Review: IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by Seth Harwood

Moving away from the Jack Palms mystery series, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT is a police procedural which introduces readers to a new female protagonist in FBI agent Jess Harding, a professional who hunts serial killers – only this time, the hunter becomes the hunted.

Set in Alaska, Harwood managers to instil a good sense of time and place, enveloping the reader in a real sense of isolation and small town atmosphere. This is not one of the glamour FBI cases portrayed in popular genre fiction – IN BROAD DAYLIGHT is gory, messy, and a little disturbing, the setting helps to confine to atrocities as well as perpetuate the darkness and mystery surrounding the methodical madness.

IN BROAD DAYLIGHT reads as a second series book rather than first with many references to Jess’s past attempts at bringing this particular killer to justice. There is also a high degree of back-story implied as it relates to Jess’s romantic interests with fellow agents. I did find it difficult to fully appreciate Jess’s past without having read a prequel-like novel first. That aside, this is a solid police procedural that has plenty of action filled moments.