8 Days: A Dee Rommel Mystery

8 Days is the third installment in the Dee Rommel mystery series by Jule Selbo. In this book, Dee is back at it as a private investigator working for her godfather Gordy at his company, G & Z Investigation. After a horrific accident happens on a nearby bridge and a young woman named Hannah is found dead, a young man comes forward and tells Dee’s co-worker Abshir that he was on the bridge at the same time the accident occurred and that there was a large man who beat him up and took his backpack and phone. Now, the young man, Yuusuf fears for his life because someone wrote a threatening message on his front door. Abshir asks Dee and Gordy if they will help investigate what happened that night to help Yuusuf.

I really enjoyed this book in the series and felt the story moved along at a great pace. Selbo gives us the Dee we all know and love, with her tomboy attitude and fearless antics, so the book never lacks iexcitement, action, and snarky comments.

As Dee digs deeper into the investigation, she figures out that Yuusuf may not be telling the whole truth. Using her tough love method, Dee tells Yuusuf that if he doesn’t come clean and start talking, she can’t help him and they won’t be able to help others who may be in trouble. As Dee connects the dots, she realizes that things are not as they seem and this might be a case that even goes over the heads of the local police and into the hands of the FBI. Speaking of local police, Detective Donato is also featured in the story, although I felt like his part was a bit smaller in this book.

Set in Portland, Maine, the main area Dee investigates is at a strip mall. It turns out that Yuusuf works at several of the businesses at the strip mall and after getting attacked and threatened, he becomes too scared to go back to work. Dee goes around interviewing several business owners and some of the employees in the shopping center. Hannah, the girl who died on the bridge, had also worked at one of the businesses at the strip mall and Dee feels that this is not a coincidence. Hannah also worked for a company that answered phones at a help line. As Dee starts putting things together, danger becomes inevitable and Dee finds herself in a bad situation. Readers will love reading the ending as Dee’s fate unfolds.

8 Days is a fantastic, suspenseful thriller that fans of Lisa Jewell and Lisa Gardner will enjoy.