CHEATER Review & Book Tour

Author: Karen Rose

Series: Romantic Suspense #29; San Diego #2

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: Mar. 26, 2024

3.5 Stars

Many thanks to Berkley Publ. for an arc and tour invitation. All opinions expressed are my own.

First reviewed in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Review:

CHEATER by Author Karen Rose is the second book in the San Diego Case Files and the twenty-ninth book in the Romantic Suspense series. Readers met the main characters in the first book COLD BLOODED LIAR, and while surprised, I was glad to see Kit and Sam's story continue. For fans who may fear picking this one up without having read book one, you'll have no issue as Rose is meticulous in providing enough backstory for readers to jump in at any point.

Det. Kit McKittrick and her partner, Connor, are called to the affluent Shady Oaks retirement facility when a resident is found stabbed to death. When it's discovered the victim was a former decorated police officer who's apparently been murdered over a discovery he made, things quickly escalate. Psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves assists in the investigation as he has an established rapport with several of the patients as both a volunteer and doctor. The only one unhappy to see him is Kit as she continues denying her feelings and holding him at bay. A second untimely death ramps up the urgency along with the discovery of a major theft. There's a killer targeting patients at the retirement home, and Kit is determined to identify them before another life is lost. It's clear someone connected to the home is running an elaborate scheme and profiting off the citizens, then killing when in danger of discovery. Unfortunately, Kit and her team run into one dead end after another. Can they identify a killer before another life is lost?

CHEATER is an intriguing whodunnit police procedure style mystery with a pale side of romance. The retirement home setting supports a large cast of unique, aging characters, some of whom are quite flamboyant, colorful and humorous which helps lighten the tone. The complex, intricately woven plot line is typical of the author with meticulous details and breadcrumbs for both the police and readers to follow. Several plausible red herrings keep Kit and readers guessing. As the story unfolds, Kit and Sam dance around the attraction simmering between them with both afraid to make the first move. While the overall plot line is complex, the story lingers a bit long in the center before picking up again in the final third heading into the climax.

Author Karen Rose is one of my favorite authors in the suspense thriller genre. I'm familiar with her style of writing and have spent many a late-night devouring one of her books. CHEATER has a different vibe than her past work, and some may find it lacking in the typical darkness and sense of malice, evil and urgency normally found in Rose's books. It's entirely possible it's intentional, and the author's going in a new direction with the San Diego series. Rose does an excellent job of highlighting the competency of women in roles of power through Kit's character while also showing her vulnerability when it comes to family and the man she thinks deserves better than her. Recommended to fans of lighter mysteries, thrillers and romance suspense.

 Synopsis:

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care. But when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kit” McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.

THE UNQUIET BONES Book Tour and Review

Author: Loreth Ann White

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: March 5, 2024

Special thanks to the publisher and MB Communications for an arc of this title and book tour invitation. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

4 Bleeding Hearts

A shocking discovery of human bones reopens an almost fifty-year-old cold case—and rips apart the lives of a group of friends.

Review:

THE UNQUIET BONES by Author Loreth Anne White is based on a true unsolved crime that occurred in North Vancouver, Canada in 1976 where White resided as a young teen. A local sixteen-year-old girl disappeared after parting from her best friend and proceeding home alone. Her murder remains unsolved today, leaving loved ones in limbo without closure. White's compassion and empathy for the lost and those left behind to grieve fuels her desire to highlight their plight via her books giving a voice to the emotionally distraught suffering the aftermath of trauma, loss and especially the unknown.

THE UNQUIET BONES, a highly atmospheric suspense thriller involving skeletal remains unearthed during the moving of an old chapel, is book one in the Munroe and Quinn series. Upon the discovery of the remains, speculation is that it could be Annalise Jansen, a young teen who's been missing for forty-seven years after vanishing on her way home from a party. RCMP Sgt. Jane Munro who's mourning the mysterious disappearance of her finance, Matt Rossi, is struggling to come to terms with her overwhelming grief as well as her six-month pregnancy, when she's assigned the cold case. Having experienced unsolved loss, she's sympathetic to families desperate for closure, and determined to give them answers. Jane calls in forensic anthropologist Dr. Ella Quinn and together they vow to identify the remains through every means possible and bring this long-lost individual home to their family.

When news of the recovery circulates, rumors run rampant among the people in the small town. The possibility and high probability it’s Annalise make six outstanding citizens once dubbed the Shoreview Six extremely nervous as they wonder if their long-buried secrets and lies are about to unravel. Meeting in secret, they shore up old alibis and alliances. If the truth is revealed, affluent lives are going up in smoke and someone is going to pay the price for what happened all those years ago. If no one talks, their secrets remain buried, right? Maybe, maybe not. Authorities look to the recovered bones for answers while a town holds their collective breaths. In the hands of a skilled forensic anthropologist like Dr. Ella Quinn, the long buried, unquiet bones speak. They have a story to tell. What do they reveal?

Author Loreth Anne White renders another riveting, impossible to put down, page burner in THE UNQUIET BONES. Her skill as a writer and the fact that this story is based on a true crime take it to another level. Through multiple points of view and past/present chapters, a heartbreaking story emerges with dire implications for several of the large cast of unreliable characters. As fingers are pointed and threats made, an inevitable tone of malice permeates the pages. With each exposed secret and lie, the pace steadily increases, and White brilliantly manipulates readers and characters toward the shocking conclusion. Layers are stripped away, skeletons rattled, and the truth finally breaks free giving loved ones left behind needed closure.

