LISTEN TO ME

SYNOPSIS

Mothers know best . . . But who will listen?

Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are newly plagued by what seems like a completely senseless murder. Sofia Suarez, a widow and nurse who was universally liked by her neighbors, lies bludgeoned to death in her own home. But anything can happen behind closed doors, and Sofia seemed to have plenty of secrets in her last days, making covert phone calls to traceless burner phones. When Jane finally makes a connection between Sofia and the victim of a hit-and-run from months earlier, the case only grows more blurry. What exactly was Sofia involved in? One thing is clear: The killer will do anything it takes to keep their secret safe.

 

Meanwhile, Angela Rizzoli hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in all the years since her daughter became a homicide detective. Maybe the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree: Nothing in Angela’s neighborhood gets by her—not the gossip about a runaway teenager down the block and definitely not the strange neighbors who have just moved in across the street. Angela’s sure there’s no such thing as coincidence in her sleepy suburb. If only Jane would listen—instead she writes off Angela’s concerns as the result of an overactive imagination. But Angela’s convinced there’s a real wolf in her vicinity, and her cries might now fall on deaf ears.

With so much happening on the Sofia case, Jane and Maura already struggle to see the forest for the trees, but will they lose sight of something sinister happening much closer to home?

Title: Listen to me

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Series: Rizzoli & Isles #13

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication date: July 5, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The wait is over! After a long five year wait, Rizzoli and Isles are back! I’ve been following this series for almost 20 years and I’ve enjoyed every installment enormously. Listen To Me was not the exception. Although this time Maura takes more of a back seat, she has a phenomenal replacement: Angela Rizzoli, Jane’s mum, busy body extraordinaire and self appointed investigator (much to her daughter’s regret!).

 

A nurse has been brutally murdered, bludgeoned to death in her own home. A widow living a quiet life, who would want to kill her? But behind that quiet facade, some weird calls are uncovered and will tie her death to a hit-and-run case months before. Meanwhile, Angela Rizzoli founds herself in the midst of her own mystery when a teen from her neighborhood disappears and a suspicious new couple moves across the Street.

 

Although I’ve enjoyed the series as it’s been until now, the prominence acquired by Angela’s character has been such a breath of fresh air, and her part of the story had a lighter feel. Interactions between she and Jane were so much fun, and it was awesome to get a deeper insight into their mother/daughter relationship.

 

Pacing was great and when I realized I was more than halfway through. The alternating storylines made the pages fly and I found myself equally gripped by both of them. Even though at first, all these storylines seemed a bit disjointed, at the end it was all nicely connected in a satisfying (and a bit shocking) way.

 

Jane and Maura are as great as always, and though this is book 13 in the series, enough background info about both characters is provided if you wanna read this as a stand-alone.

 

Pacy and gripping mystery that will keep you guessing, with some beloved characters and a great new addition, that made of Listen To Me the perfect summer read. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another five years to meet Jane, Maura and Angela back!

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.