"This is the third mystery in the C. J. Cavanaugh P.I. Series, and my favorite to date. The nonstop twists and turns will keep you reading far into the night." -- Leona Grieve

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“The Butcher is a thrill ride from the moment you begin reading and doesn’t let up. Although third in a series of books involving C. J. Cavanaugh it is a book that can stand alone without needing to read the previous novels. However, after reading this one I doubt you will be able to resist going back and reading the others in the series.

     The characters are engaging and have a familiarity to them that lends an air of credibility and reality to the story. The relationships are rich, and nothing feels superficial about this book. It is always a treat to find characters and plots that complement one another so perfectly that you can get lost in the book and never want to come up for air—this is that kind of book.

     C. J. Cavanaugh is an investigator and with an insurance company as his primary client. When a murder victim with ties to the insurance company shows up, C. J. is asked by the insurance company to investigate. He begins working with the police department that is partially thrilled with his involvement and others viewing him as a hinderance. The deeper the investigation goes, the deeper the ties to the insurance company become. The ethical dilemmas and thrilling action and mystery of this book are really fun to watch unravel.

     Overall, this is a fantastic mystery novel with a lot of fun characters and an unpredictable plot that keeps things rolling. I would highly recommend picking this one up when you can.” -- The Librarian, five stars!!

 

“Wow! If you are into who-done-it’s that challenge your investigative skills, you must read this book!

     Placed in recent (keep reading) Portland, Oregon Michael Lane doesn’t waste time to let you know why the killer is called The Butcher. One woman leaves her buddies while engaged in girls’ night out for what she hopes will be a fun romp in the sack and ends up in several sacks in the truck of her car.

     Lane introduces The Butcher’s pursuers in pairs. The first pair is a male/female duo of private investigators. There is second pair of detectives is both men and both unsavory. There is profound competition between the two pairs of detectives.” – Reviewed by Tom Mullen, five stars!!

  

“Another long week avoiding people at all costs. Another week to mine amazon for an amazing new author. Michael Lane is the author of my next book which is called The Butcher. It is the third book in a series which was a pleasant surprise to me. I enjoyed reading the book immensely as the plot and the characters are amazing. The plot of the story was interesting and unconventional in many ways. Mysteries nowadays are almost formulaic in nature with so many folks writing them. It's always nice to see a fresh take on an old idea. The characters were amazing as well. They were well developed and complex. I was super excited to find that this was the third in a series because I look forward to going back to the others now. The book was able to be read standalone from the other books. I feel like the other books might flesh out the characters some more, but they were awesome in this book alone. Overall, it is a great read and a great value! I was surprised the price of the book was so low compared to the quality of the writing and the overall quality of the book. 5 stars!!” – Reviewed by Bella the Book Reading Terrier

 

“I'm a huge fan of murder mysteries, and I have definitely found the next series/collection I want to binge my way through! This is the first book I've read by this author, but the main character was written in such a familiar and relatable way that I was able to enjoy the storyline on its own before I even realized it wasn't the first C.J. Cavanaugh book. Despite having no prior exposure to the characters, I was sucked in from the very beginning.

     One of the main appeals of this book was how realistically the plot and characters were written. There were definitely some graphic and gory parts (the murderer was called The Butcher, after all), but I thought that these vivid descriptions just made the serial killer chase feel more intense and urgent. I liked that it wasn't all grim and bleak though, too -- the author did a great job of balancing out the horrifying serial killings with some more light and casual parts, which I thought made the storyline feel more like a real life investigation with real life people involved. This writing style combined with a few well-placed plot twists kept me very invested in the hunt for the killer and genuinely rooting for Cavanaugh to take him down.

     All in all, I can't wait to check out Lane's other books and follow C.J. Cavanaugh through a few more exciting cases. If you like a good murder case, definitely pick up this book -- you won't be able to put it down.” -- Reviewed by Virginia Randal, five stars.

  

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