Find Me by Anne Frasier

Author: Anne Frasier

Title: Find Me

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Published: 2020

Pages: 285

Genre: Crime Thriller 

     Convicted serial killer Benjamin Fisher has finally offered to lead San Bernardino detective Daniel Ellis to the isolated graves of his victims. One catch: he’ll only do it if FBI profiler Reni Fisher, his estranged daughter, accompanies them. As hard as it is to exhume her traumatic childhood, Reni can’t say no. She still feels complicit in her father’s crimes. Perfect to play a lost little girl, Reni was the bait to lure unsuspecting women to their deaths. It’s time for closure. For her. For the families. And for Daniel. He shares Reni’s obsession with the past. Ever since he was a boy, he’s been convinced that his mother was one of Fisher’s victims. Thirty years of bad memories are flooding back. A master manipulator has gained their trust. For Reni and Daniel, this isn’t the end of a nightmare. It’s only the beginning.

     I suppose there are a great many reasons why American crime fiction has been at the top of the pile for such a long time. In-country so vast there are a great many places to set your tale and to have these wicked deeds play out. So it would also be fair to say that within this pantheon there are more authors than I would like to count, some good some bad. So it would be safe to say that even an author as prolific as Fraiser sometimes slips me by. But if not for a friend this may have continued to be the case. In coming to this book it was kinda nice to delve into a new series by this author rather than trying to play catch up although I may still do so. Find Me offered a chance to delve into a new serial killer hunting duo. This not being a chance I was going to skip as it's my favorite type of crime fiction. And with this many books under her belt, It had to be worth a shot. 

      Over the past year or so I have started to reach more for these books with a woman as the lead. For me, it offers a different perspective to what I have been driven to in the past. I suppose we all look for something of ourselves in our heroes so maybe it was only natural I was more inclined to go for male heavy leads. Any way Reni was an interesting one for me to get into, much like all our favorite heroes she is broken and still haunted by her past. But it does mean she is very good at her job. And whilst I do appreciate there is a big gap between the real profilers and their fictional counterparts it makes for some good reading. For me, she was a complex and interesting character to get to know. Her traumas guide her in every action she takes and decisions made. The author's skill shines through here as Reni is not only completely believable but also floored. She is capable of making mistakes and reacting in a way that makes sense to us. Given a turn of events, we can see ourselves in her shoes moving and flowing with the same determination and grit as she does. 

     Detective Daniel Ellis almost feels like a sidekick to our hero. He does his best to walk beside her stretching out a hand when needed. As opposed to Reni who seems like the outsider, Ellis is very much the law and order type. Wanting to play by the rules and do his job the best he can. He is I suppose the more conventional route and balances out some of the more reckless behavior of Fisher. But it would be judging a little too harshly to say he has no depth. And as we spend more time with him there are hints that there may be a little more below the surface. So I will keep my fingers crossed that in the next outing he is allowed to develop a little more and become a more worthy counterpart to Reni. 

      There is something about coming across a book you can really sink your teeth into. And whilst it may seem short at two hundred and eight-five pages Frasier waste no ink in getting down to it. There is something beautifully dark and twisted in the way her books flow. Each page kept spurring me on in the hunt for the truth. It is what we might expect of such a prolific author, but it is always good to have this thought reinforced. When it comes to the setting of the inland empire your mind jumps to thoughts of sunshine. But here there is an ever-present darkness that follows us stalking from page to page. This killer gets a hold of us and drags us down into the murky waters of their world. At times in my head, it felt almost David Lynch esque but only in its tone for Fraiser is definitely a writer of her own creating. This was a story that completely captivated me her narrative is one that is dark and gnarled. It takes small swipes at us with each revelation. And I could swear at times it was out for blood. even with that said it's one that I just could put down. It just clicked with what I want to be reading at the moment. And there ain't nothing grander than that. 

     Will I be picking up the next book in this series, that would be an affirmative. How could I not there is so much more to find out about our leads and it set just the right tone that would make me want to delve back in time and again. It is also one of those books, that is extremely hard to tell people about without spoiling it. So much take place that your mind is filled with the vivid lives and crimes of these people that it sticks to you like glue.