Dog Day Afternoon Review

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: Andy Carpenter #29

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Publisher: MacMillan Audio from Minotaur Books

Release Day: July 2, 2024

Special thanks to Minotaur Books and MacMillan Audio for an arc of the audiobook of this title.

All opinions expressed are my own.

This review is published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Paterson, New Jersey’s favorite reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter returns in Dog Day Afternoon, the next mystery in this fan favorite series from National Bestselling Author David Rosenfelt.

Review:

DOG DAY AFTERNOON is the twenty-ninth book in the Andy Carpenter series. For long time fans of the series, each book feels like a good old-fashion homecoming with lots of hugs, laughter and catching up on the latest family gossip. Series regulars - Marcus, Corey, Laurie, Sam, Eddie, Eli, Hilda, and the dogs - appear in significant roles in each book, working together like a well-oiled machine. And yet, for new readers to the series, each book stands alone with just enough background included to welcome you into the fold where you’ll enjoy a remarkable story. Chances are, once you read one, you'll join the fan club and come back for more.

A mass shooting at a law firm leaves six dead with two eyewitnesses making reluctant accusations against a fellow, well-liked employee, Nick Winter. The fact that Nick disappeared for several days during the time of the murders adds fuel to the prosecutor’s case against him. Marcus is a mentor to Nick and firmly declares his innocence to Andy as he asks Andy to defend him. It's well known that Andy’s a wealthy retired lawyer trying, with little luck, to remain retired and that he finds it impossible to turn down requests to take on cases when he believes the person is falsely accused - and therein lies the problem with Nick's case. Andy doesn't believe he has a snowball chance in the down yonder of proving Nick's innocence, but unable to refuse Marcus, he caves and accepts the case. With a lack of evidence to exonerate his client, Andy knows the only way to prove his innocence is to find the real killer, so Andy calls in his team and with Nick's court date looming closer, they roll up their sleeves, put on their detective hats and go in search of the truth.

Author David Rosenfelt's ability to continuously render fresh, engaging plot lines with complex cases, engaging characters and hilarious dialogue in fast-paced whodunnit's is a testament to his amazing ability as a storyteller. DOG DAY AFTERNOON is a delightful addition to the series with a heavy dose of courtroom drama, fraud, conspiracy, laugh aloud banter, family and lovable dogs to fawn over. Andy's long walks and talks with one of his dogs, Tara, are not to be missed nor are his visits to the dog rescue organization he started, Tara's Foundation.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON is a riveting, engrossing mystery with an abundance of heart. While there's a big side of lighthearted fun and humor woven throughout, to mistake this book and series for anything less than a tautly plotted, beautifully written mystery with an intriguing, complex murder mystery to be solved would be a mistake. Being a huge fan of audiobooks, I jumped at the chance to listen to this one. As always, narrator Grover Gardner gives a killer performance as he lends his voice to this iconic cast. In my eyes and ears, he IS Andy Carpenter!

DOG DAY AFTERNOON is a highly addictive, immersive mystery that's impossible to put down once you begin. Fans of mysteries and courtroom dramas will enjoy this one.


Synopsis:.

Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter has run the Tara Foundation—the dog rescue organization named after his beloved golden retriever—for years. It's always been his calling, even as Andy's pulled into representing clients in court. His investigator, Marcus Clark, has been at Andy's side for a long time. Even though they've known each other for years, Marcus keeps his personal life a mystery.

So it’s a shock when Marcus arrives at the Tara Foundation with two strangers in tow. Turns out Marcus takes disadvantaged young men under his wing, gets them jobs, a place to live, and a chance at a different life. And they want a dog. Andy’s specialty. One of the young men, Nick Williams, instantly falls in love with one of the dogs, Daisy.

When there’s a mass shooting at Nick’s work, leaving six dead, all signs point to Nick. Marcus, who's never asked Andy for anything, asks Andy for help. Despite Nick's troubled background, Andy trusts his friend and takes the case.

A Love Like The Sun Review

Author: Riss. M. Neilson

Publisher: Berkley

Release Day: June 11, 2024

Many thanks to Berkley Publ. for an arc of this title for review! All opinions expressed are my own.

