Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Dead and Gone in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Dreamscape Media
Published: August 12, 2025
Summary:
Detective Annalisa Vega hasn’t forgiven her brother for his role in a murder, and he hasn’t forgiven her for turning him in, so she’s surprised when he asks her to visit him in prison. Turns out, he has a possible case for her: one of his fellow inmates, Joe Green, may be innocent of the murder that landed him behind bars.
Joe is doing hard time for killing his ex-wife’s lawyer, but an anonymous letter sent to the prison warns that the eyewitness in Joe’s trial made up her story. With her private investigation business foundering, Annalisa is desperate enough to start poking around into Joe’s meager case. She immediately finds two problems: One, the eyewitness definitely lied about what she saw the night of the murder, and two, Annalisa’s husband Nick was the cop who arrested Joe in the first place.
Faced with correcting Nick’s mistakes, Annalisa digs deeper into Joe’s past and discovers he has two ex-wives with nothing good to say about him. The women may have orchestrated an elaborate frame to put Joe in prison, but one wife has completely disappeared since then. Did Joe somehow kill her? Or is he the real victim? Annalisa’s search for the truth tests the bounds of her marriage, her family, and her own sense of justice. Meanwhile, a devious killer keeps sending men to a watery death in the vastness of Lake Michigan. If Annalisa doesn’t figure out the truth about Joe soon, her husband might be next.
My thoughts:
This is the fifth book in the Annalisa Vega series and I just don’t know how Schaffhausen manages to keep these books so engaging and compelling each time. I am such a fan of this series, especially knowing that I am going to get such a thrilling, page-turning book every single time and this one certainly delivers on that front!
There is a lot going on here in this latest installment and yet nothing seems to fluster our Annalisa. This time we find her juggling pregnancy, two cases and some personal issues. Of course, one case takes more of a focus than the other, but that seems to have been the trend in this series and I’m ok with that. I didn’t expect the personal issues to be so hard-hitting, especially with all that Annalisa has going on and I am really going to need that next book ASAP – at least it gives me hope that there will be a next book?!?
While this book can be read as a stand-alone, I really do feel you would benefit tremendously if you have read the previous books. They really do give you a better sense of Annalisa herself but also the character dynamics as a whole, especially her relationship with her brother. But that’s just my two cents.
Audio thoughts:
Once again, I went the audiobook route and loved that Kelsey Navarro Foster was back to narrate. Her consistency was spot-on – it was like reuniting with friends when I picked this audiobook up. And I just love the way she brings Annalisa to life!
Books in this series:
- Gone for Good
- Long Gone
- Dead and Gone
- All the Way Gone
- Gone in the Night
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