After the Shadows by Amanda Cabot

After the Shadows
by Amanda Cabot

ISBN-13: 9780800740641
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: March 21, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Emily Leland sheds no tears when her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight, but what awaits her back home in Sweetwater Crossing is far from the welcome and comfort she expected. First she discovers her father has died under mysterious circumstances. Then the house where the new schoolteacher, Craig Ferguson, and his son are supposed to board burns, leaving them homeless. When Emily proposes turning the family home into a boardinghouse, her sister leaves town.

Alone and broke, her family name sullied by controversy, Emily is determined to solve the mystery of her father's death. The widowed schoolmaster proves to be a devoted father, an innovative teacher, and an unexpected ally. Together they must work to unmask a killer and escape the shadows of their own pasts in order to forge a brighter future.


My Review:
After the Shadows is a Christian romance set in 1882 in Texas. While people were dying left and right, this story wasn't a mystery: Emily didn't investigate (or even seem to notice) possible clues as to who killed her father until two-thirds of the story was done. Then she and Craig quickly ran out of leads. Whereas I'd guessed both whodunit and who would reveal the murderer long before then (though I was wrong about motive). Anyway, this was primarily a romance.

Emily was a kind, hardworking woman who didn't quite trust any man not to become an abusive husband and believed she was barren and so no man would be happy married to her, anyway. Craig was clearly gentle--for example, effectively disciplining children in non-violent ways--so she started to trust him. He built her up and tried to show her how he valued her character and saw her worth beyond her ability to have children. They shared similar values, became friends, and came to care about each other as they spent time together.

The Christian element was mostly in how the main characters treated other people as valuable even when others didn't see them that way. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable romance.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

A Killer in the Crystal Palace by Deb Marlowe

A Killer in the Crystal Palace
by Deb Marlowe

ISBN-13: 02022023AK2CP
kindle: 244 pages
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Released: February 17, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
London, 1851, and the Great Exhibition is on. A soaring success despite months of dour predictions, it is the event of the year, on front pages and wagging tongues the world over—and Miss Kara Levett is thrilled to be in the middle of it. The daughter of a baron and an exhibitor herself, she happily demonstrates her elaborate automatons and case clocks to the crowds.

But her situation grows perilous when a man is murdered in the Crystal Palace and she becomes the prime suspect. With the unexpected aid of Mr. Niall Kier, a reserved Scottish blacksmith, artist and fellow exhibitioner with secrets of his own, Kara begins the work the Metropolitan Police show no inclination for—finding the true killer.

Together, Niall and Kara dig up international espionage schemes and sordid family secrets, and chase clues from Victorian high society to the London slums, all while trying to stay ahead of the villains who seek to make her the next victim.


My Review:
A Killer in the Crystal Palace is a mystery set in 1851 in England. I loved the writing in this novel. Kara and Niall felt like products of their time (rather than modern attitudes transported back), but they're also oddities. And they know they stand out as it causes them problems. Both are very skilled and creative. Kara inherited a business from her father (which she runs through a man) and is rich, but she still wanted to use her creative skills despite men feeling threatened by her. She's survived several kidnapping attempts and so has learned some unique survival skills that came in handy.

Niall was impressed by and respected her intelligence and skill. They worked well together, using logic and their unique skills and resources to find clues and solve whodunit. It was a puzzle mystery, and whodunit was guessable (but not obvious) before the big reveal. Historical details about the time, especially the Great Exhibition, were woven into the story and brought the time and place alive in my imagination. There was no sex. There was occasional bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this story to fans of historical mysteries.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Shielding the Baby by Laura Scott

Shielding the Baby
by Laura Scott

ISBN-13: 9781335587626
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Released: March 28th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A double murder and an attempted kidnapping of a baby in a national park have Officer Danica Hayes and her K-9 partner on high alert. She'll have to protect Luke Stark and his six-month-old son while tracking the person who murdered his sister. Danica and Luke will have to fight hard to protect his baby and keep from becoming the next victims.


