Lisa Henson

I previously had the opportunity to review the third in Emma Jameson's Jemima Jago series, A Death at Silversmith Bay. It was delightful, so I was pleased to have the chance to be on the blog tour for A Death at Neptune Cove.

Emma Jameson does not disappoint!

Jem is only trying to find help fixing a squashed birthday cake when she and Pauley let themselves into Neptune Cottage. Instead of a helping hand, though, they found the tenant, one Arthur Ajax, dead on the kitchen floor. The murder weapon? Apparently a loaf of pumpernickel bread. Clarence, a local amateur baker, handed them out to everyone. Jem realizes the police will take this to mean Clarence was the killer, so she and her friends jump into action to figure out who really dunnit.

And not only is there a murder. There's also treasure! Rhys Tremayne's little dog Buck unearths a cache of jewels. Are the jewels related to the dead man? Jem is determined to find out.

This is another fun read! Arthur Ajax is definitely not what he seems. Several things don't make sense – a stash of letters addressed to someone else and a very expensive sewing machine found in the cottage don't seem to fit what people know of Arthur. The more Jem digs, the more she realizes that several people might have wanted to see an end to him. As they unravel the clues, we get international intrigue, a yacht that Arthur may or may not have owned, and a line of hearts he trifled with that could wrap around the island. The twists and turns kept me guessing.

The island setting is, as always, delightful. I want to visit the Isles of Scilly now. Jameson uses the environment and the things associated with it, particularly boats, to good effect here.

And I was thrilled to see progress in Jem and Rhys' relationship! I give nothing away, but they do make me smile.

This is another tremendously enjoyable read from Emma Jameson, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good cozy with a side of romance and a lovely British setting. Five stars from me!

Harlen LeBlanc has crafted a quiet life for himself. In 1987, he works as a groundskeeper at a high school in a small Texas town. He seems gentle and mild-mannered. He keeps himself to himself and sticks to his routine. But when a young coworker, Gene, is accused of murdering a former girlfriend, Harlen can't let that lie. He determines to investigate for himself, and winds up with the eyes of the law pointing at him.

Michael Fischer steals from other folks' trap lines in the swamps of Louisiana in 1965. His life is one of grinding poverty and despair, and stealing is the only way he can try to provide for his fanatically religious mother and younger sister while his father, Munday, is in prison. But Munday's return home doesn't restore order to the family. Instead, when Munday returns home, trouble follows in his wake. He soon displays the measure of the evil that lurks within him, and when Munday turns that evil on his own daughter, Michael flees. He is taken in by a dying man, Remus, who is the opposite of Munday and who does his best to show Michael how to be a good man even when life's trials threaten to overwhelm.

The book opens with a prologue that seems almost scriptural in its reading. It describes a watchmaker, toiling diligently at his station, ever winding, ever creating, oblivious to the horde crowding around his workspace seeking salvation. Wanting to be seen. The multitudes cry out, asking why the creator has forsaken them. But the watchmaker continues working, creating. The relentless flow of time and the stolid indifference of a creator to man's problems is not an obvious part of the story, but it is a constant underlying thread.

James Wade drew me into the stories of both characters, Harlen and Michael. Through their eyes, he paints a vivid picture of the unfairness, the brutality, that life can often inflict upon a person. Michael didn't ask to be the child of a pedophile and abuser. Harlen didn't ask for the choices that he finds he must confront as he seeks to establish Gene's innocence. Yet there they both are, struggling with their respective burdens.

The ending of the book wasn't what I expected, I don't think, but I'm not sure it could have ended any other way. There is closure, of a kind, a wrong set right. And while Harlen is a flawed man, broken in a way he cannot redeem, he still brings a little light to at least one person's life. In the darkness, there is a thread of hope.

Beasts of the Earth is not a quick, easy read. It digs into some dark places in the human psyche and doesn't flinch from harsh topics. But it's worth reading for the idea that, even though a man may walk through some of the deepest darkness, it does not have to overwhelm him.

I had good things to say about Wade's second book, River, Sing Out. Beasts of the Earth is another five-star read for me and establishes Wade firmly as one of my must-read authors.

Print journalism is struggling, and January is trying not to lose her job. (She's also in the running for an editorial position, which confused me a bit. Which is it – is she editor material, or is she going to get the sack?) So when a “bog body” is found, she dashes off to get a story. When it turns out that the body isn't ancient, but a much more recent victim of foul play, she leaves her warm and fuzzy lifestyle articles behind to dig into this murder. She gets herself into some scrapes along the way, as the killer intends on making her his next victim.

This book is set in modern times, but it doesn't always feel that way. January Quail comes from a family of means. The family may have fallen on hard times, but her manners and attitude seem to be very much of another era.

This is clearly reflected in her refusal to use technology to draft and send information to her editor. I used to work for someone who didn't believe in using computers. We attorneys had access to a computer in the law library for legal research, but we did not have our own computers in our offices. We drafted our legal opinions with pen and legal pad, and our paralegal typed it up. That's what I thought of when January kept writing out her articles and sending pictures of them back to the office. It made me nuts in my life, and it made me nuts reading about it. I kept thinking, will you just get a laptop already?! I have a hard time envisioning an employer going along with that situation for too long.

January also drinks. A lot. Her poison of choice is the liqueur creme de menthe. She actually carries around a glass for drinking it. I'm pretty sure she could be described as a functioning alcoholic. She seldom gets drunk, but the craving for a drink is constant.

The crime itself was fascinating. I wasn't familiar with bog bodies before reading this book, and it was interesting (and a bit gruesome) to read about the process by which bodies were prepared for the bog. It's certainly a unique method of murder that I haven't read about before! The mystery was also pretty engaging. There were plenty of options for a potential killer in the Irish village near the crime scene, and I was kept guessing until fairly far along in the book.

January may have been an intriguing character, but she was hard to like. She was in danger of losing her job, but didn't seem to make getting stories in to the paper a priority. She put herself in harm's way more than once, she didn't listen to her editor when he told her to leave things alone, and she seemed to be more interested in doing what she wanted to do than in handling her job responsibilities. I get that sometimes it's good to buck the system, but January took tha to a whole new level.

So, five stars for the Irish setting (which was a lot of fun!) and the twisty mystery, three stars for a not-so-likable protagonist, and that averages out to four. A good read.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from BookSirens. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

What an absolutely charming cozy mystery!

