A journalist is murdered in pursuit of a story. Can his colleague solve the crime before becoming the next victim?

Reporter Jessica Curtis is shocked when her mentor and friend his murdered while investigating a story. When her editor tells her to use Joe's notes and get his story ready for publication, she goes one step farther. She decides to follow in his footsteps in hopes of identifying his killer. When she gets too close, her own life is on the line.

MURDER ONCE REMOVED has a great plot that really kept me guessing throughout. The story Joe was working on involved the death of an art dealer, and the same handful of figures are suspects in Joe's murder. Author Roz Russell created really unique characters, too. We -- and Jessica -- know one of them is a two-time killer, and it really could be any one of them.

The disappointing part of the book is Jessica. She's supposed to be a reporter, but when she talked to the detective for the first time, it's like she's a secretary or an intern, so excited to be talking to a real policeman about a story. She gets way too close to one of the suspects, and it's like she doesn't have any real control over the decision. More than once, I had to stop myself from throwing the book across the room.

If you enjoy a well-plotted mystery and don't mind a stupid main character who survives through sheer luck, MURDER ONCE REMOVED may be the novel for you.