My Review:
Shielding the Baby is a Christian romantic suspense. This is the first in a series, and the double murder is the ongoing investigation throughout the series while the kidnapping attempts were solved by the end of this story. I enjoyed how there was more actual investigation and using the K9 to track the criminal than is usual for Love Inspired Suspense. There was still plenty of suspense from repeated kidnapping attempts on the baby, the weather conditions, and physical attacks against Luke and Danica.

Luke used his ex-army-medic skills to protect his son while Danica and her team members investigated the crimes and followed up on clues. He respected Danica's abilities and was attracted to her. Despite his first, rushed marriage turning out so badly, he ended up moving pretty fast into a relationship with Danica. She wasn't sure she'd make a good mom or wife because her parents weren't good role models. Still, they worked well together and both did well with the baby, so they seem likely to have a good relationship. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'm recommend this enjoyable mystery/suspense.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Under Fire by Lynn H. Blackburn

Under Fire
by Lynn H. Blackburn

ISBN-13: 9780800737979
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: March 7, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
USSS Special Agent Zane Fletcher has landed his dream assignment protecting the president of the United States. When the president plans a fundraiser at the exclusive estate of a political supporter in Raleigh, Zane is thrilled to be working again with Special Agent Tessa Reed, his best friend--and the woman he desperately wishes could be more.

Though Tessa almost lost everything, she battled her demons and came out on the other side healthy and healed. But when her role as the liaison between the Raleigh office and the president's protective detail wrenches her past back into the present, her greatest failure threatens to come to light. Zane refuses to let Tessa go through this alone. But can he stand by the woman he loves and protect the president from a mounting threat at the same time?


My Review:
Under Fire is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It's the third in a series, but it works as a stand alone. Tessa's leading the local efforts to prepare for a visit by the president. Not only did the team need to investigate and prevent the threats against the president, but a threat came in against Tessa. She (and the teammates protecting her) had to avoid repeated attacks while stopping threats to the president. Tessa was competent and kick-ass during the suspenseful parts. So were her teammates. Great team.

Tessa was an alcoholic (now over a year sober) who got help after nearly getting raped and not knowing who did it. Zane's mother was an alcoholic who severely neglected him, so he once told Tessa that he'd never get into a relationship with an alcoholic. They've become best friends, care about each other, know what the other likes, and have shared their lives. They worked well together as part of a team. But they must overcome this issue before they can allow the relationship to turn romantic.

The main characters were likable, complex, and reacted realistically to the situations. I cared about what happened to them. The Christian element was genuine prayer about the relationship problems and about dealing with the threats. Tessa realized that only God would show her perfect love. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I would recommend this enjoyable, exciting suspense novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Remember Me by Tracie Peterson

Remember Me
by Tracie Peterson

ISBN-13: 9780764237393
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: March 7th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Addie Bryant is haunted by her past of heartbreak and betrayal. After her beau, Isaac Hanson, left the Yukon, she made a vow to wait for him. When she's sold to a brothel owner after the death of her father, Addie manages to escape with the hope that she can forever hide her past and the belief that she will never have the future she's always dreamed of.

Years later, Addie has found peace in her new life as a photographer, training Camera Girls to operate and sell the Brownie camera. But during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo in Seattle, Addie is reunited with Isaac. And when her past catches up with her, Addie must decide whether to run or to stay and face her wounds in order to embrace her life, her future, and her hope in God.


My Review:
Remember Me is a Christian romance set in 1909 in Seattle, Washington. Isaac and Addie promised to marry each other one day, but Isaac left to get a college degree and Addie's brothers sold her to a brothel owner who married her. Once widowed, she went to Seattle to hide and make a new life for herself. The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo not only brings Isaac back into her life but her scheming brothers who want her money and who plan to sell her again. Isaac and her friends helped her against her brothers. Her friends helped her to heal from her past when she finally admitted her shame to her Christian friends, expecting to be rejected. They pointed out that she was a victim, it wasn't by her choice, and even if it had been, God forgives sins.

