Detective Betty #2
There's not much that can make Detective Betty Rhyzyk flinch. But the wounds from her run-in with the apocalyptic cult The Family are still fresh, and she's having trouble readjusting to life as it once was.
She's back at work as a narcotics detective, but something isn't right--at work, where someone has been assassinating confidential informants, or at home, where she struggles to connect with her loving wife, Jackie. To make matters worse, Betty's partner seems to be increasingly dependent on the prescription painkillers he was prescribed for the injuries he sustained rescuing her.
Forced into therapy, a desk assignment, and domestic bliss, Betty's at the point of breaking when she decides to go rogue, investigating her own department and chasing down phantom sightings of the cult leader who took her hostage. The chase will lead her to the dark heart of a drug cartel terrorizing Dallas, and straight to the crooked cops who plan to profit from it all.
There's never a dull moment in Dallas, especially now that Det. Betty's back.
"Kent continues to reinvent and subvert traditional noir expectations with the larger-than-life, damaged, courageous Betty...Action-driven mystery anchored by dynamic, deep characters." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A gripping, powerfully human procedural." - Booklist
"The blunt, volatile, and relentlessly brave Betty leaps off the page, and Kent hits her with a frequently terrifying obstacle course of hair-raising scenarios. Readers will clamor for the irresistible Betty's next chapter." - Publishers Weekly
This information about The Burn was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kathleen Kent is the author of the Edgar Award-nominated The Dime, as well as three bestselling historical novels: The Heretic's Daughter, The Traitor's Wife, and The Outcasts. Kent lives in Dallas, TX.

If you liked The Burn, try these:
by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Published 2025
An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, and the wild legacy of trauma and inheritance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble.
by Richard Osman
Published 2025
Solving murders. It's a family business.
by Keri Blakinger
Published 2023
An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman's journey - from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom - and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.