Dark Water by Christy Barritt

Dark Water
by Christy Barritt

ISBN-13: 9780593197882
Paperback: 332 pages
Released: January 29, 2020





Source: Free kindle ebook

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Colton Locke can’t forget the black op that went terribly wrong. Desperate for a new start, he moves to Lantern Beach, North Carolina, and forms Blackout, a private security firm. Despite his hero status, he can’t erase the mistakes he’s made. For the past year, Elise Oliver hasn’t been able to shake the feeling that there’s more to her husband’s death than she was told. When she finds a hidden box of his personal possessions, more questions—and suspicions—arise. The only person she trusts to help her is her husband’s best friend, Colton Locke. Someone wants Elise dead. Is it because she knows too much? Or is it to keep her from finding the truth? The Blackout team must uncover dark secrets hiding beneath seemingly still waters. But those very secrets might just tear the team apart.


My Review:
Dark Water is a Christian romantic suspense. Elise found some secret files hidden by her SEAL husband before he died. After reporting it (but keeping the files), she's attacked and her attacker demanded those files. She escaped to her husband's best friend for help. Colton had just started a private security business with his retired SEAL team, so it was a good place to go. Elise and Colton felt like they couldn't fall in love without disrespecting her husband, but they've been good friends and that closeness turned to attraction as they spent time together.

The suspense came from Colton keeping Elise alive while trying to figure out who the traitor was as the "incriminating" evidence in the file wasn't clear on that point. Generally enjoyable, though I did wonder why SEALs didn't know how to get out of a riptide and seemed to feel the only solution was to power through swimming toward shore. Hmm. Anyway, there was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd 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.

Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson

Murder in Rose Hill
by Victoria Thompson

ISBN-13: 9780593639795
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: April 23, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Sarah Malloy has just helped with the delivery of a bouncing baby girl at her women’s clinic, when she receives a visit from an engaging and determined young woman writing an article for New Century Magazine. Louisa Rodgers explains that she is researching the dangers of patent remedies. Sarah is only too happy to tell Louisa exactly what she thinks of the so-called medicines whose ingredients include heavy doses of alcohol and other addictive drugs, and hurt much more than they help.

A few days later, Sarah receives a visit from a bereft Bernard Rodgers, who explains that his daughter, Louisa, has been found strangled in the lobby of the building where New Century has its offices. The police have decided it was a random attack and have made no attempt to investigate, hinting that Louisa got what she deserved for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Sarah wants justice for the bright young woman but as she and Frank delve deeper into Louisa’s life, they find that nothing is quite as it seemed.


My Review:
Murder in Rose Hill is a historical mystery set in New York City in 1901. This is the 27th book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this one didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous mysteries.

During the little investigating Sarah did, she could get people to talk to her, but she just accepted what people told her rather than considering other possibilities. Maeve did undercover work and quickly uncovered many lies, but then Frank accidently blew her cover. Frank and Gino tracked down information and followed up on leads. Gino did a good job at uncovering the truth, but even he was sure a certain person was the murderer rather than keeping his mind open. You'd think they'd all be more suspicious of everyone after solving so many murders.

When the second person died, whodunit became so very obvious (motive, means, opportunity). Yet the whole team totally overlooked this obvious possibility until the very end after everyone else was eliminated. This just seemed hard to believe. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this historical mystery to those who already enjoy the series.


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.

Cold Case Tracker by Maggie K. Black

Cold Case Tracker
by Maggie K. Black

ISBN-13: 9781335598059
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Released: April 23, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
K-9 officer Jackson Locke’s sister has vanished from a car accident and is assumed dead by the police, but her brother is certain she's still alive. The key to finding her may be her housemate, Amy Scout, his sister’s best friend and his old crush. But when Amy comes under attack, two things become Jackson’s sister has been investigating cold cases and someone wants Amy dead. Now he must untangle the mystery between the cold cases and his sister’s disappearance while guarding Amy from an enemy willing to kill to hide the truth…


My Review:
Cold Case Tracker is a Christian romantic suspense. Sergeant Jackson (with his K9) is searching for his missing sister and needs to interview her best friend, Amy, who was also his teen crush. He's ashamed of the stupid pranks and mistakes he made as a teenager, though, and so let's her think he's someone else after he saves her from an attack. Someone's looking for something his sister had and they seem to think Amy knows where it is. He protects Amy while they work together to solve what his sister was doing when she disappeared.

The main characters were likable and reacted realistically to events. Jackson admired Amy's fight and determination while Amy liked his caring. They built each other up. Amy felt stupid about being fooled romantically by a man, and Jackson couldn't forgive himself for his youthful mistakes. There was plenty of suspense due to danger from the unknown enemy. The Christian theme was forgiveness. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable 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.