White's unique gift for taking real life tragedies and turning them into mesmerizing stories with grace and passion while weaving forensic science into a riveting story line is simply amazing. No one does it better. The level of research, time, devotion and heart she puts into her work is evident. I can't wait for the next book in this series. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, suspense and thrillers as well as lovers of crime fiction.

 Synopsis:

When human bones are found beneath an old chapel in the woods, evidence suggests the remains could be linked to the decades-old case of missing teen Annalise Jansen. Homicide detective Jane Munro—pregnant and acutely attuned to the preciousness of life—hopes the grim discovery will finally bring closure to the girl’s family.

But for a group of Annalise’s old friends, once dubbed the Shoreview Six by the media, it threatens to expose a terrible pledge made on an autumn night forty-seven years ago. The friends are now highly respected, affluent members of their communities, and none of them ever expected the dark chapter in their past to resurface. But as Jane and forensic anthropologist Dr. Ella Quinn peel back the layers of secrets, the group begins to fracture. Will one cave? Will they turn on each other?

The investigation takes a sharp turn when Jane discovers a second body—that of the boy long blamed for Annalise’s disappearance. As the bones tell their story, the group learns just how far each will go to guard their own truth.

Meet the Author:

Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts, Washington Post, and Bild bestselling author of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. With over 3 million books sold around the world, she is an ITW thriller award finalist, a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Arthur Ellis finalist, and winner of multiple industry awards.

A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing time between Victoria on Vancouver Island, a ski resort in the Coast Mountains, and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo.

When she’s not writing or dreaming up plots, you will find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with her dog where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears. For more information on her books please visit her website at lorethannewhite.com

Connect with her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Loreth.Anne....
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Loreth
Or via Instagram: lorethannewhite

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NOTHING BUT THE BONES Review

Author: Brian Panowich

Series: Bull Mountain #4

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date: April 16, 2024

Many thanks to Minotaur Books for the arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

5 Raw Hearts

With lyrical prose and hard-hitting depictions of the hardscrabble life in the rural south, Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, and Hard Cash Valley, delivers a gripping new chapter in his tales of McFalls County in Nothing But the Bones.

Review:

NOTHING BUT THE BONES by Author Brian Panowich is another raw, gripping, graphic addition to the Bull Mountain series set in McFalls County, Georgia. A novella and three full length books precede this one, and I highly recommend reading them in order. Having said that, each book will stand alone with no issue and that’s due to the author’s ability to weave the needed backstory into each book. If you're a fan of Southern Noir, don't hesitate to pick this book up and dive in. You'll need to clear your calendar, pour yourself a strong one and settle in for the long haul as there's no stopping once you start reading this book.

Author Brian Panowich has crafted another stunningly powerful tale in this award-winning series. NOTHING BUT THE BONES opens with a scene that takes place prior to Clayton Burroughs becoming sheriff of McFalls County. Readers learn how Nelson McKenna became known as "Nails" when adopted into the Gareth Burroughs crime family and how he became an enforcer - a role he's uncomfortable with. Fast forward in time and Nails steps in to save a woman from a horrific fate in a roadside pub igniting a series of explosive mishaps that lead to he and the woman, Dallas, on the run from a multitude of malevolent forces. Nails is so far out of his comfort zone with Dallas that it leaves him confused, speechless and undecisive, but when he learns that the family he thought he could trust to always have his back might have ulterior motives, he forges ahead vowing to protect the woman with his life. Nails and Dallas leave a trail of violence, death and utter chaos in their wake as they make their way south. With his back nailed to the wall, Nails makes one last stand knowing he may not survive. The repercussions are heard all the way back in McFalls County. Time has run out. Who'll be left standing? Who'll take the fall?

NOTHING BUT THE BONES is a tension laden, fast paced, gritty tale of blood, sweat and tears - a prime example of southern noir done right. Panowich strips the words down to nothing but the bones - no fluff, no filler, as he expertly manipulates tainted, larger than life antiheroes through a complex, multi-faceted plot line toward an explosive climax no one will see coming. His sharp, descriptive prose is well suited to communicating a keen sense of place and southern tradition as well as cajoling engaging characters to life to the point of them stepping off the page into your living room. Readers can see, sense and smell the gun powder and motor oil as Nails and Dallas barrel down the highway in his classic LTD Ford toward their destination, knowing with little doubt their fate is sealed. While this story is action driven, it's the emotional turmoil of the characters I want to emphasize - A man and a woman, both outcasts, both battling their own demons, both needing something neither believes they deserve finding each other on a journey to hell and back. The heart break, the despair, the self-hatred drips like blood off the pages due to the amazingly talented author.

Brian Panowich is a force to be reckoned with in the southern noir and grit lit genre, and no one's more deserving of the accolades coming his way. I can say without reservation he's on my short list of favorite auto-read noir authors. NOTHING BUT THE BONES is nothing but the best in southern noir today. I hope there's more to come! Highly recommended to fans of crime fiction, suspense and noir.

Synopsis:

In McFalls County, local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart's not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’s reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners.

But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom—or pay with both of their lives.