Unpunished (Gardiner and Renner #2) by Lisa Black

It begins with the kind of bizarre death that makes headlines literally. A copy editor at theCleveland Heraldis found hanging above the grinding wheels of the newspaper assembly line, a wide strap wrapped around his throat. Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner has her suspicions about this apparent suicide inside the tsunami of tensions that is the news industry today and when the evidence suggests murder, Maggie has no choice but to place her trust in the one person she doesn t trust at all . . .
Jack Renner is a killer with a conscience, a vigilante with his own code of honor. In the past, Jack has used his skills and connections as a homicide detective to take the law into his own hands, all in the name of justice. He has only one problem: Maggie knows his secret. She insists he enforce the law, not subvert it. But when more newspaper employees are slain, Jack may be the only person who can help Maggie unmask the killer-- even if Jack is still checking names off his own private murder list."

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Unpunished by Lisa Black that I read and reviewed.
The first thing that I am going to do is suggest that you read the first book in the series because it will help you understand Jack and Maggie's deal that is talked about a lot in this book. Things that took place in the first book also are still being dealt with in this book so in order to have a full understanding of what is going on, reading the first book will help.
As for Unpunished, I found it fascinating. I loved how Black looked at the newspaper business and how it is dying. Her unique way of having a killer use that industry to show his or her displeasure about what was going on I found very interesting because I use to work in that industry and how she described it brought back so many memories. The irony in the strap the killer used hang the victims was something a journalist would love reading and absolutely get.
This was the second book that we, as readers, get to see the pairing of Maggie Gardiner and Jack Renner who I love together even though they are polar opposites. Maggie is the by the book forensic expert and Jack is a cop by day and serial killer at night who have been forced to make a truce and work together and are now trying to find out who is killing people who work at the local newspaper. The chemistry between these two I can't decide if it is a love hate relationship because Maggie hates what Jack does in his spare time or if there is a small sliver of attraction there because you know what they say about love and hate? I guess we will have to see where as the series goes.
I kept jumping around guessing who the killer was in Unpunished. Black is a master a leaving hints but making you second or even third guess about what you think is right. Then you pick a suspect and the next thing you know he or she us hanging up by a strap. Guess that one was wrong. On to the next one. This was one of those books.
I can't wait to see what Black has planned next for Maggie and Jack in her next book. This is one of those series with a cop as a serial killer you have to ask yourself how long before he gets caught?
Unpunished gets five out of five stars.