Hidden Currents by Christy Barritt

Hidden Currents
by Christy Barritt

ISBN-13: 978-0999834503
Kindle: 292 pages
Publisher: River Heights
Released: January 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A notorious gang puts a bounty on Detective Cady Matthews’s head after she takes down their leader, leaving her no choice but to hide until she can testify at trial. But her temporary home across the country on a remote North Carolina island isn’t as peaceful as she initially thinks. Living under the new identity of Cassidy Livingston, she struggles to keep her investigative skills tucked away, especially after a body washes ashore. When local police bungle the murder investigation, she can’t resist stepping in. But Cassidy is supposed to be keeping a low profile. One wrong move could lead to both her discovery and her demise.


My Review:
Hidden Currents is a mystery. Undercover police detective Cady has to hide out in a little, island beach town until she can testify against some criminals who've put a bounty on her head. Trying to live as Cassidy, laid back ice cream truck driver, is harder than she expected (which, frankly, makes me question how she was able to convincingly infiltrate the gang, but, hey).

She's upset by how close she's come to dying (since the bad guys keep finding her) and worried about how long she'll potentially survive. She takes out all of her frustration on the hero, making some snap assumptions along the way. The hero could have explained the evidence against him (a borrowed truck with demeaning-to-women decals), but he preferred to be rude in return and then avoid his new neighbor, even though he's a Christian. Both regretted their words and slowly tried to along better.

I enjoyed the mystery and the other characters, her new friends. Cassidy tried to subtly ask questions, listen to gossip, and find evidence. Whodunit was guessable even though all of the evidence needed to narrow things down wasn't available until the big reveal. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery.


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.

What Cannot Be Said by C.S. Harris

What Cannot Be Said
by C.S. Harris

ISBN-13: 9780593639184
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: April 16, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
July 1815: The Prince Regent’s grandiose plans to celebrate Napoléon’s recent defeat at Waterloo are thrown into turmoil when Lady McInnis and her daughter Emma are found brutally murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in a chilling imitation of the stone effigies once found atop medieval tombs. Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy immediately turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help with the investigation. For as Devlin discovers, Lovejoy’s own wife and daughter were also murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in the same bizarre postures. A traumatized ex-soldier was hanged for their killings. So is London now confronting a malicious copyist? Or was an innocent man sent to the gallows?

Aided by his wife, Hero, who knew Lady McInnis from her work with poor orphans, Devlin finds himself exploring a host of unsavory characters from a vicious chimney sweep to a smiling but decidedly lethal baby farmer. Also coming under increasing scrutiny is Sir Ivo McInnis himself, along with a wounded Waterloo veteran—who may or may not have been Laura McInnis’s lover—and a charismatic young violinist who moonlights as a fencing master and may have formed a dangerous relationship with Emma. But when Sebastian’s investigation turns toward man about town Basil Rhodes, he quickly draws the fury of the Palace, for Rhodes is well known as the Regent’s favorite illegitimate son.

Then Lady McInnis’s young niece and nephew are targeted by the killer, and two more women are discovered murdered and arranged in similar postures. With his own life increasingly in danger, Sebastian finds himself drawn inexorably toward a conclusion far darker and more horrific than anything he could have imagined.


My Review:
What Cannot Be Said is a mystery set in 1815 in London. This book is the 19th in a series. You can understand it without having read the previous novels, and it didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The historical information was woven into the story without slowing the pacing. It created a distinct feeling of that specific time and place and helped bring the story alive in my imagination. The characters were interesting, complex, and acted in realistic ways. Both Hero and Sebastian were involved in the investigation. They tracked down leads and asked good questions. Though there were plenty of suspects, I guessed whodunit before Sebastian. I understood why he didn't guess whodunit sooner, though.

There were no sex scenes. There was a fair amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical mystery.


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.

Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen

Death in the Details
by Katie Tietjen

ISBN-13: 9781639107186
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Released: April 9, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Inspired by the real life Frances Lee Glessner.

Maple Bishop is ready to put WWII and the grief of losing her husband Bill behind her. But when she discovers that Bill left her penniless, Maple realizes she could lose her Vermont home next and sets out to make money the only way she knows by selling her intricately crafted dollhouses. Business is off to a good start—until Maple discovers her first customer dead, his body hanging precariously in his own barn.

Something about the supposed suicide rubs Maple the wrong way, but local authorities brush off her concerns. Determined to see “what’s big in what’s small,” Maple turns to what she knows best, painstakingly recreating the gruesome scene in death in a nutshell.

With the help of a rookie officer named Kenny, Maple uses her macabre miniature to dig into the dark undercurrents of her sleepy town. But when her nemesis, the town gossip, goes missing, she becomes a suspect, she's determined to solve the mysteries before someone else ends up dead.


My Review:
Death in the Details is a mystery set in 1946 Vermont. I've read about Frances Lee Glessner's work of making miniature crime scenes and was intrigued with a sleuth based on her, but making miniatures of crime scenes seems to be the only similarity between them. While the author wove historical details into the story to give it a distinct sense of time and place, she also used several phrases that didn't come into use until after that date. She also mentioned seat belts, but those weren't added to cars until after 1949. Wrong details like this kept me from getting immersed in the story.

