters.

[lorikboyd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First in a new series about Homicide Detective Bree Taggert. Have not read this author Before, am looking forward to future installments. Enjoyable! I liked her writing style, everything flows well. Well developed characters. I could imagine binge reading this series on a future vacation trip. As I was waiting for the big finish, for some reason I didn’t see it happening where it did or played out how it did. Would not list this book as a romance though, but could see it being developed in future books.

Book follow Bree, a Philly Detective who has had a horrendous childhood. She receives an alarming call from her sister, but after trying to call her back, Bree can not get ahold of her. Bree then is forced to go back to her hometown and change direction. This puts into motion the storyline and characters for the next installments. Will be interesting to see how well Ms. Leigh does with carrying this out.

3.5/5 stars for this fast-paced thriller. Thanks to Ms. Leigh, Montlake Romance and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

[poppyreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was so good! I'm a total addict when it comes to mystery/thriller novels, so I can be super picky. This was a solid 4 stars! Maybe even a 4.5.

The mystery wasn't a gasping moment, but it was delivered perfectly. Every chapter gave just enough to keep you wanting more.

I adored Bree, Kayla, and Luke - this little family has been through it all but they're still so solid. Matt and Brody, his retired k-9 police dog, are charming and adorable. I love that I was able to feel a connection to so many characters.

There was also just the right amount of romance that made the story feel real.

This was a great read!