Today I am sharing my thoughts on the third and final book in the Harper McClain series by Christi Daugherty, Revolver Road. I’ve loved getting to know Harper and am regretting having spent so long not reading this series. Not anymore. Here’s what the final book is all about:

About the Book

Crime reporter Harper McClain is back on the beat when a troubled musician vanishes in Christi Daugherty’s Revolver Road.

Even in the chill of February, no place touches Harper McClain’s heart like Savannah. She should be walking beneath the historic city’s towering oaks, surrounded by graceful mansions. Instead, she’s hiding miles away on Tybee Island after a mysterious voice on the phone warned her that someone wanted her dead. The call was too specific to ignore. The caller knew everything about her. But that was months ago, and she’s getting tired of being scared.

Her only escape is her work at the newspaper, where the hottest story in town is the disappearance of Xavier Rayne. The singer had a hit album on his hands, and was about to go on tour, but then he walked out of his beachfront home and vanished. The police believe he drowned, but Harper suspects his disappearance may be more ominous than that. Something doesn’t feel right about it.

His bandmates and actress girlfriend say he’s run away before. They expect him to come home. Until a body washes up with two bullet holes in it. Now everyone in Rayne’s life is a suspect. As Harper digs deeper into the case, though, the threats against her own life return. The phone call she received was very real. A killer from her past is coming for her.

Now she must solve two murders, or end up dying on Revolver Road…

My Thoughts

This is a bitter sweet moment like you would not believe. I am both happy that I finally read the last book in the Harper McClain trilogy – equally as edgy, tense and packed with mystery as the first two books – but also sad that this was the last book in the Harper McClain trilogy as I have thoroughly enjoyed each and everyone of them., Harper is such a brilliant character that travelling with her as she reports on some of Savannah’s worst crimes has been, if not quite a joy – who can say that about murder scenes after all – well ,certainly enlightening. She is tenacious, determined, feisty, and, in this book, even more than any other, at real risk of becoming another one of the city’s sad statistics herself.

Revolver Road gives us not just the sad tale of missing musician, Xavier Rayne, but also brings to a close Harper’s investigation into the murder of her mother. Now the outcome of the first mystery comes as less of a surprise than it perhaps should, although the whys and wherefores remain a closely guarded secret until the end, and the ultimate conclusion does come with a few surprises, but the finale to Harper’s story is definitely packed with threat, tension and is as dramatic as you could possibly hope for given how much of a build up we’ve had over the course of the three books.

The actual investigation into the disappearance of Xavier Rayne is more of a study of human behaviour, than a mystery perhaps. There is s sense of inevitability about what comes to pass, given what we readers, and Harper, know about events from the night he disappeared. But as to teh reasons behind what happens, there really is a closed pool of suspects, and of the three closest friends Xabier had it is hard to see who could possibly have wanted to harm him or why, even as it is hard to trust a single one of them. This part of the story the author has played perfectly, showing a really acute understanding of human behaviour and bring this to life on the page. I felt a mixture of sympathy for them and total and utter distrust. It was a perfect example of storytelling, no doubt using skills that Christi Daugherty honed whilst reporting on very similar crimes and stories.

As for Harper’s story … Well this was a brilliant mixture of threat, mystery, and the recurrence of the long simmering chemistry between her and her friend and one time lover, Detective Luke Walker. I could feel the tension leaching from the page at times, and there are so many scenes where the author leaves you with that tingling feeling at the back of your neck, that sense of Harper being watched and being in real jeopardy, that those were the scenes where I felt myself moving from page to page at pace. It was a stark contrast to the main investigation which felt slower due to the absolute surety that the ending would not be a positive one. When we started to move towards the conclusion of the book, you could feel the pace really escalate, in both halves of the story to be fair, but with such a dramatic finale to Harper’s story, it really was one of those edge of the seat, don’t want to pause for a moment kind fo scenes.

I’ve loved every minute of reading these books. So glad I finally pushed them up the tbr. If you like an investigative mystery that is packed with tension and takes things from a sligthly different angle to the typical police investigation, these could well be the books for you. Great characters, racy, tense stories and brilliant storytelling. Definitely recommended.

About the Author

As a crime reporter, CHRISTI DAUGHERTY saw her first dead body at the age of 22. Over the years there would be many more while she covered murders in cities like Savannah, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Her writing eventually took her to England, where she wrote the Night School series of thrillers for young adults under the name CJ Daugherty. She resides in the south of England.

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