When I read the title of the book and series, I wasn't sure what a Glenmyre Whim was. Turns out, whims are the manifestations of magical power for the members of the Glenmyre family. Hazel, Holden, and Poppy, the last three surviving members of the family, each have a different Whim. Poppy's lets her see a person's aura. Holden's lets him see the last few minutes of someone's life (useful in his job as a police detective). Hazel's lets her see a person's lifeclock, so she knows when they're going to die. Understandably, she normally wears special glasses designed to block this information.

When Mayhan Montgomery has a run-in with Hazel's friend Iggy, she inadvertently sees Montgomery's lifeclock and knows he only has a few weeks left to live. That changes, though, when Montgomery goes missing and is presumed dead. And when Iggy is the prime suspect, targeted for the crime by a new detective in town looking to prove himself, Hazel can't stay out of it. She and Poppy have to find out what's really going on.

The world of Crucible is just a joy. It sounds like a nice, close-knit, friendly little town. (This whole murder thing notwithstanding, that is.) Hazel and her friends and family look out for each other. I'd like to hang out with them at the Cold Cauldron and go browse all the shops.

Burr does a good job of creating red herrings to make you think you know who the culprit might be (because it is definitely not Iggy!). As Hazel and Poppy investigate, they find that a whole lot of folks in Crucible might have had reason to want Montgomery dead. Is it the local restaurateurs? The yoga instructor? Even Montgomery's own assistant isn't above suspicion.

I really enjoyed the way Burr worked rescue animals into the story. We see Hazel bring home two new furry friends, a cat and a dog, both with special needs. One, I love that she got them from a rescue, and two, I love that she didn't hesitate to take both of the animals and that she put her family money to good use by donating to the rescue for the ongoing care of animals with health issues. That alone would endear Hazel to me for the rest of the series!

As the book draws to a close, we learn more about the history of Crucible. It has historically been protected by the Glenmyre Shield, a magical barrier put into place by Hazel's ancestor Jedidiah centuries earlier. It's been safe, crime-free, accident-free. When the murder occurs, they start to wonder if the shield is weakening. But maybe it's not. I hope we learn more about that in future books!

Characters that are absolutely cheer-worthy, a setting that sounds like a place I'd love to visit, a fascinating magical system, and an engaging mystery that kept me guessing – Too Much to Candle gets five twinkling candlelit stars from me!

After his death, Vivienne is unable to locate her father's elusive ward, Rosamond Swansea, either by direct inquiry or by gaining employment at the asylum as an aid under an assumed name. Someone knows Vivienne for who she is, though, and does not wish her to succeed in finding Rosamond. Darkness soon seems to overtake her as she finds herself deemed mad by the powers that be at the asylum, held there against her will with what appears to be no hope of escape.
But trapped in circumstances she cannot control, Vivienne soon begins to see the women around her at Hurstwell not just as broken, irredeemable bodies, but as people. And even in the darkness, music finds a way – to reach her; to reach Doctor Mitchell Turner, struggling since the death of his wife while in the asylum's care; to reach the patients who have been cast off by society, forgotten, considered to be broken and worthless.

Politano does a marvelous job of weaving Scripture throughout the book. The story of the apostle Paul in prison figures significantly in Vivienne's gradual realization that maybe – just maybe – she IS right where she belongs, and that God DOES have a purpose for her there. I love how one of the other patients at the asylum reminded Vivienne, when she was talking about how she had to get back to her life outside the asylum, to what she was meant to do, that “not right now you ain't, because you're here. And nothing happens without the Almighty's say-so.”

There are a lot of tense moments in the story, and Politano pulls no punches in her descriptions of the conditions inside the asylum. The superintendent of the asylum rules with a heavy hand, consumed by fear and hatred stemming from a painful event deep in his past. But even he comes to see that the darkness he carries cannot blot out the radiance that God shines into hidden corners through Vivienne and her music.

“For all the locking up he'd done, all the patients he'd managed to control with cells and restraints, there was one thing those walls could not contain.

“Light.”

And at its heart, that's what the story is about: the triumph of light over darkness. Vivienne determined what she thought her path should be. But God disrupted her plans and put her into the darkest place she could envision so that, if she would let it, His light could shine through her and touch lives in ways she had never imagined.

“We're all of us told to walk in the light, but we don't. We simply wish to drag the light over to where we're already standing, so we may better see the path we've set out for ourselves. I dearly wished to set my own path. To take control for once in my life. But perhaps I wasn't meant to – not in the way I'd tried it, anyway.”

In the end, The Lost Melody is a fascinating, well-researched peek into the beginnings of music therapy and the treatment of mental health issues in the late nineteenth century, a clean romance in an unexpected setting, and a testament to God's ability to take all things and work them together for good for those who are called according to His purpose, to bring beauty from what we see as only ashes. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. It's a five-star read for me.

Ever since getting my hands on Jen Hatmaker's Beef Bourguignon recipe in her book For the Love, I have dearly wished she'd write a cookbook. That is the best dang beef stew recipe you will ever put in your face hole, and I knew if she could make one dish that marvelous, she had to be able to cook more.

The angels have sung and my wish has come true. And I have Jen Hatmaker's cookbook in my hot little hands, and IT IS GLORIOUS. The pictures are stunning, the stories are wonderful, and the author's sense of humor and personality shines from the pages.

I've made a few of the recipes (and more will follow!). When I'm cooking, I feel like Jen and I are old friends, and she's hanging out at my house, and we will make all the food and eat until we are stupid and have a marvelous time.

The Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby is an amazing breakfast that smells like Christmas. I'd never made a Dutch baby before, but I see many of them in my family's future. The Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders were wildly popular with my boys, who are notoriously picky eaters. Our favorite so far, though, is the Potato Chip, Bacon, and Raspberry Grilled Cheese. My husband tried it and said he could eat NINE of them and we should never do a grilled cheese sandwich any other way ever again. It sounds weird, I know. But trust me. You NEED this sandwich in your life.

My one teeny little disappointment is that Jen does not have a sweet tooth like I do, and there's only one dessert recipe in the whole book. But she's got recipes for hummus and fried mozzarella sticks and migas and queso, so that redeems the lack of dessert recipes. For good queso, I can skip dessert.

Five stars for food that sounds so yummy I want to lick the pages, and for a cookbook that's well organized and does a great job of breaking recipes and techniques down so that even kitchen newbies can make the tasty, tasty food.

