The Grave Artist by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

Item: The Grave Artist
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted September 16, 2025 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Review / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Grave Artist

by Jeffery Deaver, Isabella Maldonado

Series: Sanchez and Heron #2
Series Rating:

Published by Thomas & Mercer on September 9, 2025
Setting: Southern California
Genres: Crime Thriller
Pages: 396
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback
Source: the Publisher
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Fatal Intrusion

Perfect couples are his perfect victims. Now he’s hunting those hunting him in a riveting thriller by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado.

A wedding reception is coming to a close in the Hollywood Hills when the blissful day is shattered by the death of one of the newlyweds. Though the incident appears to be an accident, Homeland Security Investigations agent Carmen Sanchez and her partner, security expert Jake Heron, discover that the tragedy is the third in a series of similar deaths and conclude something far more sinister is at play.

The two uncover chilling evidence pointing to a serial killer who has taken evil to the next level. Dubbed the Honeymoon Killer, this man isn’t interested in his victims but in creating his own macabre masterpiece from their graves—focused on the survivors and reveling in their grief. And now his dark obsession has turned to Carmen and Jake…

The Honeymoon Killer has decided they are the perfect next target. Take one out and delight as the other crumbles. Time is running out as a deadly game between predator and prey begins.

The Grave Artist by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado is a fast-paced mystery with multiple points.

Will Sanchez and Heron figure out who the serial killer is and how to save their jobs?

The Investigators

HSI Carmen Sanchez and her partner, security expert Jake Heron, are part of a specialized unit set up to find homegrown terrorists or at least individuals who pose a micro threat to society. Both of our investigators have past experiences that could come back to haunt them. However, they have a fantastic team, little as it may be. Carmen has the police training, and Jake is a professor with mad computer skills. It is fun to see the two of them working things out; they each have a different perspective, which makes their partnership work brilliantly.

I like that Carmen and her sister have a good relationship. She is sort of a no-nonsense type of person. She doesn’t really seem to have much of a personal life, though.

Then there is Jake. He has fabulous instincts and doesn’t like all of the access the government has to our personal data. However, other hackers don’t find that a problem when it comes to using it against us.

The Cases

We have a serial killer murdering one part of a newly married couple, but making it look like an accident. And wow, his background is crazy. He thinks that he is so intelligent, but he is just as vulnerable to deception as anyone else. He falls for the honeypot, too. I think my favorite part was his demise.

There is the cold case of Carmen’s father’s death, which Carmen doesn’t have time to review, but her sister Selina has time for. This whole scenario backfires. Yet, Selina uses everything her sister taught her to obtain the necessary goods. I love the strong female characters.

We have the black hat hacker who is after Jake, who is insinuating himself in the current case just because he can. Their boss is on the hot seat with the congressional committee because his boss is a paranoid revenge freak who is trying to take over the I-Squared team. That last part is my thought, not the authors’.

Five Stars

My rating for The Grave Artist by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado is five stars. I loved the whole retribution and revenge angles. Everything moves so quickly that our detectives don’t really have time to dwell on a single event before the next is already in motion. This team is fantastic, and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend this book.

I look forward to the next installment.

Sanchez and Heron

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Grave Artist by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado.

Until the next time,

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About Isabella Maldonado

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax County Police Department just outside DC, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing, which includes the bestselling FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series (soon to be a Netflix feature film starring Jennifer Lopez), the award-winning Detective Veranda Cruz series, and the FBI Agent Daniela Vega series. Her books are published in 24 languages.

About Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into over twenty-five languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America, and was recently named a Grand Master of MWA, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mary Higgins Clark and Walter Mosely.

The author of over forty novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His “The Bodies Left Behind” was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller “The Broken Window” and a stand-alone, “Edge,” were also nominated for that prize. “The Garden of Beasts” won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s also been nominated for eight Edgar Awards by the MWA.

Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy.

His book “A Maiden’s Grave” was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel “The Bone Collector” was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his “The Devil’s Teardrop.” NBC television recently aired the nine-episode prime-time series, “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.”

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