Fog City Strangler by Greg Messel Review!

About the Book:

As 1958 nears an end San Francisco is being terrorized by a man who calls himself the “Fog City Strangler,” who preys on pretty young blonde women.  The strangler announces each murder by sending a note and piece of cloth from the victim’s dresses to the local newspapers.

Private eye Sam Slater is worried that the Fog City Strangler may be eyeing his beautiful blonde wife, stewardess Amelia Ryan. Sam’s angst mounts as the strangler continues to claim more victims. His anxiety is further fueled when TWA launches an advertising campaign with Amelia’s picture on a series of billboards plastered all over the city. Sam fears the billboards may attract too much attention--the wrong kind of attention.

Meanwhile, Sam and Amelia are hired to try to find the missing daughter of a wealthy dowager who fears she has lost her only child. The missing woman went for a walk with her dog on Stinson Beach, near San Francisco, and seemingly vanished into thin air. The woman’s husband arrived at their beach house and found the dog running loose but there was no trace of his wife. The police are stumped in their investigation.

As Sam and Amelia look into the disappearance of the woman on the beach they discover that nothing is as it seems at first glance. On a stormy night a shadowy figure sets fire to the beach house where the couple is staying--hoping to stop their investigation.

Fog City Strangler is a stand-alone thriller but is part of the Sam Slater Mystery Series--Last of the Seals, Deadly Plunge and San Francisco Secrets.

About the Author:

Greg Messel grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives in Edmonds, Washington on the Puget Sound with his wife, Carol.  Fog City Strangler is his seventh novel and is the fourth in a new series of Sam Slater mystery novels. Greg has lived in Oregon, Washington, California, Wyoming and Utah and has always loved writing, including stints as a reporter, columnist and news editor for a daily newspaper.
Follow news about Messel’s writings and books at www.gregmessel.com.

Connect & Socialize with Greg!

TWITTER | FACEBOOK

Purchase your copy:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

Title: Fog City Strangler

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher:
Pages: 453
Language: English
Genre: Mystery/Romance
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Purchase at AMAZON

As 1958 nears an end San Francisco is being terrorized by a man who calls himself the “Fog City Strangler,” who preys on pretty young blonde women.  The strangler announces each murder by sending a note and piece of cloth from the victim’s dresses to the local newspapers. Private eye Sam Slater is worried that the Fog City Strangler may be eyeing his beautiful blonde wife, stewardess Amelia Ryan. Sam’s angst mounts as the strangler continues to claim more victims. His anxiety is further fueled when TWA launches an advertising campaign with Amelia’s picture on a series of billboards plastered all over the city. Sam fears the billboards may attract too much attention--the wrong kind of attention.

Meanwhile, Sam and Amelia are hired to try to find the missing daughter of a wealthy dowager who fears she has lost her only child. The missing woman went for a walk with her dog on Stinson Beach, near San Francisco, and seemingly vanished into thin air. The woman’s husband arrived at their beach house and found the dog running loose but there was no trace of his wife. The police are stumped in their investigation.

As Sam and Amelia look into the disappearance of the woman on the beach they discover that nothing is as it seems at first glance. On a stormy night a shadowy figure sets fire to the beach house where the couple is staying--hoping to stop their investigation.

Fog City Strangler is a stand-alone thriller but is part of the Sam Slater Mystery Series--Last of the Seals, Deadly Plunge and San Francisco Secrets.

My Thoughts

I have read all of the Sam Slater mysteries by Greg Messel and I have to say that each one gets better. I think that Fog City Strangler is a bit grittier and at times scarier than previous novels. A serial killer is on the loose in San Francisco, targeting young beautiful blonde women, of which Amelia Slater happens to be. When a neighbor is murdered in the same manner as the previous victims, it brings everything a bit too close to home. Can the police find the killer before he gets to Amelia?? You have to read the book for that...!!

On a side note, Sam and Amelia are hired by an ailing elderly woman to find out what happened to her daughter who disappeared from a beach home. I liked the addition of this side story in the novel as I think it gave more depth to the characters. It did not overwhelm like some books can with too much going on in the plot and too many characters. If you love a mystery that has wonderful characters such as Sam and Amelia with a great mystery or two thrown in, then this is a series that you must read. You can read each one alone but I think it is best to start at the beginning. That way you can watch the love between Sam and Amelia grow. I thoroughly enjoyed the book!! I gave this book a 4 star rating as there were some editing issues otherwise it would have gotten a 5 star!!

I received a copy for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.