Heart of Evil

Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira books ( June 2011)

Emerging from the bayou like an apparition, Donegal Plantation is known for its unsurpassed dining, captivating atmosphere, haunting legends…and now a corpse swinging from the marble angel that marks its cemetery’s most majestic vault. A corpse discovered in nearly the same situation as that of Marshall Donegal, the patriarch killed in a skirmish just before the Civil War. Desperate for help traditional criminologists could never provide, plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to an elite team of paranormal investigators who blend hard forensics with rare – often inexplicable – intuition. Among them is Jake Mallory, a gifted New Orleans musician with talent that stretches beyond the realm of the physical, and a few dark ghosts of his own. The evil the team unveils has the power to shake the plantation to its very core. Jake and Ashley are forced to risk everything to unravel secrets that will not stay buried – even in death….


Heart of Evil is the second in the "Krewe of Hunters Series" by Heather Graham. This time around, team member Jake gets involved in helping an old flame figure out who is trying to ruin her and her family. The team heads Ashley Donegal's plantation outside of New Orleans to find out who has committed murder and see if there are really ghosts.

I was a bit disappointed in this one. I thought that there was something missing. The team chemistry that I really enjoyed in the first one wasn't really there. In fact, we barely see a few of the team members. While I liked the mystery and was kept guessing until the reveal, I thought the romance was a bit flat. I felt like Ashley and Jake fell back together too quickly without really discussing what happened between them. There also wasn't enough supernatural suspense for me. I thought the scenes between Ashley and her ghostly relative were a bit hokey.

I liked it enough to recommend it and to continue on with the series. I just hope the next one is as good as the first.

--Kari

*note: I read an complimentary copy of Heart of Evil supplied courtesy of Mira Books. I was not compensated in anyway for this review. By receiving a complimentary copy, I am in no way obligated to write a good or bad review. I am an honest reviewer and my reviews are based on my own opinion and only written by me.