Review of ‘Galileo’ by Ann McMan

This was a good sequel to the Evan Reed Mystery series. While I liked book one ‘Dust’, I thought this book was much stronger. I have to admit since ‘Dust’ was written eight years ago I had given up on ever seeing book two. I was really happy to see this book since there were some loose ends from Dust that I was interested in and I just plain wanted more with the main couple. I do think this book stands on its own enough you could start here if you really wanted. However, this book does discuss multiple things that happened in ‘Dust’ so like most series it would be helpful and probably more enjoyable to read these books in order.

While Evan is a paid operative that vets political appointments and candidates, this sequel isn’t very political. If you are not much of a politic fan, I don’t think you will have any problems with this. I do have to give a trigger warning though. This book does discuss sexual abuse by the Catholic Church. One of Evan’s best friends is a priest and his religion is being tested due to the scandal. There are stories that are told to him that discuss that abuse. While one story was short, it was still graphic and made me sick to my stomach.

While this book does confront such a tough subject, the overall book is not all dark. It has its dark moments but this book is also really about family. Evan and her relationship with her college-aged daughter are wonderful. I loved all the scenes of them together with the smart and witty dialogue. I even laughed out loud which you don’t expect while reading a mystery. While the mystery at times was dark, these bright and funny moments gave the book a great balance that kept me reading easily.

There is a romance in this book but it is of an already existing couple. Read ‘Dust’ to find out how they found each other. The two mains of Evan and Julia are both extremely likable. Their relationship still felt new in ‘Dust’ so it was really nice to see them solidify their relationship in this book. When the “I love yous” were mentioned I absolutely believed them which was really nice. I wanted to see them on this next level of their relationship. It was one of the reasons I wanted to read a sequel so much so I’m glad McMan delivered on that. There are no explicit sex scenes in either of the books, everything is fade to black. I did think I was missing some intimacy in ‘Dust’, but in this lesbian mystery book, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything since I believed in them as a couple so much.

If you have read ‘Dust’, I think you will be very happy with this next installment. If you are new to this series and are a McMan or mystery fan, I think you will enjoy this book. I do recommend reading ‘Dust’ first but just keep in mind that this second book is even better. I sure hope McMan will write a book three.

A copy was given to me by the publisher for an honest review.