A Calculated Risk

By: Cari Hunter

Narrated by: Nicola Victoria Vincent

Detective Jo Shaw has it all worked out. She’s good at her job, she has loads of mates, and she likes being single. She doesn’t need complications, but an emergency call to the stabbing of a young woman brings plenty of those. Jo has to risk her career to save the woman’s life, and a bad night gets worse when the trauma surgeon turns out to be Isla Munro, Jo’s only real love, who walked out on her 15 years ago and never came back.

With the victim’s children missing and the husband the prime suspect, Jo’s investigation is stonewalled by a community living in fear. As one dead end leads to another, she and Isla are forced to put their differences aside and work together. But the case is far more dangerous than Jo realizes, and her determination to sort the truth from the lies may put her own life on the line.

©2023 Cari Hunter (P)2023 Bold Strokes Book Inc

Cari Hunter delivers

Loved it. Could not stop listening. Narrator was great as always. Can't wait for a sequel.

Another great Hunter/Vincent collaboration!

4.5 stars

Cari Hunter does an excellent job with crime/medical thrillers. And her go-to narrator Nicola Victoria Vincent is superb at voicing a wide variety of characters - both female and male - with staggering number of accents.

Hunter hasn't disappointed with anything I've read or listened to of hers so far. This new series features Detective Inspector Jo Shaw, who had a cameo in Hunter's outstanding stand-alone book Unbreakable. And if you read that, you'll appreciate revisiting a great character from that book.

While there is a slow burn second chance romance blossoming in this story between Shaw and one-that-got-away trauma surgeon Isla Munro, it's not the focus. I will enjoy seeing it play out in future books, though, as Hunter plans for this to be a series.

You really can't go wrong with this author's work.

Couldn’t wait to listen to

Cari Hunter is simply gifted at writing first responder tales in such a relatable way, and with such wonderfully flawed characters that they never fail to make me laugh, gasp, agree with and cry. This one is no exception. Nicola V Vincent is exceptional as usual.

Well Written Sapphic Crime Fiction

I loved “A Calculated Risk” by Cari Hunter.

The story focuses on Detective Jo Shaw’s efforts to solve the case of a critically injured woman whose children were also kidnapped during the crime. In the course of her investigation Detective Shaw is also shocked when the trauma surgeon at the hospital turns out to be the woman who left her 15 years ago.

I would describe this book as a true police procedural or pure crime fiction. The author methodically peels back the layers of several mysteries including the kidnapping and assault case, as well as the cause of the initial rift between Detective Jo Shaw and trauma surgeon Isla Munro.

One of my favorite things about a Cari Hunter book is that her storylines always incorporate the ambiance, culture, and slang of Northern England. The region becomes a central character in her novels and the descriptions of the environment, economic factors, atmosphere, and even the ongoing dismal weather make me feel like I am a part of the narrative. Her writing style makes you sense the tension, stress, and exhaustion of the characters.

The narration by Nicola Victoria Vincent is also excellent. The story includes a large supporting cast of male and female characters as well as folks of multiple ethnicities and she does a great job distinguishing them. Nicola Vincent also conveys the story’s emotional moments very well.

If you are looking for a romance then this book is probably not for you, but if you want well written sapphic crime fiction with three dimensional characters and a story that’s full of heart then “A Calculated Risk” should be your next listen.

Good story

This was a good listen, the story was captivating, I liked the MC, it took me some time to get use to the Scottish accent in some characters, but narration was very good.

Risky Business

Cari Hunter and Nicola Vincent didn’t disappoint. It was nice reading about Jo Shaw again and getting to know more about her. I hope there will be at least a part 2.

Highly Recommend

I have read all of Cari Hunter's books and have enjoyed every one of them. This is one of the best. The storyline is well developed and compelling in terms of the elements of the crime as well as the relationship between the principal characters. Also, the wonderful narration is a bonus. Hopefully there will be a sequel.

Excellent!

This was a great book! A story that keeps you guessing. The narration was fantastic. I will be getting more books from this author.

Holy cow!!!

I’m only partway through so I may have to update later but… omg I’m in love. Usually these like, crime/mystery books are either appalling with the medical details so it gets distracting if you let it or vague enough to not make you chuckle but then for those of us who know what happens behind some of those doors the story is almost a little muted. Granted… I didn’t know I felt that way until 3 chapters into this book where the whole story was like high definition. The technical stuff doesn’t distract from the story either. It’s not wild tangents turning into medical text books. The story is just made more vivid by it. Only criticism is all nursing duties are done by a doc and the nurse rarely seems to do anything but be comforting and sleep with a cop so far. Might be to focus on character building I guess. Just disappointing with how right on most other stuff is. Maybe that’ll get better.

The people are SO relatably human. Jo isn’t some superhero. She screws up, can be hot headed/impulsive and sometimes literally shows her a** but is also empathetic and tries to do the right thing. There IS a part where she crosses a line and does something medical as a leyman. I expected it to go off the rales at that point but… even that was pretty realistic and highlighted why we don’t do that and how much the aftermath can suck. Idk if protocols are even remotely right though because im in a different country so I can’t even remotely speak to that. That’s the closest thing to a spoiler though because I haven’t read more than that:)

Also… This author seems to just really understand people. Idk about how she portrayed those of other cultures. I’m sheet of paper white and will leave that to someone more qualified. The ones I CAN speak to though in all walks of life are just so amazingly done.

Splendid

Smashing story again by Cari. Would not want to listen to anyone else - top notch audio, Ms Vincent. Love the British slang as always in Hunter’s books. Can’t wait for the next one!