Deadly Fantasies By Kelly Miller

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"Now it was time to repay the favor." -Kelly Miller, Deadly Fantasies

Detective Kate Springer knows that the early morning call can mean only one thing - a murder has taken place. But what she doesn't expect to hear is the voice of her psychologist confessing to her husband's murder. Loyal to a fault, Kate runs to the aid of Dr. Nina Grace. But is she truly just a victim in all of this? Or is she the murderer? Find the official description on Goodreads.

When I first got this book, I was a little nervous, but I was assured that it was meant to be a standalone as well as part of the series so it would not be difficult to read this book. It's the second in the Detective Kate Springer series. And I wasn't missing anything at all. If anything was mentioned about Kate's past, there was some kind of explanation. I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having read the first book in the series before reading Deadly Fantasies. It was easy to slip into the book even without having read the first book.

There were many things I enjoyed about this book. There's an interesting but easy relationship between Kate and her partner, Patrick. It provided a nice interlude from some of the more emotional scenes, and it was easy to see how close the two were without being romantically involved. Another thing that I enjoyed. It was nice to see male/female interaction without romantic intentions involved. That being said I also enjoyed Kate's conversations with Carlos, someone who she has been romantically involved with in the past. I think that the relationship could be interesting as she is a cop and he's a journalist. So I'd like to see how that develops. 

It was easy to follow Kate's thought process as Kelly Miller presents it in an easy manner but there is also the fact that because we can only know Kate's thoughts, we don't necessarily know her real motives for things as she may not know them herself. It was intriguing to try and understand some of her underlying motives. Then there was the fact that it wasn't focusing on the murder aspect of Kate's life. Deadly Fantasies does place a lot of importance on solving the murder but it also brought in other parts of Kate's life and it did it in way that it didn't feel unnatural or as if it was only being done to take a break from the murder investigation. The murder was not the only drama in the book and I was curious to find out what would happen in Kate's personal life as well as her professional life. 

Kate was also shown as a real human being. She had flaws, many of which she didn't notice until it was pointed out to her. But she also is willing to change things to fix those flaws. I had to admit that that drew me to her as a reader because I know that in my own life, I am terrible at finding my flaws (even if they're pointed out) and changing them in such a way to better myself. So I found that watching Kate go through that was a great thing to read. 

The murder also involved a lot of different players and it was fascinating to put together the pieces, not to mention that I don't really think that I thought the ending would go the way it did. I was pleasantly surprised at the ending, even though there had been clues all along throughout the book to guide the reader to that possible conclusion.

Deadly Fantasies was a thrilling mystery, and I will be sure to pick up the first in the Detective Kate Springer series when I get the chance and time to. What did you think about this book? Do you enjoy mysteries? Why do you enjoy the mystery genre?