#BerkleyPartner #Berkley

Lifelong best friends spend a fateful summer discovering what might happen if they were to be something more in this radiant, heart-clenching adult debut.

Review:

A LOVE LIKE THE SUN is a highly emotional, friends-to-lovers, fake-dating love story. It's the story of two lifelong friends who are afraid to openly declare their true feelings for fear of losing the friendship that both depend on for survival. It's the story of two best friends deciding to fake date in hopes of saving a dream. This, my friends, is romance.

Laniah aka Ni and Issac have been friends forever - since early childhood when Ni's mom took Issac under her wing and proceeded to give him things he wasn't getting from foster parents. As time passes, Issac and Ni grow close and even when Issac leaves to chase his dreams in California, they remain friends with texts and visits when possible. Issac becomes a social media star gaining millions of followers showcasing his art and good looks. Ni is a homebody back in Rhode Island cleaning hotel rooms and chasing her own dream with her mom offering their hair and body products for sale. When their floundering business hits a rough patch and the funds dry up, Isaac has an idea of how to bring them new business. Against Ni's wishes, he posts on social media about his "girlfriend" and things get crazy fast. Business is suddenly booming, but the secret "pretend" relationship gets hot and steamy and both struggles to keep their real feelings to themselves. Ni and Issac are in love, but neither is willing to risk their friendship by declaring their feelings. To complicate things more, Ni has a chronic illness that has gone misdiagnosed for years in spite of her seeking treatment for her symptoms. She's continuously brushed off by her doctor as he jokingly calls her a hypochondriac. When she finally sees a specialist, the disease has progressed and is a threat to her future. Ni desperately needs her best friend, but she doesn't want his pity. 

Author Riss M. Neilson has rendered a beautiful story of friendship, love and heartache. The story is frustrating in that misunderstandings could have been avoided by communication, but the lack of communication makes sense within the context of this book as each friend tries to protect the other. The characters are so well-defined they feel like friends, and the plot carries a much deeper message about seeking second opinions when your health needs aren't being met by your doctor. Doing so can save your life. Taking place over one summer, the story unfolds through Ni's point of view in present time with short flashbacks to their childhood. I loved the relationship depicted between Ni and her mother and her other friends. While the romance burns slow beneath the surface for most of the book, it erupts like a volcano with some steamy scenes later on.

A LOVE LIKE THE SUN is a sweet romance filled with love, mutual respect and devotion between two soulmates. While it takes them some time to recognize the love as the once in a lifetime kind, the journey getting there is beautiful. Highly recommended to fans of friends-to-lovers romance.

Synopsis:

Laniah Thompson is a homebody who craves privacy. Issac Jordan is internet famous and spends his days followed by paparazzi. She runs a small business with her mom in her hometown. He runs an international brand.

And they’ve been best friends since childhood.

When Issac comes home to Providence for the first time in months and discovers Laniah’s dream is slipping out of reach as she and her mom struggle to pay the bills at Wildly Green, their natural hair store, she refuses to take a dime from him. And so, he does what any self-respecting best friend would do: tells the world they’re dating.

Suddenly business is booming, and Laniah agrees to his ridiculous plan to pretend to be lovers for the course of the summer. Just long enough to catch the eye of an investor and get her dream back on track, like she helped him do so many years ago, he reminds her.

Too soon, though, Laniah knows she’s playing with fire, because for as long as they’ve been friends there’s an undeniable pull they’ve never given in to. And as the lines between art and life—real and pretend—blur, it becomes harder and harder to see where friendship ends and something else begins....

Told over the course of three sizzling summer months, A Love Like the Sun is about shared history, those who make us our bravest selves, and love in its many forms.

One Big Happy Family Review

Author: Jamie Day

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Release Day: July 16, 2024

Many thanks to St. Martins Press for an arc of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

The newest, riveting summer suspense by the author of The Block Party, Jamie Day.