The main characters were likable and generally behaved realistically. However, Isaac genuinely thought that when he found Addie, they'd immediately marry and it'd be like nothing had happened in the past ten years that they'd been apart. Various people told him that he needed to give her time, get to know her now, and talk to her about what's holding her back. Still, he kept pushing because he didn't care about her ruined reputation and didn't understand that she did.

Sweet, caring Addie felt unworthy of any love and questioned why God allowed bad things to happen. She came to see some good come from her past and learned to trust that God loved her even if He allowed evil things to happen. Interesting historical details about the Expo and life in the Yukon were woven into the story. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable historical romance.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green

The Metropolitan Affair
by Jocelyn Green

ISBN-13: 9780764239632
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: March 14th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
For years her explorer father promised Dr. Lauren Westlake she'd accompany him on one of his Egyptian expeditions. But as the empty promises mounted, Lauren determined to earn her own way. Now the assistant curator of Egyptology for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lauren receives two unexpected invitations.

The first is her repentant father's offer to finally bring her to Egypt as his colleague on a new expedition. The second is a chance to enter the world of New York's wealthiest patrons who have been victims of art fraud. With Egyptomania sweeping the city after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, Detective Joe Caravello is on the hunt for a notorious forger preying on the open wallets of New York's high society. Dr. Westlake is just the expert he needs to help him track the criminal. Together they search for the truth, and the closer Lauren and Joe get to discovering the forger's identity, the more entangled they become in a web of deception and crime.


My Review:
The Metropolitan Affair is a Christian romantic mystery set in 1925 in New York City. And I can't tell you exactly why I like it so much without genuinely spoiling the story, so in general: Lauren loves her job, but she chose her profession in hopes of gaining her father's approval and a relationship with him. He's been absent on one excuse or another her whole life. Now he's moved nearby and is spending more time with her. She'll make time for him, even though a close childhood friend has asked her professional help with identifying Egyptian forgeries. She and Joe draw closer as they spend time working together.

The main characters were complex, well-developed people that I cared about. They struggled with real issues, and relationship tensions were created by realistic behavior (rather than manufactured obstacles). Lauren and Joe supported each other through hard experiences and built each other up. Interesting historical details were woven into the story and immersed me in the time and place. The mystery was clue-based and the reader can guess the bad guys (though Joe suspected as the clues piled up, so he's not dumb). Joe asked good questions and followed up on leads until he finally uncovered the truth along with proof.

By the end of the story, Lauren realized that God is the perfect Father that she's been looking for. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this enjoyable story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

A Waltz with Traitors by A.L. Sowards

A Waltz with Traitors
by A.L. Sowards

ISBN-13: 9781524421120
Paperback: 328 pages
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Released: March 1, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Former Russian Empire, 1918. Czech soldier Filip Sedlák never wanted to fight for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He defected to the Russians to help form the Czechoslovak Legion with others like him. Their goal: leave the chaos of Russia, sail to France, and help the Allies defeat the Central Powers, thereby toppling a hated empire and winning an independent Czechoslovakia.

With the fall of the tsar, Nadia Linskaya’s life is in ruins. Her family is dead, her lands are confiscated, and her aristocratic world is gone forever. But Nadia is determined to elude the Bolshevik agent who destroyed her family and find a way to survive in this changed world.

When Nadia takes refuge with the Czechoslovak Legion, the last thing she expects is an ally. But when Filip proposes a sham marriage to ensure her safe passage across Siberia, she takes it. Neither Filip nor Nadia expect real love, not when the legion has to take over the longest railroad in the world—and then hold it against Bolshevik counterattacks, partisan sabotage, Allied intrigue, and a set of brutal Siberian winters. At risk is the future of Czechoslovakia, the fate of Russia, and their hearts.


