PRETTY GUILTY SECRETS: The unputdownable USA Today bestselling mystery series (CSI Reilly Steel)

CSI Reilly Steel and the Garda Forensics Unit are thrust into the spotlight when Ireland’s most revered sportsman is attacked in his Dublin home and his TV-presenter wife comes upon the attack. Reilly is worried that celebrity is blinding everyone involved, including her team, to the fact that that nothing is what it seems, including the victim’s famous wife.Reilly is still an American fish in Irish waters in Book 6 of this well-written, tightly plotted Irish police procedural. She doesn’t quite get the national obsession with rugby, or the deference people are displaying toward her famous victim. She’s also struggling with how she will be able to do her job once her baby is born. She has trouble taking care of herself, let alone a tiny, vulnerable being. She’s on the outs with her police officer partner, she’s irritated with her team for viewing every move she makes through a pregnancy hormone filter, and she’s trying to decide how much or whether the baby’s father will be involved in her life, and her child’s life.Reilly is a fascinating character for me. She’s headstrong, almost always right, driven by perfectionism, and yet still vulnerable and human. Her struggles with anxiety and insomnia ring true to me. “Still, Reilly’s heart was racing. In episodes like this, it felt like the damned thing was going to break out of her chest like some rabid weasel breaking through a shoebox.” I love that image. I admire her consistent professionalism, even when things are going to hell in a handbasket.The plots in this series are always engaging, but it’s the characters that keep me coming back for more. I like how Reilly’s team supports each other, and how she and Detective Chris Delaney still manage to work together even when they are on the outs. These characters are like real people to me, people I‘d like to have over for dinner, or hang out with. If you like police procedurals, or you are a fan of Joy Ellis, Celina Grace, Faith Martin, or Charlie Gallagher, I’d give this one a go. As usual, I do think series are best read in order, particularly if you like to watch the characters and relationships develop. I notice there are only two more books in the series. It will be a sad occasion when I finish them – I made a real connection with these characters, and I will miss my “friends.”

In my previous review of the Reilly Steel series, I have pointed out that the series has a running theme in that the murderers have an unusual mode of operation in the manner to which they murder their victims, which is unique to this series. However, in Aftermath the Hills have taken a different approach with a typical ‘whodunit’ scenario of an attempted murder of a well-known Irish athlete who also happens to be married to an equally famous newscaster wife. The celebrity couple is extremely loved in Ireland and so the investigation is closely overshadowed by the media which quickly becomes a thorn in the side of Reilly Steel and her fellow investigators.For those of you that have been following the series, Steel is dealing with a delicate condition which was revealed at the end of the previous novel, Trace , and much of the plot of Aftermath revolves around Steel’s ability to deal with the consequences. Because Steel is dealing with a new situation that she is totally unprepared for, she is pretty cranky throughout most of the story. That being said, I like this new Reilly Steel, she is more human instead of the golden girl that the Hills made her out to be in the beginning of the series.For you CSI buffs out there, the forensics in Aftermath are pretty much the standard fare, such as fingerprint and DNA analysis with some computer forensic thrown in as well. Not only is the forensic rather ho-hum, but the murder investigation is as well. I almost get the sense that the focus of Aftermath isn’t about the murder investigation but the development into Reilly Steel’s new life. This is fine for those that are following the series, but maybe a bit of a bummer for anyone trying to read this as a standalone, so my advice would be to read The Watched and Trace before reading Aftermath. For followers of the series, this should be a reasonably enjoyable read. Personally, I do hope that the Hills go back to the running theme of the complex and unusual murder investigations that they have done so well in their previous works.If you are interested in learning more about the Reilly Steel Series (http://athrillaweek.com/casey-hills-reilly-steel-series/) check it out on my blog A-Thrill-A-Week (http://athrillaweek.com/).

What's complicated? I don't know the title of this book. I bought "Aftermath." My older kindle lists the book as "Aftermath" on its cover page and in the top margin. My newer kindle lists it as "Pretty Little Secrets" on the cover page and on the top of the page margin.Okay, the story. The book has Reilly Steel dealing with her pregnancy from her recent trip to the US and taking part in a high profile case while working with her crew, one of which she had become intimate prior to the US trip. The case is an attempted murder of a European rugby star and husband of "Good Morning Ireland" morning TV host. When Reilly's team goes with her gut feeling, the arrest and interview blow up in her face. How could she be so wrong, or is it her concerns about her pregnancy interfering with her intuition? It all works out in the end, and yes she is basically right, just a misjudgment of technique.

Another good read and continuing on with the background story of our characters.I liked the storyline on this one and it was a little slower paced than previous books but that was quite nice as not so graphic or so much to keep up with. I guessed the culprit quite early on but the twists and turns kept coming and it was nice to see someone wholesome getting their comeuppance.A few typos and annoying bits like that but nothing that detracted too much.Looking forward to the next book and I wish there were more after book 9 but it seems like there isn't.Hoping Chris and Reilly get together as not really keen on the Todd storyline but we will see.

Further adventure of Dublin's forensic unit featuring a self-driven professional with little regard for teamwork. The plot is good but rather spoiled by the unorthodox antics of the principal. To me. the characters don't really ring true.(This also appears to be the same book, but under a different title, as 'Aftermath' by the same author)

What a breath of fresh air. An American in Ireland, that’s a new one, but it works. She missed a clue in the beginning. Very good and excellent read. Well worth it!

So much evidence leading the police here, there & everywhere and yet they stuck with it despite the press and publicity & solved so much more than they expected to

This was an enjoyable read, my first by this author and in this really series. Good plot with good characters and I liked how it all came together