Review:

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is a domestic thriller that takes place in a famous family-owned hotel sitting high on a cliff in Maine. With a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, the three troubled Bishop sisters return to the hotel to claim their inheritance after their father's death. All three are concealing dark secrets and are anxious for the reading of the will for their own sordid reasons. Anxiously watching everything go down is chambermaid Charley Kelley who lives and works at the hotel and is desperate to keep her income to continue caring for her grandmother. Not entirely innocent, Charley has a few secrets of her own that she'd just as soon not become exposed. She may or may not have developed a bad habit of pilfering through the guests' belongings, and it's minutely possible she's hiding a darker, more dangerous secret too. In her defense, she has a good reason for everything she's done, not that the greedy sisters will understand. What will happen to her if she loses her job? Or the hotel closes? She can't allow that to happen.

When the reading of their father's Will doesn't go as expected, nasty accusations are tossed around, and fingers pointed. Someone manipulated their father into changing his Will. Was it one of the sisters or someone else? Maybe the seedy lawyer? If that's not enough, just as the hurricane closes all escape routes and all communication with the outside world is cut off, a body is discovered. Stranded with a murderer walking among them, nerves are frayed, patience is thin. One of them is a murderer. Who is it?

Author Jamie Day expertly manipulates characters and readers through another domestic thriller in ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY. A locked room style mystery, the threat of a killer hidden somewhere within the hotel and the storm raging outside combine to drive a swift pace as the story unfolds. Tension escalates as skeletons are rattled and one by one, secrets start slipping out. While the sisters' greedy behavior is unattractive and highly questionable, a couple of the support characters deserve readers empathy. Although I tuned into the real villain incredibly early on, it didn't diminish my reading pleasure as I kept turning pages just to watch the drama play out.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is a highly atmospheric, convoluted domestic thriller in which readers and characters are charged with solving a mystery by identifying a killer. While a bit predictable, I found it to be a well plotted, witty and entertaining mystery. Highly recommended to fans of locked room style mysteries and domestic thrillers.

 Synopsis:

The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters—Iris, Vicki, and Faith—have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there's murder in the air—and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe's nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she's using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

With razor-sharp wit, heart, thrills, and twists, Jamie Day delivers a unique brand of SUMMERTIME SUSPENSE.

PASSIONS IN DEATH Review

Author: J.D. Robb

Series: In Death #59

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Release Date: Sept. 3, 2024

Many thanks to St. Martins Press for an arc of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reviewed for Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Homicide Detective Eve Dallas hunts a killer who turns a wedding party into a murder scene in the latest novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author, J.D. Robb.

Review:

PASSIONS IN DEATH is the fifty-ninth book in J.D. Robb's futuristic, police procedural style In Death Series. For new readers feeling overwhelmed with the sheer number of books, you can be confident jumping in at any point as each title in the series stands alone with a murder mystery solved and needed backstory included within the pages of each book. However, the main characters as well as some of the repeat support characters are introduced in early books, and character development is a key part of the storyline throughout the series. Hard-core Dallas fans will tell you that it enhances your reading pleasure to start with NAKED IN DEATH and proceed through the series in order of publication.

Drinks flow freely at The Down & Dirty Club which is open on a Monday night for guests of the pre-wedding party of Erin Albright and Shauna Hunnicut. The brides and their tribe of friends’ drink, sing and dance the night away in celebration of the two women's upcoming nuptials, leaving all inhibitions on the floor with their clothes. During the height of the party, Erin slips away unseen to a back room to prepare for a special surprise she's planned for her bride-to-be Shauna, and that's where Lt. Eve Dallas, accompanied by her ridiculously wealthy husband Roarke, finds her lying in a pool of her own blood. Eve's momentarily taken aback as she recognizes the room as the same one in which she had once fought for her own life, and she vows to get justice for this woman whose future has been brutally stolen from her. As the story unfolds, evidence points toward a cold, premediated murder of passion by someone close to the victim - someone she trusted and considered a friend. No one has a bad thing to say about the victim . . . so which member of her close tribe of friends murdered her?