I absolutely loved this book! Katherine H. Brown creates a marvelous alternate London set in the Victorian period, and it's a good representation of the steampunk genre. There are hat tips to Mary Poppins everywhere, from Anna-Marie's souped-up umbrella to Bert, the amiable coal deliveryman, and so many more.

Anna-Marie was a very likable protagonist. She cares about the girls she left behind at the orphan home and wants better for them. She uses her common sense to solve problems, and she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (literally or figuratively). She doesn't shy away from difficult situations, and she's teaching the girls in her charge to do likewise.

Anna-Marie's attraction to Captain Ambrose Banks, and his to her, is delightful. Ambrose's general attitude toward life is so joyful, Anna-Marie can't help but warm to it. But if she wants to gain her freedom from Uncle Ernest's employ, she'll have to find a way to do one last job for him. Can she complete the task and find unexpected happiness with an unexpected man? Read and find out!

The orphan girls – I want to hug them all and feed them and give them a safe place to live. Brown pens a realistic portrayal of the hard lives they led in 19th-century London, and the jobs they might find themselves pressed into with no family to be concerned about them. It wasn't pretty, even in an alternate universe.

The ending of the book makes it clear that this is not the end of the story. Things aren't tied up in a tidy package, so if loose ends damage your calm, you'd best brace yourself. I, however, am here for it. The cliffhanger ending has me clamoring for more!

A Spoonful of Gunpowder is an engaging story and a great start to a new series. Five stars from me!

Disclaimer: Thanks to BookSirens and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Riley Gordan has come back home to Adairsville, Georgia, hoping for a restful break from law school and some quality time with her dear friend, Trish. But the peace and quiet is shattered when one of Riley's Sunday school girls, Kaylene, is kidnapped. Kaylene is friends with Nate Bannister, a bit of a local celebrity around Adairsville. A former pro baseball player, Nate is making a run for local political office. Someone wants to keep him from running, and they figure putting Kaylene in harm's way will make the old man back off to keep her safe.

Adairsville, Georgia is a real place, similar in size to the small town I grew up in. So it's easy for me to visualize, and Danny and Wanda Pelfrey have filled it with engaging characters. I love the friendship between Riley and Trish. I can imagine the shenanigans they got up to when they were younger, and now they're putting themselves in harm's way to try to rescue Kaylene.

I liked the relationship between Nate and Kaylene, too. We live in a society where so often, older people are dismissed as no longer having worth. It was refreshing to see a friendship between the old and the young, and when Nate explained why Kaylene meant so much to him, I choked right up. Would that we valued and learned from our older folks more.

Faith is a strong component of this story. Riley teaches Sunday school. The characters pray and attend church services and rely on God for direction in their lives. They reach out to others and try to treat them as Jesus would have. It's nice to see a book where Christianity is an active part of the story, not just a passing mention, and it's done without leaving the reader feeling like they've been whacked upside the head with the King James Version of the Bible. Nicely done!

The story also did a good job of keeping me in the dark as to the bad guy's identity. I love stories where I'm kept guessing until the end.

There's a bit of romance, but it's clean. Language is also clean.

In short, this is a delightful mystery in a setting I hope to visit again in the rest of the series!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the author. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Francesca (Fran) Eve's old school chum, Olivia, has hired her to cater the funeral dinner for Clarence Lightman. Mr. Lightman, an author who created games based on his books, died a wealthy man. His will makes one last effort to reconcile his fractured family by sending his “nearest and dearest” on a treasure hunt. His children do not take this news well, and they're really unhappy when they learn that Olivia – the “hired help” – has the right to try to unravel the clues and claim an inheritance for herself.

This book is nearly impossible to put down! The treasure hunt premise is unique and a lot of fun. The characters end up in some pretty outlandish situations trying to chase down the clues that lead to the fortune. And in addition to trying to sort out the clues, Fran and Adam are trying to track down a murderer.

There's some stiff competition among the teams (Marcus and Cate, two of Lightman's children; Saul, the third of Lightman's children; and Fran, Olivia, and Adam). At least one of the teams is playing dirty, and we know it isn't our fearless protagonists. The fact that someone is willing to stoop to murder really ramps up the tension in the story.

And the characters! Fran is a delight. She's close to my age, which makes me appreciate her that much more. She and Adam seem like they'd be as different as chalk and cheese, but their personalities actually work well together. I like that Fran isn't someone who has to be in charge all the time. She realizes that Adam has the skill set they need to work out the clues here, and she doesn't hesitate to let him take the lead on that. She knows her strengths and is fine with letting others shine when it's what works best. And even the minor characters, like Margaret, the family solicitor, are fleshed out nicely.

There were plenty of twists and turns in the story, and Davies kept me guessing until the end. I love a book where I can't solve the mystery until the reveal smacks me in the head!

If you like a modern story with a unique premise and a cozy mystery that will have you second-guessing what you think at every turn, I highly recommend Death on the Menu!

I adore the Lady Eleanor Swift series by Verity Bright, so when I had the chance to read and review Death Among the Diamonds, the first in a new cozy series set in 1920s England, I jumped at it. I'm so glad I did!

The Hon. Cressida Fawcett is a young woman ahead of her time. Single and well to do, she's enjoying her life, not looking to make a good marriage match as so many young women are. She lives with her pug, Ruby, and she's quite happy that way.

When she travels to the countryside for a weekend at the home of her friend Dorothy, she certainly never expects to be caught up in a crime scene. But diamonds have been stolen, and the young, affable chandelier cleaner is found dead. Suddenly anyone there on the estate is a suspect, and no one is free to leave.

This book is simply enchanting! Cressida's world of money and the high life is far from my own middle-aged mom existence, but it's a lot of fun to read about. Cressida herself is refreshing, a woman not afraid to buck expectations and do what makes her happy. Ruby is a fun addition to the story, and often a help to Cressida. (And now I want a pug.)

Fliss Chester creates characters that are a joy to read about. (Basil really came off as a creep, though. I think Dorothy can do better.) The story moves along at a nice clip, and there were twists and turns enough to hold my interest. She does a nice job with the locked-room mystery, and I look forward to reading more in the series.

I highly recommend Death Among the Diamonds if you love clean historical cozies. I think I've found a new author to add to my favorites!

Ruby, who prefers to be called Lauren, chafes at a future as a ranch wife in Palo Pinto County, Texas. A visit to her Aunt Imogene in New York further disenchants her with the small-town Texas life. When a modeling agency spies Lauren riding in a parade and recruits her, it seems like a dream come true. She moves to New York and moves in with Imogene to begin her career, her new life.

