Necessary Ends

By Tina Whittle

Tai Randolph is no stranger to solving mysteries. With a taste for danger and a talent for amateur sleuthing, she has helped put an assortment of murderers behind bars, much to the displeasure of her lover, Trey Seaver. A former SWAT officer with the Atlanta police department before a car crash inflicted brain injuries forcing a retool of his life, Trey believes in letting the authorities handle complex matters of crime and punishment. He's easier with a world of black and white while Tai wrestles with too many shades of gray.

But then the Talbot case flares back to life.

It was the crime that rocked Atlanta - actress Jessica Talbot shot dead in her Buckhead mansion and her husband, movie producer Nick Talbot, accused of the murder. The case seemed open and shut...until a dirty cop's secret forced prosecutors to set Talbot free. Now, four years later, someone wants Talbot dead, and the evidence points to the man most convinced of Talbot's guilt - Trey.

Talbot offers an irresistible deal - he'll keep Trey's name off the suspect list if Trey agrees to a one-on-one interview. It's a chance for Trey to deploy his post-injury ability to read lies and determine once and for all if Talbot really is a killer, but it could also expose secrets in Trey's own past, confidential information he has sworn to protect. Caught between his drive for justice and his need for security, Trey does the unexpected - he asks Tai to help him investigate.

It's a situation fraught with drama and potential disaster, the kind of case Tai relishes. With Trey by her side - and in a killer's crosshairs - she vows to use every trick in her slightly sketchy playbook to stop a vigilante murderer from claiming a fresh victim. Can she and Trey keep themselves out of a killer's crosshairs long enough to crack open a new chapter in their lives?

Necessary Ends is the 6th in the Tai Randolph Mysteries rooted in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Release date: Apr 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781464209864

Tina Whittle

Tina Whittle lives in south east Georgia. She is a columnist and feature writer and her short fiction appears in several crime journals. You can find out more about her at http://www.tinawhittle.com

Reviews for Necessary Ends

[sassybrit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Visit all my reviews here. I love to chat books!

Necessary Ends by Tina Whittle highlights Tai Randolph and Trey Seaver, detective partners and partners in life. Whittle’s writing style pulls readers into the story from page one. This novel combines an action-packed plot with great banter dialogue and a psychological aspect.

Trey Seaver is haunted by the one that got away, a murder of a Hollywood producer’s wife in Atlanta during a filming. Now, about four years later it appears someone wants the producer, Nick Talbot dead. Trey is asked to investigate since he was one of the officers at the crime scene and now is working for a corporate security firm. He tries to use all the skills learned as a former SWAT officer with the Atlanta Police Department. Forced into retirement by a horrific car crash that gave him TBI he now has a new skill, being able to detect someone lying with a high degree of accuracy. His girlfriend, Tai, an amateur sleuth and a gun shop owner is helping him solve the mystery.

This series explores what happens to someone with TBI. Since Trey has frontal lobe damage his cognitive impairments include language processing and executive function, the control centre of the personality. There is also an exploration of PTSD which Tai has after being kidnapped and almost killed. At night she experiences nightmares, an increase in her heart rate, and becomes delirious. Readers will learn about re-enactment therapy, dissociation, a psychological reaction to overwhelming stress, and decompensation.

All of this plays out in the Southern setting. The characters must navigate lies, lust, and betrayals to find who is behind the original killing and the attempted murder. The powerful theme of vengeance, justice, and playing by the rules keeps the intensity of the plot.