Book Review
Title: Aquarius (Murders of the Zodiac #1)
Author: Alathia Paris Morgan
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ***
Review: I have tried to finish this series a few times in the past but due to one reason or another I haven’t been able to do so. Once again, I am starting this series from the beginning in the hopes of finishing it this time. We follow Leslie Boxe who has just been promoted to a homicide detective as she gets called to her first murder. Before lunch time on her first day as a detective, Leslie is taken to two murder scene with a very similar M.O. As she finds the first clue is related to their birthday as they both fall under the Aquarius sign which is drawn on cards left behind, we can see that Leslie has a huge job laid out before her just to solve these two crimes without the other murders that are going to follow. One thing I also noted is that we get the killer’s perspective, while this isn’t uncommon in crime novels, they normally hint or leave clues to the killer’s identity, but these books don’t as there is something special about the killer represented in each book.
As Leslie begins investigating the murders, she finds that one of the victims is connected to a fairly rich man called Noah Preston. After meeting Noah, nothing on the surface seems off about him but Leslie can’t shake the feeling that he is somehow involved in the murders although she doesn’t know how or why but she is going to get to the bottom of it. Leslie also discovers that there are murders in Fort Worth that match their two murders and it seems more and more likely that they have a serial killers on their hands. When Leslie and her partner Joe travel there they meet Ryan, who is leading the Fort Worth investigation and sparks fly between him and Leslie but not in the way you think especially since Ryan has a fiancé. We are also introduced to the last vital character of the series, a psychic named Flora, who has been experiencing dreams and visions relating to the murders and while Ryan doesn’t take her seriously, Leslie is more than willing to take a chance on her been as they don’t have much to go on in the first place.
In between murders, Leslie is also trying to live a normal life which include going on date with the very charming, very handsome Jerome. After dropping Jerome off after their date Leslie is called into work because there has been another attack but the woman, Sarah Black is still alive but in critical condition. When they arrive at the hospital, they meet Sarah’s husband, Ron who tells them he spotted a delivery man leaving the house as he arrive and that is when he found his wife terribly injured. With the attack and subsequent death of Sarah, the death toll now stands at eight and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon but there isn’t much new evidence for Leslie and the others to use in identifying and catching the killer. The murders keep coming in, Leslie has to split her time between Fort Worth and her own department and she is struggling to deal Ryan’s abrasive personality, but I like the chemistry between the pair. Meanwhile, she is having to call Jerome and rearrange their date since she isn’t sure that she is going to be done in Fort Worth.
When Leslie finally meets Nick’s contact, Ford, he lets slip that Noah Preston isn’t a nice man, even within the club setting Ford has noticed there are friends of his willing to overlook his behaviour when he gets too close to the line but Ford is under the impression he keeps a lot of his darker deeds away from the club and is going to investigate further for Leslie. When Leslie and Jerome meet up again, he helps her investigate further into the star sign connection and they find not only do all the women share the Aquarius star sign but the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth as also Sun Aquarius cities which is linked to the murders by the star sign but they all took place during the day as well. As Leslie heads up to Fort Worth again, she shares her findings with Ryan who still doesn’t believe Flora but in light of Leslie’s investigating he is more inclined to accept that Flora’s predication does have some logical basis. Despite all this new information that is appearing it isn’t leading them any close to the identity of the killer and the bodies are continuing to mount and time is running out for Leslie and Ryan. I do also have to say that I was disappointed with the introduction of Shea, Ryan’s fiancée as I really like the dynamic between Ryan and Leslie and personally felt that they would make a good couple but the romance elements do take a massive backseat to the crime and mystery elements which I greatly appreciated.
After getting some more information and Noah and his friend, Glen who was kicked out of the club for his violent nature, Leslie is sure they are on the right track for the killer but after staking out Glen/Noah’s home all night and getting nothing, Leslie beings to question herself. While I agree that Noah is involve in some way we know he is too rich and too powerful to be committing the murders himself but I remember from previous reading that there are some interesting twists revolving around the killer that I will be discussing in the later books which Ryan and Leslie haven’t worked out yet. Leslie is also struggling with her increasing attraction to Ryan who is in a happy relationship and she is also struggling to decide whether to actually move things forward in her relationship with Jerome and surprisingly she turns to Flora for advice and gets exactly what she needs. So far, Aquarius has a lot of info-dumping since it is introducing us to the characters and the plot arc that is going to be carried through the series along with the smaller plot arc that is only carried through this particular book, but I did find myself getting a little bored at time especially when there wasn’t much happening with the case or there were no murders being committed.
By the time the real killer is revealed they have taken their own life meaning there isn’t much resolution for Leslie, Ryan, and the others, but the case has been resolved. However, something about the suicide scene doesn’t sit right with Leslie, since she is sure that Noah is involved in some way. I was also concerned by the “have fun, next month” comment in the suicide note/confession and since I have read a few books before in this series I know that this was only the beginning of the zodiac murders but to be honest, I was left quite underwhelmed by the first book as there aren’t really any hints to the killer’s identity apart from one brief scene from the killer’s perspective. There are also large portions of the book where nothing happens which makes it feel very slow especially for a book this short but I will definitely be re-reading the first 3 books and deciding then if I want to continue on with the series.
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