Jess Lourey’s Steinbeck and Reed series, which has garnered plenty of accolades, continues with THE LAUGHING DEAD.

Cold case agent Evangeline “Van” Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck have made a formidable pair and worked on some unique and borderline supernatural cases together. However, this third book will explore an idea posed in THE REAPING --- that Steinbeck’s long-missing sister may have been a victim of Reed’s father, Frank, who ran an infamous cult in the area.

"I enjoyed THE LAUGHING DEAD, which leaves the door wide open for the fourth entry in the series. I very much look forward to it!"

As Reed struggles to put the memories of her time spent on Frank’s Farm, which deeply scarred her mentally and physically, in the rear-view mirror, she is called to the scene of a crime where the victim is sporting a ghoulish grin. This is highly reminiscent of a case from 1986 where three teenage girls were found dead. Their deaths were unexplainable as none of them were suicidal or in any kind of trouble. Each had a severe, rictus-like smile across their faces, and they were dubbed “The Laughing Dead.”

What makes Reed special are the visions she has when she is part of an investigation, which she and Steinbeck have used to their advantage. She seems a bit stunted with the current case, perhaps because the memories of Frank’s Farm and the trauma it caused her has become all-consuming after she learns of her father’s supposed death in a plane crash.

Throughout the novel, we get to experience the bizarre cold case through the eyes of the three young ladies. Reed and Steinbeck eventually discover that there is a connection among them and they were not merely victims of a drug overdose or rough sex gone bad. This also opens up Reed’s visionary powers as she begins to connect the dots between her own past and the fate of the Laughing Dead.

When someone they are working with is shockingly murdered and left with the same Mad Hatter-style grin, Reed and Steinbeck realize that the killer is still at large and is very much aware of them. At this point, Reed begins to feel that the case has gotten extremely personal. Through some expert plot twists that Jess Lourey throws at us, we will be equally surprised by how this unpredictable story gets resolved.

I enjoyed THE LAUGHING DEAD, which leaves the door wide open for the fourth entry in the series. I very much look forward to it!