A gripping, deeply emotional police procedural, PASSIONS IN DEATH displays Robb's expertise in continuously delivering highly visual, masterly plotted, strong character driven stories that keep fans clamoring for more. Her ability to meticulously maneuver Eve and company through the solving of yet another complex murder case is highly entertaining and nothing short of amazing. While PASSIONS IN DEATH is a bit slower paced than some of the other books, the short list of red herrings, lack of apparent motive, and frustrating perplexity of the case keeps both characters and readers on their toes while setting a mysterious smoke and mirrors atmosphere and tone throughout. As always, I find Eve's mind a fascinating place to be when she's sniffing out clues and homing in on the murderer with the intensity of a bloodhound on the trail of prey before striding into the interrogation room with fire in her eyes and justice on her lips in an old fashion showdown with the villain reminiscent of the final gunfight at the OK Corral. There's never any doubt who the victor will be.

PASSIONS IN DEATH is another highly visual, inventive masterpiece by Author J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts, highlighting the many intricacies of relationships especially within found family or a close circle of friends. Fans will appreciate appearances from a few of the series' regulars like Peabody, Mavis and Bella. PASSIONS IN DEATH is a compelling, highly addictive blend of crime and police procedural suspense with a sexy side of fairytale romance ala Eve's own mysterious prince of a husband, Roarke. Highly recommended to fans of the series as well as fans of intriguing mysteries and suspense thrillers.

 Synopsis:

On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, speed through the streets of Manhattan to the Down and Dirty club, where a joyful, boisterous pre-wedding girls’ night out has turned into a murder scene. One of the brides lies in a pool of blood, garroted in a private room where she was preparing a surprise for her fiancée—two scrimped and saved-for tickets to Hawaii.

Despite the dozens of people present, useful witnesses are hard to come by. It all brings back some bad memories for Eve. In her uniform days, she’d suffered an assault in the very same room—but she’d been able to fight back and survive. She’d gotten justice. And now she needs to provide some for poor young Erin.

Eve knows that the level of violence and the apparent premeditation involved suggest a volatile mix of hidden, heated passion and ice-cold calculation. This is a crime that can be countered only by hard detective work and relentless dedication—and Eve will not stop until she finds the killer who destroyed this couple’s dreams before the honeymoon even began…

This Is Why We Lied Review

Author: Karin Slaughter

Series: Will Trent #12

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: Aug. 20, 2024

Many thanks to the publisher for an arc of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review first published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Watch for my interview with Author Karin Slaughter coming soon in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

The next thrilling suspense featuring Will Trent and Sara Linton from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and After That Night!

Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer…

Review:

As fans of the critically acclaimed Will Trent television series celebrate news of the show's renewal for another season, Author Karin Slaughter prepares for the August release of THIS IS WHY WE LIED, Will Trent book #12, a locked room style murder mystery that derails the idyllic honeymoon Will Trent planned for his bride Sara Linton. As in previous series books, the subject matter is dark, disturbing and brutally in-your-face honest highlighting the life shattering effects of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and child abuse on victims and their families. Isolate yourself in your own locked room with minimum interruptions before diving into this one as it's a cover-to-cover, break your heart, edge of your seat thriller.

GBI Investigator Will Trent and his new bride Medical Examiner Sara Linton tell a trivial lie to conceal their real occupations when signing in at the McAlpine Lodge as a honeymooning mechanic and chemistry teacher. Will surprised Sara with the remote getaway, hoping to celebrate their marriage by leaving work behind for long days and nights in each other's arms. The secluded location boasts breathtaking scenery, private cabins, a large scenic lake for fishing and swimming, and a luxurious lodge where guests gather for drinks and meals. When their first lodge dinner ends in an ugly, threatening family quarrel, Will second-guesses his choice of venues. His reservations prove true later that night when his romantic skinny-dipping outing with Sara is shattered by a bloodcurdling scream, sending them scrambling to find a woman succumbing from fatal wounds. Will and Sara are sickened by the lack of grief exhibited for the victim and concerned when they discover each family member, as well as several guests, has a motive for wanting the victim dead. As ties to the outside world are severed by a raging storm, Will manages to send an SOS to Amanda receiving a reply indicating Faith and Amanda are on the way. Will they arrive in time to stop a psychotic killer before he/she strikes again?

