detective – Randi-Lee Bowslaugh

Junkie is the first in the series of Cal Rogen detective books. It is the second I read (because you don’t need to read them in order!). We follow Cal as he tries to prove that his friend was murdered. During his investigation, Cal is dealing with addiction to heroin, potentially losing his daughter, and discovering hidden family truths.

The book is written in first person perspective, and each chapter designates which character we are following. Most of the book is written from Cal’s perspective. Like the other Cal Rogen novel I read, I like this style of writing for this book. It keeps the story moving at a nice pace while uniquely revealing the story through the eyes of various characters.

Robert P French did an excellent job of incorporating Cal’s addiction into the book respectfully. It highlights how people with addiction are still intelligent and hard-working individuals impacted by mental illness. Robert shares how difficult it is to live with an addiction and how there is a cycle of wanting to get help but knowing it will be a long and challenging path.

There were many times when I thought I knew who the murderer was, but I was frequently wrong. There were some exciting twists to keep me reading along with colourful characters.

I highly recommend reading all of the Cal Rogen series – even if you don’t read them in order!

Get your copy here (affiliate link).

Jailed is the seventh book within the Cal Rogan Mysteries, but the first one I have had the pleasure of reading. I was concerned that not reading books 1-6 would leave me completely lost. I was delighted to find out that this is not the case! Each book is a stand-alone story but based on the core character group.

Jailed is about a young man, Micah, who claims to have been wrongly convicted of the murder of his girlfriend. Cal and the rest of the Private Investigation team set out to get Micah out of jail. While Micah is in jail, there are two rival gangs, one wanting him dead and the other protecting him.

The book uses a first-person narrative, which is often poorly done. Robert, however, did a fantastic job of giving us the characters’ perspectives without being inundated with ‘I did.’ When I first started reading this book, I was a little concerned about this perspective because each chapter is through the eyes of a different person. It was weird wrapping my head around who would be speaking for the first three chapters because I am not used to reading books written from this perspective.

It worked so well for the progression of the story. Not only did we view the story through various sets of eyes, but the thought processes were interwoven so smoothly. I would not have wanted this book any other way!

The story kept me wanting to read on, and the twist I thought would happen didn’t. But there was a twist. If you like detective books, this is a must-read!

Get your copy here. (affiliate link)

Tag: detective

Review: Junkie by Robert P. French

Review: Jailed by Robert P. French