Review: Fingerprints

Title - Fingerprints

Author - Maricia Leonard 

Series or Standalone - Standalone 

Genre - Mystery Suspense 

Publication - April 24th 2012 

(Goodreads) & (Amazon)

Synopsis 

Fingerprints is a murder/suspense novel with a love story-and a Multiple Personality Disorder thrown in. It's horrifying when the police come and arrest Julie's son Jeffrey for the murder of the doctor whose body she and Jeff found. But it's also dismaying when tough, independent Julie realizes she's falling for the lawyer she hired to defend Jeff. Clark, the lawyer, has his own shocking problems. The woman he goes to visit in the institution is only one of the personalities of his beloved wife-not the one who killed their little daughter. Liz, the doctor's killer, is perfectly happy with how the police investigation is turning out. And she'll kill again to keep it that way. Will Jeffrey be acquitted and the real killer exposed? Find out where the fingerprints lead

Opening Teaser

I had no premonition, as I turned in and parked, that anything was wrong. I'm a real estate agent, and the house was one of my older listings. The snow was shoveled neatly off the driveway, the path up to the front door was cleared, and Jeffrey was sitting waiting on the steps. 

Jeff is twenty, my handsome, sturdy, reliable son. He was wearing his bright green parka and heavy boots, on this cold, clear Maine-winter day. The sunshine glinted clear and white on the rough heaps of fresh snow he'd shoveled to the sides of the pathway, and I smiled at the scene in front of me-Norman Rockwell, or maybe a Christmas card. I thought everything was great until I got closer...and the smile faded from my face as Jeff slowly looked up and held out his hands for me to see. 

Review

I received Fingerprints in return for an honest review from the author. Julie arrives at one of her real estate’s properties her son is already there, he's shoveled the driveway and sitting on the steps. When she gets closer he holds out his hands which are covered in blood, she's enters the house to find the body of a stranger covered in blood. They call the police, who have Jeff explain how he got the blood on his hands; they even have them come down to the station for fingerprinting. It's when they show up to arrest Jeff because his fingerprints are on the murder weapon a knife that Julie knows she has to save her son.

Julie reaches out to a lawyer Clark Horowitz to defend Jeff because she knows he's innocent. However even though Clark wants to help, the evidence will stop the cops from looking for suspects. He refers her to find a private investigator to do the leg work, to look for information that will find the real killer. When she calls the private investigator he tells her he's going to be gone two weeks and won't be able to do it till he gets back. Julie can't let Jeff sit in jail so she decides that she will do her own investigating. Julie searches for clues following a path that could lead to her demise as the real killer is still out there.

Julie is an interesting character she's a mom who cares about her son and is willing to do what it takes to save him even if it means risking her own life.  Clark has his own unique story involving his wife and daughter which I found equally interesting he's a strong character who's had a rough last few years. The characters in the book are so real; I found it easy to connect with them.  My heart went out to Julie while she deals with the struggles of finding the real killer and seeing her son in jail. I felt sad for Clark to lose everything but still keep it together the way he does. Fingerprints is a brilliant story that drew me in and kept me captivated till the end. I love a mystery filled with twists and turns that kept me guessing who the real killer could be. The story is well written, it flows smoothly along and it's easy to lose track of time while reading. I know I did because it kills me to stop and wonder how it's going to end so I kept picking it during my day to read. I would suggest Fingerprints to anyone who is looking for a mystery. I really loved Fingerprints. 

5 out of 5 Stars