THIS IS WHY WE LIED unfolds through the dual points of view from Will and Sara with Mercy's point of view and backstory revealed via journal entries written to her son over the years chronicling her mental and physical abuse as well as the resentment festering within her toxic family. Slaughter doesn't sugar coat anything as she expertly manipulates characters and readers through a complex, twisted plot line with the remote setting and fury of Mother Nature playing a key role in creating havoc while setting the stage for a highly volatile, locked room situation where every stranded character on the mountain is a viable suspect. An ill-fated, malignant tone saturates the air driving a frenzied pace through a minefield of shocking revelations waiting to detonate. While my suspicions on the identity of the killer proved true, reasons surrounding the savage stabbing left me reeling and heartsick. Warning triggers include domestic violence, addiction, child abuse, rape and incest with each one professionally managed within the context of the story by Author Karin Slaughter. The darkness is lightened with evidence of the power of love and trust to heal and reform woven throughout. Fans of the series will love seeing Will surrender to his love for Sara and enjoy the interaction between Will and his boss Amanda with comic relief provided by Faith's inner monologue soothing the heavy load.

THIS IS WHY WE LIED has it all. A secluded setting with a raging storm. A hate fueled murder. A malevolent, dysfunctional family. Eight conspiratorial guests. A race against time to unmask a deranged villain. Everyone has a reason why they lied in this gritty thriller by the queen of psychological thrillers. It’s up to readers and Will to sift through all the lies and red herrings to deduce which liar is also a killer. Intense, gripping, gutsy, multilayered and highly emotional, THIS IS WHY WE LIED is Karin Slaughter at her best. Highly recommended to fans of the series and all readers who enjoy a fast-paced, dark suspense thriller.

 Synopsis:

A secluded cabin retreat

For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.

A murderer in their midst

Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying….Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.

Who killed Mercy McAlpine?

It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…

The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby Review

Author: Ellery Lloyd

Publisher: MacMillan Publ.

Release Date: June 11, 2024

Many thanks to The Big Thrill Magazine and author for an arc of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review first published in The Big Thrill Magazine

Some women can’t be erased from history...

Review:

THE FINAL ACT OF JULIETTE WILLOUGHBY is the third book from Ellery Lloyd, a pseudonym for the London-based husband-and-wife writing team of Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. A compelling conflation of several genres including mystery, suspense, romance, and history with hints of mythology woven throughout, the story catapults readers back in time to find themselves entwined in a dark, century old family drama steeped in ugly secrets, manic obsession, and revenge. Readers are challenged with determining if the answers to three mysterious deaths are hidden in a once lost painting by deceased surrealist artist Juliette Willoughby.

THE FINAL ACT OF JULIETTE WILLOUGHBY is an epic, richly atmospheric, often sordid, dark family saga spanning more than a decade. The story unfolds through dual points of view beginning with the tragic love affair between surrealist artists Juliette Willoughby and her married lover, Oskar Erlich, who perish in a suspicious fire in 1938 Paris. The couple's story surfaces again in 1991 Cambridge when two university students in possession of Juliette's diary and long-lost painting, "Self-Portrait As Spinx", raise significant questions concerning the death of Juliette that threatens to divulge long buried secrets of the famous Willoughby family. The story continues in the current time with a scandal surrounding the arrest of art dealer Patrick Lambert for the murder of the last remaining descendant of the Willoughby family in Dubai.

Flawlessly executed through brilliant characterizations, THE FINAL ACT OF JULIETTE WILLOUGHBY accentuates the fascinating world of historical art and women's struggle for recognition within it, a sordid illicit love affair, a highly dysfunctional family drama, and an intriguing murder and missing person mystery. The duo's mesmerizing writing style draws readers in, holding them in the palm of their hands until the final page. This book is a highly entertaining, fast paced, scandalous murder mystery I recommend to art history buffs, and mystery and suspense readers.

Synopsis:

A story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

Paris, 1938: Runaway heiress Juliette Willoughby perishes, with her married lover, in an accidental studio fire alongside her Surrealist masterpiece, Self-Portrait as Sphinx.