But things don't go according to plan, and being as she's a teenager, Lauren doesn't always make wise choices. She is forced out of modeling, and begins a slide into years of promiscuity and alcoholism. She moves back and forth between Texas and New York, jumping from one job to another and leaving wrecked relationships in her wake, until she ends up in Austin, Texas. There she finds sobriety and starts her own successful business, but she doesn't find peace. And then her third husband, Brett, comes looking for her.

Lauren was sometimes a difficult character to like, but I think that's because I read the book from the perspective of middle age. I saw Lauren making terrible choices, I saw the train wreck coming, and I wanted to holler, “Don't do it! It won't go well!” But her story is a compelling one. How many of us haven't wanted to buck the system as teenagers? Lauren did just that, and you have to admire that supreme teenage self-confidence, even as you're shaking your head because you just know that's not gonna go well.

I like the way the story crossed some lines with Imogene. Imogene was a free spirit and didn't care about what society thought. In some instances, that was a good thing. She was an aficionado of jazz at a time when racial boundaries kept a lot of people out of the places where it might be played, and Lauren grew to be a lover of jazz as well. Imogen also crossed racial lines with her friendship with her housekeeper Vandine, and Vandine became a friend to Lauren as well. Sometimes it's good when you don't worry so much about what society will think.

The story also does a good job of illustrating the damage that a strained family relationship can do. When she left her home, Lauren burned bridges with her mother. That relationship was never mended, and her actions also negatively impacted her relationships with her brothers.

The book moves back and forth geographically, but it's solidly tied to Texas, and Easley does an excellent job incorporating both Texas institutions like Neiman-Marcus and H-E-B and historical events into the story. I liked that, even though she had been itching to leave as a young girl, Lauren eventually calls Texas home again.

This is a compelling read. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a strong (and headstrong) main character, a Texas connection, and a good redemptive storyline.

Mallory Viridian is a murder magnet. When she's around, murders happen, and she's the only one who can solve them. She tries offering assistance to the police. She'd like to become an investigator herself. But her efforts are repeatedly blocked, and it isn't long before she becomes the top suspect in all the crimes that happen in her vicinity. This is a problem, and to Mallory, claiming sanctuary on a sentient alien space station where she's only one of three humans seems like a perfect solution.

Until the station decides to allow other humans to come there. The shuttle arriving from Earth is destroyed on its approach to the station, and humans and aliens both are dying, and Mallory is trying to figure out what the heck is going on before the station loses control and destroys them all.

It took me a minute to really get into Station Eternity. The different character arcs unfold through current episodes and flashbacks, and it felt a little convoluted at first. But if you start the book and feel that way, don't get discouraged. I promise it's worth it in the end!

Lafferty does a great job conveying how the few humans struggle to function in a space station built with no consideration given to them at all. The furniture isn't sized correctly, the food may or may not be agreeable, things we take for granted in our daily lives are a challenge for Mallory. Even communication with the different alien species can be difficult, translation bug notwithstanding.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the different types of aliens aboard Eternity, as well as Eternity herself. The insect-like Sundry, the Gneiss who seemed like giant sentient rocks, the inscrutable Silence, each alien species had its own unique characteristics.

The human charaters were engaging, too. Calliope was one of my favorites, with her general attitude of badassery and nonchalance. I found it fascinating, too, that she could fail at multiple individual skills in military testing, but when you put them together, she was a juggernaut. And Mrs. Brown! She is the absolute best. She is proof that age doesn't have to be an obstacle to, well, anything you put your mind to.

When all the threads of the story came together, when relationships were revealed and the mystery was unraveled, it was glorious. I read past the end of my lunch break so I could see what happened. I normally don't like a cliffhanger, but in this case, I'm tickled. It means I get to dive into Eternity's universe for at least one more book, and I can't wait.

Five stars for a good mystery, solid sci-fi world building, well-written characters, and a story I'm clamoring to know more of!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Liliana Vela is no fragile flower. She may have been seized and taken against her will, with her family left dead behind her, but she isn't just going to bemoan the unfairness of it all. She finds a way to break free of her captors and run, but they're closing in on her. A fortuitous encounter at a truck stop sees her rescued, her captors in custody, and Meric Toledan asking her to trust him and marry him so he can keep her safe. Meric happened to be in the right place at the right time, and he didn't hesitate to do the right thing. But is this just a marriage of convenience, or can Liliana and Meric work through their pasts to find something more?

Melissa Koslin grabbed my attention with this story from the get-go. The tension started on page one and remained nearly constant, with moments where it ramped up big time. Even when she was doing something seemingly simple like leaving the apartment to get a bite to eat, the tension is still lurking. I felt like I was always on the edge of my seat, just waiting for that other shoe to drop, waiting for the bad guys to jump out and grab Liliana.

Liliana is so much more than just a fragile flower, and it frustrates her that Meric seems almost to shy away from her or shut her out. She doesn't know, though, that he's battling his own demons. He fears that if he lets his emotions show, he'll lose control, like the father he never knew but who hurt his mother so badly. Yet even as he resists his attraction to her, he does his best to keep her safe, to protect her from the wealthy buyer who's determined not to let the prize – Liliana – escape. When Liliana volunteers to go in and try to help rescue other trafficked women, Meric is beside himself. But I love that she's willing to put herself back in harm's way for the good of others, and I love that Meric is willing to let her do it, but still does his best to protect her without blowing her cover. They are both such good, decent, likable characters, I couldn't help but cheer for them.

Koslin does an excellent job of drawing out the suspense, and the big reveal near the end of the book was quite a surprise to me! I knew something was not quite right with the characters that turned out to be the Big Bad, but I couldn't put my finger on it before all came to light.

Dangerous Beauty deals human trafficking, and it's a timely and difficult topic. Here in my part of the world, Interstate 10 is a major trafficking corridor. I'm glad there are people who are trying to make a difference and shut it down. I think Koslin addresses it in a way that is as sensitive as it can be while still painting an accurate picture of the ugliness of the situation.

Content matters to be aware of: there are some violent scenes that are part of the story, because the traffickers are violent men, and sometimes the good guys have to fight fire with fire. I didn't feel like any of the violence was gratuitous or overly graphic, though. The romance is clean and doesn't go beyond some steamy kisses. There are mentions of faith, and Liliana trusts in God and asks for His help.

Overall, Dangerous Beauty was a timely and thoroughly engrossing book. The story is well constructed, the good guys are good (if conflicted sometimes), the bad guys are obviously bad (and some worse than others), and good wins the day. It was tough to put down, and I lost sleep over it.

