{"id":45366,"date":"2026-08-14T09:42:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T15:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=45366"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T17:35:09","slug":"play-me-once-a-psychological-thriller-the-portland-murders-2-by-mm-desch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=45366","title":{"rendered":"Play Me Once: A Psychological Thriller (The Portland Murders # 2) by MM Desch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A deliciously twisty thriller of love, lies, and murder.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Desch\u2019s second Portland Murders novel pairs a tangled murder investigation with an intimate, increasingly unsettling romance. Grace MacKenzie has spent decades mastering the art of silence, burying grief, desire, and pieces of herself beneath a carefully controlled life. At 50, she finally begins opening up after falling for magnetic Kate Nichols. But when Grace discovers a dead reporter\u2019s business card among Kate\u2019s belongings, mounting secrets, a sabotaged farm sale, and a murder investigation force her to question everything she believes about the woman she loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Desch delivers a tightly wound psychological thriller whose most compelling mystery lies in the treacherous territory between intimacy and deception. Grace makes an absorbing protagonist, her lifelong habit of self-suppression giving unusual emotional weight to her growing suspicions. Kate is equally magnetic, moving between tenderness, secrecy, and unnerving self-possession with an ambiguity that keeps the tension high. Desch skillfully makes ordinary details feel potentially loaded, allowing distrust to seep gradually into Grace\u2019s relationship.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The broader mystery expands through mounting secrets, hidden motives, and a colorful cast of possible suspects, while the Durango and Portland settings provide atmospheric backdrops for the increasingly tangled investigation. The novel\u2019s greatest strength is its emotional stakes: every clue threatens not only Grace\u2019s safety but her hard-won belief in a different future. With its layered conspiracy, emotionally charged investigation, and unusually intimate villain-protagonist dynamic, the novel succeeds as both a murder mystery and a study of how manipulation thrives on the stories people are desperate to believe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A gripping, psychologically layered thriller in which learning to trust oneself may be the most dangerous move of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0HL5HY2M1\">Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Series: The Portland Murders, Book 2 (reads as a standalone)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Publisher: Otherwise Occupied Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Publication date: January 26, 2027 (preorders open December 15, 2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Formats: Ebook and trade paperback&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Print length 320 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">ISBN (paperback): 979-8-9910136-4-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">ISBN (ebook): 979-8-9910136-3-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Genre: Psychological suspense \/ domestic thriller<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A deliciously twisty thriller of love, lies, and murder. Desch\u2019s second Portland Murders novel pairs a tangled murder investigation with an intimate, increasingly unsettling romance. Grace MacKenzie has spent decades mastering the art of silence, burying grief, desire, and pieces of herself beneath a carefully controlled life. At 50, she finally begins opening up after falling for magnetic Kate Nichols. But when Grace discovers a dead reporter\u2019s business card among Kate\u2019s belongings, mounting secrets, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":46089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[7223,91,3328,178,723771287,1136176,723769804,723769803,723770927,13078,723769805,723771991,929713,1473,1008073,856121,309,4511574,349],"class_list":["post-45366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-goodreads","tag-indie-books","tag-kindle","tag-kobo","tag-mm-desch","tag-mystery","tag-nook","tag-play-me-once-a-psychological-thriller-the-portland-murders-2","tag-psychological-thriller","tag-reading","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-suspense-and-thriller","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-bNI","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/81Hb-GovR-L._UF10002C1000_QL80_FMwebp_.webp?fit=625%2C1000&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46090,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366\/revisions\/46090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}