Cambridge, 1991: Two art history students stumble across proof something sinister was at play in Juliette's death, threatening to expose the long-buried secrets of the artist's aristocratic family.

Dubai, now: An art dealer is accused of the brutal murder of his oldest friend – the last surviving member of the Willoughby dynasty.

Three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.

Is the key to unlocking them all hidden in Juliette Willoughby’s lost painting?

THE BURNING ROOMS Review

Author: Anni Taylor

Series: Tallman's Valley Detectives #4

Expected Release Date: June 30, 2024

Many thanks to Author Anni Taylor for an arc of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

First reviewed in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

4 Chilling Hearts

A serial arsonist with a burning desire...

Review:

THE BURNING ROOMS is the fourth book in the Tallman's Valley Detectives series by Australian Author Anni Taylor. I was first introduced to this author's work when I read ONE LAST CHILD, the first book in this suspense series, and was immediately drawn to the author's expertise in setting a steadily increasing dire tone of impending doom that kept me on the edge of my seat. Taylor has crafted the same sense of urgency, complex characters and emotional turmoil in THE BURNING ROOMS. While each book in this series stands alone, I advise reading the previous books for an evening of entertaining reading.

Javier and Nicole Garcia are having a celebratory anniversary dinner at a nice restaurant when a creepy phone call sends them rushing home to find their house burning down - presumably with their children inside. Without any thought of their own safety, they rush inside and find themselves trapped by the fire. By the time their friend, Detective Franco, arrives on scene, the only person he can save is their young son. After the ashes cool, Javier and Nicole's bodies are recovered but there's no trace of the remains of their teenage daughter Sienna who was babysitting her young brother. Deeply disturbed by the devastating experience and the haunting flashback to a similar fire over a decade earlier, Det. Franco vows to find the arsonist he suspects has done this before - despite the fire being ruled accidental. Calling on his ex-homicide partner Kate Wakefield, Franco begins a frantic search for the missing girl and a serial arsonist. His superiors believe he's losing it and close to a breakdown, but Kate was also at the scene of the earlier fire and agrees Franco may be on to something.  Can they unmask a murderer and arsonist before he strikes again? Where is Sienna? Is she hiding . . . or in danger?

THE BURNING ROOMS is a tense, action-packed thriller that had me burning through pages searching for answers. Taylor expertly sets a dark tone of desperation early on that drives the increasing pace throughout until the final shocking reveal. Multiple points of view, including one from "the Incinerator", gives readers insight into the minds and motivation of various players, and yet the identity of the arsonist remains a mystery until the end. With a large cast of red herrings, the author does a clever job of misdirection challenging Kate and Franco, as well as readers, to sift through the evidence and unmask a villain. Taylor's attention to minute details is evident as she meticulously builds suspense through twists and turns as is her gift for manipulating and developing strong characters. Fans of previous books will enjoy seeing Kate in action again.

THE BURNING ROOMS is a raw, emotional, suspenseful story that's impossible to put down. Once again, Author Anni Taylor has rendered a mesmerizing story rich in suspense and place. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries and suspense thrillers and especially to fans of the Tallman's Valley Detectives Series.

 Synopsis:

In a country town, a serial arsonist is burning homes down. Their signature move is to place an identical model house on the front porch before they start the blaze. But no one is there to witness this in the silence of each dark winter night.

Javier and Nicole Garcia are celebrating their anniversary at a restaurant when they receive a chilling phone call – a recorded children's verse warning them their house is on fire and their children gone. They race home to an inferno and missing children, unaware the blaze is about to take their lives.

Detective Jace Franco is first on the scene and is confronted by something that will haunt him – a matching model house on the front porch. He sighted exactly the same thing thirteen years ago, at a house fire that claimed the lives of a whole family.

Franco's team and superiors think he's close to a psychotic break as he launches a relentless investigation. The fire has been judged accidental and the Garcia couple were Franco's good friends.

There is just one other person who saw what Franco did at the house fire of thirteen years ago – his former homicide partner, Kate Wakeland.

Can he convince her to return for this one last case?

(This story happens 3 ½ years after the last Tallman's Valley book, The Silent Town..)