If you want a clean, compelling read with characters you can cheer for, I highly recommend Dangerous Beauty. Five stars for keeping me up past my bedtime.

Cavern of the Veil Queen picks up where Witch's Brew, third in the series, left off. Alexandria and Tal are enjoying life as newlyweds, but Tal in particular also has responsibilities to the kingdom to consider. Preparation for war continues, and efforts to move troops through the mysterious breach in the Veil and take the battle to the Veil Queen are ongoing, if not moving as quickly as might be hoped.

If y'all have read my review of Witch's Brew, you know that I felt a little sorry for bad girl and fearsome warrior Maggie. She does make an appearance in this book, and finds herself facing new difficulties. Not only does she finally have to make her peace with the fact that Tal loves Alex and can never feel that way about her, she also finds herself facing emotional turmoil of a very different kind. My heart ached for her when I was reading the events that brought this turmoil about, and I really hope Clifton returns to this universe in other books. I want to know what happens with Maggie's story!

I won't say there's action on every page, but there's enough magic flung about and enough clashes of swords and weapons and the Veil Queen's freakish melds (part human, part other creature, all hideous) and people to get the blood of even the most laid-back reader pumping. There are schemes to be hatched and dangers to be faced, and some of those dangers are not at all what people were expecting.

And it's not just action and adventure. Clifton tells a good, engaging story that's relatable no matter what world it's set in. Alex and Tal are happy newlyweds, but they bicker. They face difficulties and have to find ways to work past them. You know, just like regular people. They may inhabit a fantasy world, but they're very believable characters. Clifton draws all of his characters in such a way that you care about them. You're invested in them. You may wish them well, like Alex and Tal, or you may wish them dead, like the loathsome Mance. But you're pulled in to their orbit.

The ending to the story was just about perfect. I can't think of any way it could have turned out other than it did. The closer I got to the end of the book, the harder it was to tear myself away from it. I finished up while I was fixing dinner – cooking with one hand, reading with the other! It's THAT good. And there's enough of a loose thread that maybe – just maybe – we'll get some more stories in the universe of Wheel. I hope so!

Cavern of the Veil Queen is in the running to be one of my favorites of 2022. If you like high fantasy and sword and sorcery, with action and intrigue and romance, you need to get your hands on this series and read it. Five stars, no question.

Since her mother died and her father remarried, Zoey hasn't really felt like she fit at home. She leaves Tulsa for Mallow Island, South Carolina, where she's inherited a studio apartment that her mother had owned. A mysterious invisible bird named Pigeon travels with her. The apartment building is small – just five units – and the courtyard is populated with tiny turquoise birds called dellawisps, after which the building is named.

Shortly after Zoey's arrival, a crotchety resident named Lizbeth Lime dies. She was a bit of a hoarder, and Frasier, the apartment manager, asks Zoey to take on the task of cleaning out Lizbeth's apartment. As she cleans, Zoey gets to know the other residents: Lizbeth's reclusive sister Lucy; Charlotte, a young woman reluctant to trust anyone, who may not be who she says she is; big-hearted chef Mac; and of course, Frasier, although he doesn't live onsite. Oh, and then there are the ghosts, too. Everyone has secrets, and no one is entirely what they appear to be. But Zoey, with her perpetually cheerful nature, manages to befriend the other residents and begin to learn their stories.

Allen's writing style is just beautiful. She draws word pictures that you can almost touch, and it makes it easy for me to envision the setting, the characters, the action as I read. Her characters are flawed, but the more endearing for their flaws. I was absolutely invested in what happened to them, even the ghosts.

At its heart, this is a story about coming home. A story about love and loss, and how either or both can sometimes keep folks earthly or ethereal trapped somewhere far longer than we need to be. It's also about the beauty of found family, and people learning to love and belong to the family they've found. I absolutely adored it, and I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All of the opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Shattered Sacrifice is a short introduction to Emily Huffman's Shattered Trilogy, but it packs a LOT of story into not a lot of pages! Here, we're introduced to Glisenia Tideborn, the girl chosen as a sacrifice to the Kraken. She was nobody special, no gifts, nothing to recommend that she live. She expects to die. But...she doesn't.

The book opens with Glisenia realizing she's still alive. As she tries to decide what to do next, she realizes that she's hearing a voice in her head. This voice is the god of magic, Helm. She's caught his attention, and he's got a task in mind for her.

Glisenia is an intriguing character. She has every reason to want revenge on her parents and her community. They wanted her dead. She survived, and now she has a choice. Listen to the voice in her head that claims to be a god seeking her help? Or not? I think Helm considers her an easy mark for doing what he wants, but I'm not so sure she's going to be his pushover.

This novella gives the reader loads of atmosphere and action in a short space. And now I have questions. Does Glisenia let it all burn? What does Helm want from her? Are her powers from Helm, or has she had them all along, and they were somehow overlooked by those who wanted to sacrifice her? This bite-sized book is a perfect introduction/teaser for the larger trilogy, and I've got to read the trilogy now.

Thanks to the author for a review copy. All opinions are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Bravo, Verity Bright! You have once again charmed me with the adventures of Lady Eleanor and her (so much more than just a) butler, Clifford. Bonus points for Gladstone the bulldog wearing a bow tie. I am smitten!

Here we find Eleanor trying to help clear the good name of Lord Peregrine Davencourt, her best friend Constance Grainger's fiancé. It seems he was previously engaged and hadn't mentioned this to Constance. Now Daisy, his former fiancée, has brought a breach of contract action against him. But before Eleanor can solve that matter, Lord Davencourt finds himself the focus of a murder charge when he's found kneeling over Daisy's dead body.

There is so much to be delighted by in this book! Eleanor is looking into matters with her usual flair and disregard for personal safety and decorum, and Clifford is doing his best to keep her out of trouble. I think she's wearing down his expectation that she will ever conform to proper “lady of the manor” behavior. I love their relationship, their banter, the fact that Clifford is often exasperated by his mistress' non-conformity but still supports her in her endeavors.

And in this instance, Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon actually asks for Eleanor's help. He's still nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs that she will heedlessly put herself in harm's way, but the force is short-handed, and he's grateful for her assistance, even if he's anxious about her safety. We get to see their relationship progress a little further, although still very much at a slow-burn pace, and we learn a little more about Hugh's background and personal life. I love that!

