She's a psychologist. He's a cop. Theirs is a dangerous, chilling murder investigation...
Psychologist Dr. Jill Rhodes enjoys a quiet practice, until her client Michael, a defense attorney, begs her to help with an investigation. "Dr. Rhodes. There's someone who is in serious trouble. A boy, and he killed someone..." Though she's not a forensic psychologist, she finds herself compelled to help Shaun, a special needs teenager who is the only suspect in the murder of Katie, a beautiful, popular girl, and also his best friend.
Dallas police detective Nick Webb and his partner try to shut Rhodes out of a closed investigation. But soon, Webb is intrigued by her early discoveries, drawn into re-opening the case. Jill digs into Shaun's life, finding a disturbing pattern that points to his guilt. But she also uncovers multiple threats in Katie's life of secrets. As the clock ticks rapidly toward Shaun's indictment, she must separate the truth from the web of lies surrounding Katie and Shaun.
Jill must decide: Is this the tragic case of a damaged teenage boy whose life will never be the same after killing his best friend? Or is Shaun also the victim of someone else? As threats mount, she must draw on all her skills as a psychologist to solve the case.
Before someone else dies
.
Advance Reader Street Team Reviews:
A gripping thrill ride!
Unexpected twists and turns pulled me in to Atwood's fourth fabulous offering: The Expert Witness. Written in such vivid detail I could swear I heard the leaves crackling underfoot in the wooded creek bed, feel the tension of a front row seat on a gripping thrill ride of interpersonal intrigue.
Book One of the Jill Rhodes Mystery/Thriller Series is a winner.
Hooked right from the start, every page pulled me deeper into the story. Atwood has served up a delicious first course of a deluxe mental meal.
Can't wait to have a taste of what comes next in the Jill Rhodes Mystery/Thriller Series. Bravo. 5 stars!
– Willie R
A story with punch, suspense, surprises, and intrigue.
It begins with a shocking event and ends with one. In between we meet Dr. Jill Rhodes and get to know her from her intellect and independence to her persistence and perspicacity. Atwood created a character that has sticking power in a story with punch, suspense, surprises, and intrigue. I read a LOT of murder mysteries and this one really made me look over my shoulder a few times to see if someone was watching.
Hurry up and write the next Dr. Jill adventure, please.
- Jeannette H
Kept me puzzling right to the last page.
Nina's new book opens with what seems to be a fairly straightforward request by one of Dr. Jill Rhodes' lawyer patients for advice regarding one of his clients. The twists and turns that follow take Dr. Jill Rhodes into a new world where she has no previous training or experience and yet is called upon for the utmost of her skills and intuitive abilities. Jill's relentless pursuit, combined with her intense emotional involvement, brings her up against an ever more ominous set of shocking revelations and threatening circumstance that kept me puzzling right to the last page.
I highly recommend this first in Nina's new series and will be on the list, impatiently waiting for what comes next!
– Dwight F
The Expert Witness is a cleverly constructed "whodunnit" with compelling characters
and the added twist of a psychologist unraveling the solution, rather than a hard-boiled private detective. As such, the subtlety of unraveling the murder of a teenage girl is far more than the hunt for physical clues. Atwood writes believable characters, both endearing and despicable. I hope we see more of her intrepid Psychologist-cum-detective in books to come. – Barry G