The mystery was clue-based, but Maple was so certain that her judgements about others were correct that she couldn't see the obvious. I had most of the whodunit worked out back when the murder was discovered. The crime scene miniature was mostly a way for Maple to demonstrate her theories. Maple wasn't very likable at the beginning and only slowly learned how to get people to listen to her. She was very socially inept, and it didn't help that she assumed the worst about others and didn't hesitate to let a person know that she held them in contempt--which was most people. However, she's devoted to justice, has a photographic memory, is observant, and likes everything to be neatly explained, so she got it solved.

There was a minor amount of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this novel, but more to historical fiction fans as the story was more about Maple growing as a person than the mystery.


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 Songbird of Hope Hill by Kim Vogel Sawyer

The Songbird of Hope Hill
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

ISBN-13: 9780593600818
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook
Released: April 9, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Birdie Clarkson only recently started working at Lida’s Palace, a house of ill repute at the edge of Tulsey, Texas. Abandoned and penniless, she turned to someone she thought was a friend, but instead it turned out to be a nightmare. She wants to leave, but doesn’t know how. And how will she ever feel clean again? When Reverend Isaiah Overly and his son, Ephraim, arrive offering a safe haven and better life for any of the women who want to leave, Birdie takes a chance. Ignoring the madam’s furious raging, she climbs into the back of the preacher’s wagon.

The Reverend and his wife, Ophelia, welcome Birdie to Hope Hill, which they founded as a haven to teach women, providing them with an education and skills necessary to ensure their future will be brighter than their past. Hesitant at first, Birdie soon joins the preacher at revival meetings as part of the chorus, singing alongside Ephraim.

Reverend Overly’s ministry is built on the premise than none are irredeemable. Will the Reverend be able to convince Birdie that God’s redemption wipes the soul clean—or will she feel forever to smeared to accept love?


My Review:
The Songbird of Hope Hill is a Christian romance set in 1895 in Texas. Birdie's father died and her mother abandoned her, so she goes to her mother's childhood friend hoping she'll help her get to her aunt. Only, Lida pressures Birdie into prostitution at her brothel. Birdie now feels worthless, used, and rejected. Then a pastor enters the brothel, offering refuge at his mission, and Birdie accepts. But what does her future hold? Most folk don't want anything to do with an ex-prostitute, and a few even claim God won't forgive a sin as bad as hers.

Ephraim is talented at playing and singing music, and he dutifully helps his pastor father with his mission and revivals. He feels restless, though, and he doesn't understand how his parents can pray for Lida (as he's never been told that they once knew each other). He's captivated by Birdie's beautiful singing and enjoys her kind, caring personality, but he's not supposed to get personally involved with the girls at the mission.

The main characters were engaging, reacted realistically to events, and grew in maturity. Birdie and Ephraim shared interests and got along well. The main focus of the story was how God forgives and can make one new. The pastor constantly prayed to God for guidance, and several of the ex-prostitutes accepted Christ as they came to understand what He'd done for them. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this story of renewal and healing.


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.

These Tangled Threads by Sarah Loudin Thomas

These Tangled Threads
by Sarah Loudin Thomas

ISBN-13: 9780764242014
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: April 2, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When Biltmore Industries master weaver Lorna Blankenship is commissioned to create an original design for Cornelia Vanderbilt's 1924 wedding, she panics knowing she doesn't have the creativity needed. But there's an elusive artisan in the Blue Ridge Mountains who could save her--if only she can find her. To track the mysterious weaver down, Lorna sees no other way but to seek out the relationships she abandoned in shame. Lorna is forced to confront the wounds and regrets of long ago. She'll have to risk the job that shapes her identity as well as the hope of friendship--and love--restored.


My Review:
These Tangled Threads is a historical set between 1915 and 1924 in North Carolina. The action switched between three main timelines (start, middle, end) with events being referred to in the later timelines that hadn't yet happened. It got a little confusing to keep track of what had happened in each timeline, and I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it'd just happened in order. The main characters were realistically complex with reactions based on their upbringing and tragedies in their past.

Lorna's a drama queen. It's all about her. For example, it didn't matter that two people were finally reunited and were having a joyous reunion. She wanted them to hear her guilty confession immediately and get angry at her to validate her guilt. Or the wood carver who has long admired her kept trying to compliment her, but all she could hear is that he might know her guilty secret. He's kind-hearted and talented but feels like few women would want him because of his club foot. At least he knows exactly what he's getting when he wants to court Lorna as he's been dealing with her confusing (to him) behavior for years.

The story was based in historical events, like the Biltmore Industries shops, a flood that happened in the area, and Cornelia's wedding. Those historical details were interesting and necessary to the story and so didn't slow the pacing. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable historical.


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.