The historical detail that Bright provides is, as always, spot on and well researched. I didn't know about the Women's Institute, and it was an interesting topic to learn about. The notes at the end of the book are a nice touch – don't miss them!

Death Down the Aisle is another five-star read from Verity Bright. If you love a good cozy mystery with a little romance and some history to boot, you need to read this book!

Here we find Lady Eleanor and Clifford venturing to Ireland to get in touch with Ellie's roots. Her inheritance included not only Henley Hall, but also another estate, Hennelly Towers in the west of Ireland, and the title of Baronetess Derry of Ross. Uncle Byron had never actually gone there, but had maintained the staff and sent funds for them to keep up the estate. When Ellie receives an invitation to celebrate Christmas with the small village of Derrydee, not far from this newly realized portion of her inheritance, she jumps at the chance.

The mystery begins before they even reach the castle when they find a man clinging to life in the middle of the road. They seek help at a nearby abbey, and the Mother Superior reluctantly takes them in and phones for assistance. Sadly, the man dies, and no one – the Mother Superior, the priest, the police, the doctor – seems particularly concerned about the man's identity, nor do they seem to mourn his passing. Constable Doyle, in fact, seems almost to hold Lady Eleanor and Clifford responsible for the man's death, since they're the only folks around with a car and must have run him over.

There may be no love lost between the Irish and the English as a whole, but the villagers seem to be generally welcoming to Ellie. It probably helps that she's a most unconventional noblewoman! Still, though, no one wants to talk about the dead man, and indeed, they almost seem afraid to do so. And more curious, the school headmistress who supposedly extended the holiday invitation vehemently denies having done so. Something isn't right, and Ellie and Clifford start nosing around, placing themselves in danger in the process.

This story takes place entirely in the west of Ireland, so events unfold without the usual presence of DCI Hugh Seldon, Eleanor's beau, and the ladies of Henley Hall. There are still plenty of characters to love, though! Murphy, the keeper of the local pub, his daughter Kathleen, Doctor Sullivan O'Sullivan, Headmistress Breen, and so many more. And let's not forget Tompkins, the cat at Hennelly Towers – he and Gladstone the bulldog soon become fast friends, and I do love a story with a cat!

Clifford has always been most concerned for his mistress's propriety and a stickler for doing things by the book. Here, though, we see him loosen up just a little more. I think Clifford is one of my favorite characters. He's Ellie's butler, sure. But he's so much more than that to her. Differences in status aside, I think she sees him as a friend and an honorary uncle standing in her Uncle Byron's stead. I think she is much more than an employer to him, too, and it's fun seeing their relationship grow.

The setting is charming, if impoverished, and Bright does a good job of giving the reader a sense of place and time. I'm not a big student of history, but it seems that they've done their research. I really loved the descriptions of the food. I might not fix much of it myself, but I think I'd try making some farls.

Murder in an Irish Castle is a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas-themed cozy. There is action and suspense. There is humor and affection. There is plenty of Irish charm, and a satisfactory resolution when the killer is brought to justice. (I cheered when we finally learned what had kept the villagers quiet and that situation was resolved!) I missed seeing Hugh and Ellie together, but the descriptions of the Christmas celebrations in Derrydee were delightful just about made up for Hugh's absence. I hope we'll see a bit more progress on the relationship front for them in the next book!

It's another five-star read from Verity Bright for me!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

When I first started reading, I was horrified at how dark this story went. I was thinking, comedic domestic suspense, my foot. I wasn't sure I'd finish. But I kept reading.

Laurel and Doug's marriage is a mess. No intimacy, no passion, no love, no humor, just a whole lot of apathy on her part and a whole lot of “I need you (to do everything for me), Laurel” on his. I get it. Life happens. The new and shiny wears off a relationship. Laurel had put herself second to Doug for years, thinking that doing for him and catering to him was the way to avoid the unhappy marriage she saw her parents as having. She was wrong, and now she's reaping the bitter fruit of what she'd sown. But instead of taking constructive steps to get things back on track – like, oh, maybe an honest conversation with Doug about how she's feeling – Laurel starts taking steps to make that little fantasy of Life without Doug a reality. Her co-worker, Charlie, helps her figure out ways to try to hasten Doug's demise.

Is there hope? Maybe. As Laurel starts to stand up for herself, figuring she's going to kill Doug off soon anyway, Doug notices. His attention, missing for so long, feeds something in Laurel that she thought was dead forever, and she begins doing the occasional kindness for him. There are flashes of emotion that might move them from the rut they've been in, might motivate someone to do the right thing. But even with that, Laurel still actively looks for ways to kill her husband. She flirts with another man and contemplates hooking up with him. She still doesn't do much to work to repair her marriage, or even end it by more conventional means. That made me want to pull my hair out. If she was unhappy in her marriage, she could have done something less illegal and morally wrong than trying to kill Doug.

This book was billed as a “comedic domestic suspense.” I didn't see much comedic about it, myself. There were moments that made me chuckle, but I didn't feel it was really a comedy. One thing I found interesting is the fact that, in a book not explicitly billed as Christian fiction, Laurel prayed. Doug's sister Abby prayed. That caught my attention, and I hoped for a redemptive turn to the story.

Alas, while I found good in the story, and while there was a positive resolution, it wasn't redemptive in the way I had hoped. It might have played better with me had it been billed as women's fiction, because Laurel's story is relatable. Any woman who's ever been in a marriage where she felt like she was raising an extra child with her husband understands the feeling of overwhelming frustration, the desire to run away. But to me, comedic it wasn't.

I did appreciate the arc with Laurel's mother Joan. Joan's agoraphobia limits her to the confines of her home, and Laurel treats her with respect and care. She tries to help Joan overcome her fears, but doesn't force her beyond what Joan is comfortable doing, and she's willing to see that others may be able to offer help better than she can herself. Joan also shows Laurel that we may view things wrongly when seen through the lens of youth and what we think we remember.

I also loved how absolutely gaga Laurel was over her new granddaughter. Her desire to travel across the country for her grandbaby was absolutely believable, and their interactions were very sweet.

If you don't mind your stories walking a dark path before you see the light, if you appreciate a woman who can work through her issues and ultimately stand on her own two feet, Take My Husband may resonate with you.

My thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Beth Haldane is a young widow, raising her son and doing the best she can in the upscale Dulwich Village. When she lands the assistant archivist job at Wyatt's, a highly regarded prep school in town, she thinks she's finally turned a corner. But when she finds her new boss, Alan Jenkins, stone dead on her first day there, she fears her time as assistant archivist – and maybe her freedom – may soon be at an end.

