Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781635116267; 9781635116236
Henery Press Publishing
278 Pages
$31.95; $15.95; $6.99 Amazon
June 16, 2020
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When one of Chief Pete Adams' first murder convictions is overturned, he and County Detective Wayne Baronich are assigned to reinvestigate the case. As new theories about the murder surface, Pete begins to question not only the original suspect's guild, but his own investigative skills from the days when he first took over the Vance Township Police Department.
Did Pete put his personal feelings ahead of his quest for justice and lock up an innocent man? Or is the defendant as devious as Pete first believed?
Meanwhile, Zoe Chamber, Monongahela County's new chief deputy coroner, struggles with the turmoil of two mysterious deaths -- including someone close to her heart -- as she tries to master her new job and plan her upcoming wedding.
But her investigation soon links to Pete's case, making Zoe the target of a killer determined to keep the truth from getting out. Can Zoe see the danger in time, and get to the church for her wedding...alive?
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Zoe Chambers's life is changing: she's planning her wedding to Chief Pete Adams, sheriff of Vance Township, Pennsylvania. She's also left her EMT position to accept one as the deputy coroner, working with Franklin Marshall, who's waiting for a kidney transplant. On top of that, she's helping move everything from Pete's house to her farm, and her mother, Kimberly, is arriving soon for the wedding - something she'd really rather not to have to deal with. Her life is busy and she's feeling overwhelmed...
But then a fatality is brought into the morgue, and she knows the young woman, Gina Wagner. Gina apparently died suddenly with no indications of illness; so the forensic pathologist is doing an autopsy with both Zoe and Franklin looking on. But suddenly Franklin falls ill, and they call paramedics, believing it to be his diabetes causing it. Now, with Franklin out of the picture, Zoe has to take on every responsibility.
Pete is having his own problems: an old case from nine years ago is being reopened: Dustin Landis was accused and convicted of killing his wife Elizabeth even though he insists he's innocent. It seems there is new information that might prove to be true, even if Pete doesn't believe it. So now he and County Detective Wayne Baronick have to re-investigate the information to see if something was missed.
Then something terrible happens to someone dear to Zoe, and she's thrust into trying to determine if Gina's death had anything to do with Pete's case; while he's starting to wonder if his first instincts - that Dustin was innocent - may have been right, or if the man is guilty as everyone thought. When there's another death and it looks like it's connected to the one from nine years ago, Pete and Zoe are racing to find out what that connection is before someone else gets killed....
I have to tell you that I absolutely devour this series. From the first paragraph you are pulled into the story and follow Zoe and Pete as they race against time to find a killer and keep people alive. While Zoe's life is being turned upside down, she can't allow her personal life to affect her professional one, and you can feel the turmoil within her as she struggles with her new duties while trying to leave her paramedic life behind. I root for Zoe all the way, and want her to succeed and be the person she was meant to -- she's not only strong, but smart, logical, and doesn't back down from people who try to threaten her. She's also caring and gentle with those who mean something to her; and this combination makes her someone you want the best for.
The mystery, as always, is a string of threads that starts out easy enough to see, but then they start weaving in and out of each other until they're pulled tight together and the colors blur against each other; leaving Pete and Zoe to slowly unravel them one by one until they see the tapestry underneath that makes up what they've been looking for all along. While we wonder, as Pete does, if Dustin is guilty as sin, when Pete discovered a secret he'd held; or if Dustin was indeed framed for his wife's murder.
When the threads lead to someone unexpected, they think they've found the answer. Or have they? When we do discover the answers, we can finally let out the breath we've been holding throughout the book - and what a journey it was. Exhilarating, like being on a roller coaster that wouldn't stop (and I dislike roller coasters, so that's saying something).
Yet the ending gives us promise of something else, and it feels like we are coming home. Not only satisfying, but endearing and looking eagerly forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3297160106
More on Annette Dashofy's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/annette-dashofy/
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