My Review:
A Waltz with Traitors is a historical suspense/romance set in Russia starting in March 1918. So much is going on that we need 3 male and 1 female point-of-view characters to tell the story of the Czechoslovak Legion. Between war, retribution, starvation, and disease, people were dying all over Russia, so this is a warning that a lot of bad things happen to the main characters and that non-POV characters may die. But the main characters hold on to hope even in the darkest times, so it's not depressing to read.

Vivid historical and setting details were woven into the story, bringing it alive in my imagination. The main characters were engaging, complex, and felt like real people. Though, at the very end when Nadia drives the car, things started feeling exaggerated to the point of being unrealistic. The action scenes went on forever with "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong" in full effect while the reconciliation scene resolved a world of hurt in no time.

Nadia held on to her faith in God and heaven throughout all she endured and lost, and Filip grew in his faith by witnessing hers. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting, suspenseful historical novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Wyoming Wild by Sarah M. Eden

Wyoming Wild
by Sarah M. Eden

ISBN-13: 9781639930920
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Released: March 7th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Wyoming Territory, 1876. US Marshal John “Hawk” Hawking is one of the most respected lawmen in the West, so when a telegram arrives from the small town of Sand Creek warning him of a death threat against him, he immediately begins an investigation. Posing as a farmer, Hawk heads to Sand Creek, a town ruled by a violent and corrupt sheriff. Only one person is trying to stop him—Liesl, the sheriff’s own daughter. When she meets the self-assured and attractive new farmer, John, she hopes he might help her in the fight for justice.

John is completely unfazed by Sheriff Hodges’s attempts at intimidation, and Liesl is quickly swept up by Hawk’s courage and integrity. Just as quickly, Hawk finds himself falling for Liesl’s strength and bravery, as well as her grace and beauty. When Liesl discovers John’s true identity, she feels betrayed. Despite her lingering distrust of him, Liesl agrees to work with him to enact a dangerous plan that will put the criminals away forever. Liesl must put her life, and her heart, in the hands of his lawman if she has any hope of saving her family and her town.


My Review:
Wyoming Wild is a romance set in 1876 in Wyoming Territory. Characters from a previous novel are in this story, but you don't need to read that book to understand this one. Historical details were woven into the story, but they're mostly a Western backdrop to the action. The main characters were engaging and likable.

Liesl bravely worked behind the scenes to help protect the people of her town from her corrupt father, risking a beating or even being killed like her brother. After overcoming her distrust of lawmen (as having a corrupt sheriff for your father didn't help when the rescuing US Marshals started things off by deceiving everyone), Liesl agreed to testify against her father, help identify who was in his group of criminals, and help get proof of their wrongdoings. Hawk's known as not letting his emotions get in the way of doing his job, and he's determine to make Wyoming a safe, orderly territory. Liesl brought out his softer side, but he felt like he's got to be unfeeling and single to do his job well. As this is a romance, she obviously changes his mind with her lively banter and courage.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

A Gentle Murderer by Dorothy Salisbury Davis

A Gentle Murderer
by Dorothy Salisbury Davis

ISBN-13: 9781728271958
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Released: March 7th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
On a hot Saturday night in Manhattan, Father Duffy sits in a confessional, growing alarmed as he listens to the voice of a distraught young man who speaks of bloody hair and a dead woman and a compulsion to do things with a hammer that he does not understand. The priest tries to persuade the man to confess to the police, but the killer flees, still clutching the hammer.

The next day, Father Duffy learns that a high-class call girl on the East Side has been savagely murdered, and no suspect has been found. As he searches for the disturbed young man who he fears will kill again, cerebral New York Police detective Sergeant Ben Goldsmith takes the lead in the investigation of the call-girl murder, racing against the clock to catch a very clever killer who, when enraged, cannot control his need to swing a hammer.


My Review:
A Gentle Murderer is a mystery that was originally published in 1951. Father Duffy investigated the killer's past to try to track him down in the present. He learned that the killer's father was an abusive drunk while the mother was "too affectionate." I'm still not sure if that simply meant that she babied him or if she molested him. Duffy found plenty of reasons to believe the killer would kill again, but he didn't feel like he could share his knowledge with the police because it started out in a confessional. He's determined to find the man and convince him to turn himself in. At the same time, the police (mainly Detective Goldsmith) processed the crime scene, questioned people, and otherwise tried to identify and track down whodunit. He did a fine job even without Duffy's knowledge, and their paths converged at the end.

