Review: Grave Pursuit by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Grave Pursuit (Rachel Ryder, #12)

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Release Date: March 17, 2026

2026 Severn River Publishing

Ebook ARC; 328 Pages

ISBN: 978-1648757044

ASIN: B0FKH51GD6

Audiobook: B0GMKJZY3H

Genre: Fiction / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.75 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Detective Rachel Ryder and her partner Rob Bishop have seen their fair share of brutal crimes in Hamby, Georgia—but nothing like this. Chilling photos of the dead arrive at the police department, the victims eerily preserved in white robes from an exclusive Atlanta hotel. Their faces are obscured. Their a mystery. With no clear jurisdiction and no obvious connection between the victims, the case is already a challenge.

Desperate for leads, the department goes public, casting Rachel as the face of their plea for information. As the inevitable media firestorm erupts, it draws attention from all sides—including the one they fear the most. And when a suitcase appears on Bishop’s doorstep, a corpse inside, it’s clear the killer has made their reply. This time, there’s no mystery about the message. Pinned to the victim’s robe is a chilling Rachel’s next.

 

My Thoughts

Grave Pursuit is the next book in the longish running Rachel Ryder series, and while this one was interesting and I did like the connection to chess, I wasn't sold on the culprit and there was a lot of time spent in Rachel's head.  Normally I don't mind these psychological meanderings, but when it's repetitive, and I mean repetitive, it gets old, fast.  

 

One of the things I did like about this book however, is the development of the secondary characters. Although the entire story is told from Rachel's POV, and we are in her head a lot, we still get a good idea of how the other characters interact with her and her relationship with them. And while she presents a tough outward appearance, she is actually a big softie, and stresses a lot about her actions.  Does it prevent her from making mistakes though? No, but I do like the fact that her partner reams her out several times and even threatens certain actions if she continues to behave in a way that puts others in danger. I really appreciated this as I get so annoyed when a detective goes off alone or goes against direct orders, puts themselves or others in jeopardy, saves the day, and is never called out for their behaviour.  And while I do like Kyle in her life, why do authors make people behave like children whenever they have a conflict? 

 

One of the things I do have to mention here though, and while it may seem like a small thing, it bothered me throughout the book. At the beginning of the story, Kyle and Rachel were having a small friendly running competition.  OK, that's fine.  But as a long-time runner, maybe the author should have looked up running times before using them in this book? Apparently, her main characters can run 4 miles in 16 minutes and change; that's 6.4 km. Would anyone like to know what the world record for 5km is for a woman? 13:58  That would mean Rachel would be a world record holder as running at world record pace means 4 miles would take 17:38.  Huh!!! This may seem petty, but if the author can't check these facts, how many other facts are wrong in this book?

 

The plot moved along rather quickly and while I enjoyed the mystery, I wasn't sold on the culprit nor was I sold on the motive. And while I did enjoy the game of chess as well as the explanations (I tried learning chess and it was an epic fail), I always felt like I had to suspend belief while reading this story including how they got from A to B in their deductions.  For a killer who was so superior and intelligent, what happened just didn't make sense and goes against everything that the killer was portraying about themselves. I did like how the author portrayed Rachel's visits with the therapist as they seemed believable; if you are not ready for therapy and ready to open up, you can't force someone to go through the actions so I always find this aspect interesting.  

 

Verdict

Grave Pursuit was a quick read as Rachel found herself caught up in the middle of a game with a serial killer.  I did enjoy the character development of the secondary characters, but by book twelve, it is hard to develop anything new with Rachel. We do spent a lot of time in her head as she is being psychologically tested, something I always find interesting; how much can a killer push someone before they hit their breaking point.  But we are in her head a lot and some of it is quite repetitive.  While not my favourite in this series, it is still worth the read. However, I do recommend reading from the beginning in order to get a sense of the characters and what happened to Rachel's husband.