Ritual Obsession by R.L. Dunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story contains many trigger warning, so is only suitable for those over 18 and with a strong constitution, for other information, please see trigger warnings in the blurb.

Roberta “Bobbi” Wallace is a socialite and has been for her entire life, that is until she discovered that money doesn’t solve all problems and because of this and a dare that she wouldn’t get through basic training, she decided to become a police officer and has been slowly gaining experience and rising through the ranks over the last couple of years. Max Buckley is a detective in the NYPD and is working in a team of officers who have worked together for a while and have a companionship which involves banter, gentle mickey taking and sometimes annoying each other just for the fun of it, but that changes when the newest member of the team walks in for their first day.

The moment Bobbi walks into the NYPD office she is about to become a part of, the first person she comes across is a male detective who tries it on as soon as he claps eyes on her, but she isn’t interested and instead rebuffs him and goes to meet her new partner. Meanwhile, Max is determined to make a good impression and so plays Bobbi down to the rest of the team, that however, causes them to band together to rip into his misinformation, but this stops as soon as the Captain walks in and makes the introductions.

As Bobbi is learning the ropes and the ways of those around her, she is thrown into the deep end when a murder comes in, the victim is a hazel eyed and brown haired victim who has been brutalised, stabbed and left in a bathtub in a hotel room, thus the killer is named the “Bathtub Murderer”. She is thrown together with Max as part of the duty allocations and cannot deny that there is an attraction between them, despite trying hard to deny it, but Max has no such qualms and keeps plugging away and wooing Bobbi in order to convince her to let down her walls.

As the leads are getting them nowhere and the victims increase in number, it is decided that Bobbi will go undercover as she matches the description of the victims, however, Max and Bobbi are slowly becoming inseparable, but fate intervenes and others actions try and tear them apart. Will the team be able to work out the identity of the “Bathtub Murderer” before Bobbi becomes their next victim and will the relationship between her and Max survive the undercover operation? This is a thriller with a lot of adult themes and is not for the faint of heart, or weak of stomach with plenty of action and graphic scenes throughout as the you follow along and try to solve the case yourself.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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