We know whodunit from the start, though, as the final point-of-view character was the killer. Women took one look at him and wanted to mother him, giving him (often free) room and board so he could pursue his attempts at writing poetry. He killed women he felt were leading other women astray or who were having affairs, so he seemed to feel that they deserved it. But he did know killing was a sin, thus the confession. His choices fed his desire to murder as he was often a temptation to lonely women. There was this weird "I want to mother him and have sex with him" vibe going on with his potential victims. Anyway, knowing he was close to killing again did add suspense, but I think I would have liked the mystery better without his viewpoint.

There was some bad language. There were no actual sex scenes. Any violence was minimally described, so it wasn't gory. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to fans of "golden age" mysteries.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Standing Dead by Margaret Mizushima

Standing Dead
by Margaret Mizushima

ISBN-13: 9781639102440
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Released: March 7, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Deputy Mattie Cobb and her sister, Julia, travel to Mexico to visit their mother, but when they arrive, they discover that she and her husband have vanished without a trace. Back in Timber Creek, Mattie finds a chilling note on her front door telling her to look for “him” among the standing dead up in the high country.

The sheriff’s department springs into action and sends a team to the mountains, where Mattie’s K-9 partner, Robo, makes a grisly discovery—a body tied to a dead pine tree. Mattie is shocked when she realizes she knows the dead man. And then another note arrives, warning that Mattie’s mother is in desperate straits. In a last-ditch gambit, Mattie must go into a killer’s lair to save her mother—or die trying.


My Review:
Standing Dead is a K9-detective mystery. It's the 8th in a series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones, and this book didn't spoil the previous mysteries.

The main characters were likable and complex, and they acted realistically to events. I cared about what happened to them. They dealt with personal struggles while solving the mystery. Mattie and Robo (her loyal and talented working dog), Cole (the veterinarian who loves her), and the rest of the sheriff’s department worked to solve the crimes. This was a clue-based mystery. It also had a lot of suspense due to the danger to the good guys, especially Mattie's family.

The crime scenes were not described in gory detail. There were no sex scenes. The were a couple of uses of bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this interesting and exciting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
by Katie Lumsden

ISBN-13: 9780593186923
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: February 28th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
It's 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, attempts to escape the shadows of her past by taking a position as governess to an only child, Louis, at an isolated country house in the west of England. But Margaret soon starts to feel that something isn't quite right. There are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants, and an abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs. Eversham, Louis's widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the village. Lonely and unsure whom to trust, Margaret finds distraction in a forbidden relationship with the gardener, Paul. But as Margaret's history threatens to catch up with her, it isn't long before she learns the truth behind the secrets of Hartwood Hall.


My Review:
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is a gothic historical set in 1852 in England. It had some very modern attitudes among the main characters, including Margaret having casual sex with a younger man and two lesbian women living together without comment by the staff who knew about it. Margaret's offered marriage by the young man but refused because of how controlling and abusive her husband had been. She liked sex and wanted children but wanted no commitments to a man.

I had expected a mystery novel, but it's not. It's just odd things happening around the Hall and Margaret getting very jumpy despite being reassured by a long-time servant that there's no danger there. Frankly, I got bored after a while of how cowardly Margaret acted. Her way of dealing with fear and stress seemed to be to run to her lover and have sex rather than really trying to fix things. The characters also were very stiff and stilted. We're rarely told why people acted the way they did, and even Margaret's motivating past was only very, very slowly revealed. Since the characters didn't come across as real, I didn't really care about what happened to them. Sorry, but this book wasn't for me.

There were many intense kissing scenes followed by fade-to-black sex, then fond thoughts of it afterwards. There were only a few uses of bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.