This is a fun start to the series! Beth is earnest and hard-working and likable. I really felt for her when she worried (not without reason) that the investigation seemed to be focusing on her as Jenkins' killer. She knew that, even though she'd been officially warned off sticking her nose in things, she had to try to clear herself.

The characters are delightful, ranging from thoroughly likable to downright creepy, and as Beth pokes around, she learns that more than one of them might have had a reason to want Jenkins dead. Small towns hold secrets, and Dulwich is no exception!

I liked the not-quite-romance between Beth and DI Harry York. It wasn't an instant attraction/insta-romance, but there was absolutely a spark there. I hope they get to know each other better in future books.

The pacing was good, and I never felt like I was slogging my way through the book. Quite the opposite. I read past my bedtime to find out what was going to happen next. And the ending surprised me! When we first met the killer, I did not peg that person as the one who'd knocked off Jenkins.

With a great small-town setting, a murder that's not heavy on the gory details, a hint of romance, and a heroine who takes action to defend herself (even if she tends to leap before she looks), The Murder Mystery is a mighty fine cozy. I really enjoyed it, and I've got to keep on with the series. Five stars for a good escapist read!

Trigger warning: This book depicts women held captive by sex traffickers. While there are no graphic sex scenes, there is some physical mistreatment of the women.

Holy heck, what a book! Avanti Centrae has a fascinating premise – that Cleopatra, knowing her death was imminent, took control of the time she had left and engineered her demise rather than waiting on Octavian to do her in. She didn't really die by the bite of an asp, and she left behind hidden information in a secret location, hidden information that would be vital in taking down an ancient group with a long-held grudge against women.

Jump forward to modern day. Timothy and Angie Stryker lost their infant son, and it's taken a toll on their marriage. Angie has been trying to keep her pain at bay with alcohol. Stryker hopes they can restore their strained relationship with a family vacation to Italy. But before that happens, Angie and their four-year-old daughter, Harper, are kidnapped by a group eventually identified as the Sons of Adam.

Stryker, a Special Ops commander, is able to get help from his team to start the search. They soon realize that the kidnapping may have some connection to the assassin (or assassins) taking out world leaders that they've been trying to get a line on. It may also be connected to Cleopatra and her missing journal.

This book took off right out of the gate and didn't let up. Avanti Centrae lays the foundation with a look at Cleopatra's last hours, and then really ramps up with Stryker and the team chasing assassins and Angie and Harper being taken. There were no slow moments. I know you hear books described as “unputdownable,” but this one really was. I was up way later than I should have been on a work night reading.

What I know of Cleopatra is limited to the generally accepted view of her as a seductress and as having died by suicide by snake. But she was also a powerful ruler in her own right, and Centrae creates a believable possibility of how things really went down for the dethroned queen. I enjoyed the historical tidbits woven in and the centuries-long battle of good versus evil.

The characters were all well written, to my reading. Even the relatively minor characters had back story. Zola, the cook on the island where Angie, Harper, and the other captives were held, was one of my favorites. Though it seemed that she had no power, no way to impact her situation, in the end she played a vital role and was an absolute badass.

Sam, Angie's sister and one of Stryker's teammates, was another fantastic character. Her interest in and knowledge of Cleopatra was vital to the team as they tried to track down the lost journal, and she was as tough as any of the men on the team.

Fast-paced, gripping, and worth staying up late to read. Five big stars for Cleopatra's Vendetta, and I can't wait to read more from Avanti Centrae!

Elizabeth Trout left her hometown of Jenkins, Arkansas, and is now newly married to her husband Jonas. But her grandmother has died, and now she's returned to Jenkins to help settle her deceased grandmother's estate. Her visit starts with a bang when Duncan Fowler, local teacher and the person hired to help her grandmother manage the property, is found dead, and Elizabeth is fingered as the prime suspect.

The sheriff seems pretty convinced that Elizabeth is the guilty party, so much so that it seems like no other investigations are being carried out. Elizabeth, with some help from Jonas, her mother Mary, and her best friend Kelsey, has to do some digging on her own to try to point the investigation in the right direction, and away from her.

The story is told alternating between Elizabeth's and Jonas's viewpoints. The contrast in their characters is delightful, and you can see that with them, opposites attract! Elizabeth was apparently a bit of a tail-twister back in her younger days (the high school principal remembers her VERY well, and not necessarily in a positive light!), and she's not afraid to jump headfirst into a situation without much regard for the consequences. Jonas, by contrast, is calmer, more level-headed, more likely to think things through. They work well together, and Jonas's cool head gets them out of a sticky situation or two.

The small town of Jenkins is filled with colorful characters, and as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that more than one of those characters had reason to hate Duncan. He had a lot more going on than anyone realized, and not all of it was nice. But which of the local folks hated him enough to kill him? Jedel does a great job throwing down distractions and making you think the clues lead one way, then spinning it around and sending you down another trail entirely.

There's a good bit of tension as the action ratchets up toward the big reveal, and while I'd figured some things out, the identity of the killer came as a surprise. I love how everything wrapped up, and I'm glad that Elizabeth and Jonas now have the opportunity to call Jenkins home for a while. I look forward to reading the rest of the series to see what shenanigans they get up to next!

If you want an entertaining mystery with small-town charm and main characters you can't help but cheer for, pick up Fish Out of Water. It'll make you smile!

Thank you to the author for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

I made it! Happy book birthday to Bianca Marais!

The witches of Moonshyne Manor are getting up in years. They may not have quite the zip and sass they had when they were younger. Their magic may not be as strong as once it was. But when the men of Critchley Hackle – the same men who've been enjoying the fruits of the witches' labor in the form of liquor from the Moonshyne Manor Distillery – come as an angry mob to take the Manor away from the witches, they aren't going to take that lying down.

Sure, they're behind on their mortgage payments. A lot behind. But Queenie, the leader of the coven, has a plan. All they have to do is find a magical artifact that's been lost for decades before Charon comes to collect it. They give him the artifact, he gives them a pile of cash sufficient to get their mortgage caught up. No problem. But when it becomes clear that Ruby – who's been away from the coven for decades and who was their last, best hope for finding the missing artifact – is in no shape to help them find what's been lost, things are looking bleak.

