Thrilled to Death by L.J. Sellers

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: September 2010

Thrilled to Death is the third book in the Detective Wade Jackson mystery series by L.J. Sellers and the best I've read by her yet! It's official: the rest of Sellers' books are going on my wish list.

Thrilled to Death opens in a psychiatrist's office, where a young woman named Danette Blake is discussing the possibility of giving up her infant son for adoption. Shortly thereafter, Danette goes missing and her mother-in-law Kera hires Detective Wade Jackson to investigate her disappearance. The sick and twisted plot of this novel quickly thickens when another young woman named Courtney Durham goes missing on the same day. The mystery we're dying to figure out is: why does Courtney have such strange interests, and more importantly, where is Danette?

I love Thrilled to Death because it's fast-paced and flows with ease. I wish it had taken me far longer to read! I once belonged to a book club called "Sick Sh*t," in which we read explicit, gory, and disturbing crime procedural novels. Thrilled to Death proudly falls into this category without regaling us with super explicit details that can literally make you feel ill. The horrible crimes mentioned in this novel are enough to make any reader cringe and ponder the true sickness of psychopaths and weirdos that roam the streets.

Thrilled to Death contains several red herrings. As a major fan of mystery novels, I enjoy figuring out the "hows" and "whys" behind crimes—this novel will definitely keep you on your toes!

I've also read and reviewed book two of the Detective Wade Jackson series called Secrets to Die For, which doesn't hold a flame to the dark and twisted Thrilled to Death. In my review of Secrets to Die For, I had mentioned feeling detached from Detective Jackson's character, however, I found Detective Jackson to be much more personable and relatable in Thrilled to Death.

Here are the first several books in Sellers' Detective Wade Jackson mystery series:

   1. The Sex Club (2007)
   2. Secrets to Die For (2009)
   3. Thrilled to Death (2010)
   4. Passions of the Dead (2010)
   5. Dying for Justice (2012)
   6. Liars, Cheaters & Thieves (2011)

Have you read any of these mystery novels by L.J. Sellers, and if so, what did you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!