Review: Deadly Night #1 Flynn Brother Trilogy By Heather Graham

Summary from Goodreads:
The Flynn brothers have inherited more than a New Orleans plantation. They've inherited a ghostly presence… and a long-kept secret.

Aidan Flynn, a private investigator and eldest of the Flynn brothers, scoffs at the haunted-house rumors—especially since Kendall Montgomery, a tarot card reader who has been living in the mansion, is the one to tell him the tale of a woman in white. But when he finds a human bone on the grounds and another by the river, Aidan delves into the dark history of the Flynn plantation.

Forced together to uncover the truth, Aidan and Kendall realize that a serial killer whose victims seem to vanish into thin air has long been at work…and that their own fates are about to be sealed forever unless they believe in the unbelievable.

My thoughts

The first of the Flynn Brothers Trilogy which centered on the older brother Aidan Flynn, who along with his younger brothers have inherited the ancestral plantation (complete with ghosts) from their recently departed relative, Amelia, in New Orleans.

The story was about treachery and ghosts helping the living to obtain justice and correcting the wrong.

Aidan Flynn, a former FBI agent turned PI was practically a thorn to everyone’s chest when he dogged the coroner, and the police department for the results of the human thigh bones, a sample of the dried blood and Jenny’s dress that he had acquired through his own investigations surrounding his new property. He was such a no-nonsense guy that like Kendall I was beginning to think if he was for real. 

Kendall Montgomery was a close friend of Amelia who suddenly began receiving visions when she hadn’t before. I thought at first I was going to be bothered by this but as I read more of her circumstances and background that I ended up thinking that it was a likely explanation. Although I wish more of Kendall's ESP background was explored in the book just a little more. She wasn't a damsel in distress kind of a girl but she got tested and was able to put up of a fight against the killer as much as she could. I felt there was more about her than author Heather Graham was letting on. I thought there were more about Kendall than meets the eye except there were none, save for the what was revealed on the pages.  I could imagine easily Kendall's dislike and discomfort when she first met Aidan. I think her caving in and for falling for Aidan came quickly from her instincts. It was also her instincts that dispelled her doubts about the guy. She knew she could trust and depend him. 

I was a little bit wary about the vision sequences and the messages left for the protags to make sense. I felt it was rushed in parts but I was still caught up with the shivers and all. I think the only believable scene was with Henry and I think there could have been a couple more dream sequences for Aidan to jar him out from his realist frame of thinking before realizing perhaps Kendall had been right about the ghosts. 

I think the research in handling evidence and the standard of protocol in processing forensic evidence was thought out in the book.

Author Heather Graham weaved the subplots into the main story nicely and I didn’t expect the killer at all. Everything was pointing at one of Kendall's friends so the revelation was a jaw-drop surprise. It wasn’t explained why that person became like that so I chalked it up as an off-book story. If the brothers will be re-visited again for another series, maybe some of the events will be further fleshed out.

I would recommend this to the over 18-crowd due to the steamy love scenes and spine-tingling ghostly visions.  

I give 4 stars.