"Crime Writer" By Vinnie Hansen: Review/Giveaway

Reviewed by Sharon Marchisello

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Crime Writer, the new thriller by Vinnie Hansen, set in a fictitious California coastal town, starts with a bang. Literally. The protagonist, Zoe Kozinski, is an author doing research for her next book by riding along with a local police officer. When the cop pulls over a white sedan with a broken taillight in what should be a routine traffic stop, the driver opens fire and shoots him in the head. Zoe is the only witness. While she scrambles to call in the emergency, a “good Samaritan” stops to help—also driving a white sedan. Is this attractive, seemingly good-hearted man a potential friend and ally? Or is he the killer returning to clean up loose ends?

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Image Source Level Best Books

Instead of welcoming Zoe’s cooperation as a witness, the police look at her suspiciously. It doesn’t help that she left a few pages of her novel in progress in the squad car; her plot features a character on a ride-along where the police officer is shot. The detectives grill both her and Jimmy, the good Samaritan, suggesting the two might be in cahoots. And the fallen policeman’s widow is out for revenge. She files a lawsuit against the department’s ride-along program, claiming that Zoe distracted her husband from focusing fully on his job, which ultimately led to his death.

The story is told in close third person, alternating between Zoe and several other characters, including the shooter and his boss, who encourages him to “clean up the mess.” Having the other viewpoints added to the suspense as the bad guys thwart the investigation and get closer to identifying and locating the witness they aim to eliminate.

Besides writing books, Zoe plays keyboards for a girl band and lives pretty much off the grid. She owns a tiny house/trailer parked rent-free on the property of an aging hippie friend, Harvey, who grows illegal marijuana in the mountains outside of town. (She met him when she was researching a nonfiction book about cannabis.) She’s an only child whose life is occasionally disrupted when her wealthy socialite mother comes to town—as she does shortly after Zoe’s traumatic experience witnessing the cop’s murder.

Thanks to Zoe’s agent/publicist, who is a friend of her mother, the press learns the identity of the infamous ride-along witness to the cop-killing. After an article featuring Zoe and her books appears in the local newspaper, the killer has his first breakthrough. The story quickly becomes a page-turner as the reader watches the killer put clues together and get closer and closer to his target. Zoe dodges several brushes with death without realizing it.

Zoe’s never quite sure who she can trust or where she can feel safe, and no one comes through completely unscathed.

The writing is excellent, and the setting felt very real. Highly recommended!

To enter to win an ebook copy of Crime Writer, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "crime writer,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 27, 2025. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! 

You can click here to purchase this book.

Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of the DeeLo Myer cat rescue mysteries published by Level Best Books, starting with Trap, Neuter, Die (2024). Book 2, Trapped and Tested, is scheduled for the fall of 2025. Her other mysteries were published by Sunbury Press: Going Home (2014), Secrets of the Galapagos (2019), and Murder at Leisure Dreams – Galapagos (2025). She has also written a nonfiction book (Live Well, Grow Wealth - 2018), travel articles, and short stories. She earned a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is active in Sisters in Crime. Sharon lives in Peachtree City, GA, where she does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, the Fayette County Master Gardeners, and the Friends of the Peachtree City Library.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.