This is a delightful read! The “sisters” of Moonshyne Manor are a found family, not a family created by birth. Bianca Marais introduces us to them and unveils each of their personalities through current events and flashbacks. Each sister has her own magical style, as well as her own secret that has been kept for many years. They've got to use all resources at their disposal to have a chance of saving their home. Will they have to reveal their secrets? And will those secrets tear their family apart even if they save their home?

You might think a book with a bunch of elderly heroines isn't your jam. Enter Persephone. Persephone is the precocious teenage daughter of the town's mayor (you know, the mayor who's heavily invested in the witches losing their home so his big development can move forward). She shows up determined to help the witches smash the patriarchy, and she'll use every tool at her disposal to do it, including a TikTok livestream. I love her and her aging greyhound, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. There are some hilarious moments as young and old try to bridge the technological and cultural gaps, and they manage pretty well.

Even with the flashbacks, I found the story pretty easy to follow. It took me a bit getting into it, but once I did, it was hard to put down. The heist scenes are hilarious and nail-bitingly stressful all at the same time. I waited with bated breath to see how the revealing of each secret would affect the group. And there were some tense moments reading to see if the sisters would be able to keep their deal with the devil and save their home from the bank. It all wrapped up pretty neatly (a little too neatly, maybe?), but the big push to the reveal was a lot of fun.

There are some instances of nudity and some intimate situations. If those aren't your jam, this might not be the book for you. They weren't dealbreakers for me. Mayhem, skullduggery, a generations-old grudge, a quest to find what was lost, secrets kept and revealed, found family, and the healing, redeeming power of sisterhood. All these things combine to make it a solid four-star read for me. I'd like to read some of Marais' other works now!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from MIRA Books and Netgalley. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

When Cassie Gwynne stumbles across the dead body of thoroughly unpleasant customs collector Chester Pence in the marsh, no one is terribly torn up about his untimely demise. What Cassie is upset about, though, is that her dear friend Mr. Hu has confessed to the crime. She is confident that he's innocent. But the official word is that, since they have a confession, no further investigation is needed. It's up to Cassie to unravel the truth.

Genevieve Essig has written another delightful entry in the story of Cassie Gwynne! Cassie puts her considerable skills of observation and deduction to work yet again to solve a crime, and she does a bang-up job. She has the help of family and friends along the way, as well as a handful of colorful characters about town, and things are resolved satisfactorily.

Essig does a great job giving us a vivid picture of Florida in the late nineteenth century. She paints quite the portrait of anti-Chinese sentiment and shows how easy it would be for a corrupt operator like Pence to turn people against the town's Chinese residents. Even people who might not have minded the Chinese folks who came to Fernandina started to give Mr. Hu and Mr. Green a bit of side-eye when Pence started throwing around his official weight with accusations of misconduct.

Not only is Cassie investigating this particular crime, but she's still trying to learn more about what happened to her father. Her brother Burt is in New York, seeing what he can find out and hopefully staying out of harm's way, but danger lurks for both Burt and Cassie. Has the Anti-Chinese Society followed Cassie to Fernandina, and if so, why?

In this book, we get more back story about Jake and Hughes as well as a jolly good mystery to solve. We meet Miss Victoria Phillips, an elegant young woman from Hughes's past, and Cassie finds herself wondering if she imagined Hughes's feelings for her. He doesn't seem to be pushing Miss Phillips away, and his mother, the daunting Georgiana DeVries, certainly seems to be encouraging Hughes in Miss Phillips' direction. There's an entertaining side plot involving Miss Phillips wherein we learn that she may not be what she purports to be, and we see a new side of Mrs. DeVries as well. It was fun getting to learn more about some of the not-quite-front-and-center characters in the story.

With Cassie Gwynne, Genevieve Essig gives us a smart, resourceful heroine, a mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, insight into the social issue of racial discrimination, and a little bit of romance, too. It's a thoroughly enjoyable, well-rounded read.

Again. Lisa Regan has done it again with another slam-dunk winner of a book that I could barely tear myself away from. (For my other reviews of books in the Detective Josie Quinn series, go here, here, here, here, and here.) Seriously. I had to keep sneaking peeks on the Kindle app on my phone when I couldn't quite finish the book on my lunch hour. I was at 87% and I could.not.wait until I got home to see what happened!

Josie and Noah are coming back from their long delayed and much deserved honeymoon, driving home on a very foggy road, when someone dashes in front of their car. They stop to try to help and come upon a man choking a teenage girl, demanding to know where “it” is. As Noah tries to save the girl, Josie pursues the man. But he evades her when he jumps off a precipice and disappears, not caring if he lives and seemingly hoping he dies. As they investigate the scene, they realize Dina Hale is dead. Her friend and passenger, Alison Mills, was able to flee and was presumably the person who ran in front of their car. With the killer possibly still on the loose, finding Alison becomes of utmost importance.

The more Josie and Noah and the team dug into the case, the more questions they face. Who is the killer? What is his connection to the two girls? What had the girls stumbled onto, that someone (the killer? Someone else?) would go to such lengths to get it back?

Y'all. The tension in this book is unbelievable. The misdirections, the shifting of gears, the pulling away of things I thought I had figured out. Lisa Regan is a master of the thriller/police procedural, I tell you. I'm not sure anyone does it better. The killer is identified pretty early in the story, but that's just the tip of the suspenseful iceberg. One character's backstory is told in flashbacks, and we don't know who she really is until late-ish in the story. And we don't know for most of the book who the real mastermind behind all of this is.

When the penny dropped? My jaw hit. the. floor. I did not see it coming, and what a reveal! I absolutely adore a book that can keep me in the dark until the end, and Regan has done that with every book of hers that I've read.

It made me happy that Josie and Noah finally got their honeymoon. They deserve to be happy together. Trout, Josie's dog, is a delightful character. I love their interactions with him. And I really like how the team all works together. Nobody squibbles about not wanting a particular assignment. When Josie texts Chief Chitwood in the middle of the night, he tells her to go back to sleep after he responds. When she doesn't, he's up and out, helping her and Noah track down whatever lead she's thought of in the wee hours. They're supportive of each other and genuinely kind to each other, and that's a treat to read, especially considering the difficulty inherent in their work.

If you want a rip-snortin', hang-on-for-dear-life, screaming rollercoaster of a thrill in book form, you'll want to make the acquaintance of Detective Josie Quinn. This one can be read alone, but do yourself a favor and start at the beginning of the series. Then binge 'em all.

Five stars. I'll read whatever Lisa Regan writes without even looking at the blurb. She's on my short list.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from Bookouture and NetGalley. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.