Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case…
Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties.
Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.
Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?
As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead—to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS by Lisa Unger is a suspenseful thriller set a week before Christmas featuring the survivor of an attack from a sexual predator who killed one friend and is thought to be responsible for the disappearance of two sisters, also her friends, all on the same night. Now ten years later, she is having to relive that time in her life when a famous true-crime author and podcaster comes to town and is investigating the case. This story is a little longer than a normal novella, but shorter than a full-length novel.
This thriller is told by Maddie in the present and is interspersed with chapters that are memories from the past and then there are also chapters told by Harley as he tries to dig up new facts about the old case and the missing girls. There are plenty of plot twists that continually had me changing my mind about guilt and/or innocence of the suspects. Ms. Unger handled Maggie’s trauma and survivor’s guilt even these ten years later with empathy that made it feel believable. Overall, I was satisfied with the conclusion of the missing girls’ case, but unless I missed something somewhere, I do not understand who shot two characters at the end of the story. Other than that, I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller.
This is an engaging and suspenseful Christmas time short thriller.
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About the Author
Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including her latest SECLUDED CABIN SLEEPS SIX. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few authors, including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
German tanks rumble through the streets of Paris, forcing frightened citizens to flee. But not everyone has the luxury to leave. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the world-famous Hôtel Ritz, must stay to support her family back home in Brittany. Desperate to earn money, Camille also acts as a lady’s maid for longtime guest Vivian Miller, a glamorous American widow—and a Nazi sympathizer.
Despite her distrust of the woman, Camille turns to Vivian when her friend and fellow hotel maid Rachel Berman needs help getting out of Paris. It’s then that Camille discovers that Vivian is not what she seems… The American has been using her wealth and connections to secretly obtain travel papers for Jewish refugees.
While they’re hiding Rachel in an underground bunker under a Nazi’s nose, a daring escape plan is hatched. But as the net grows tighter, and the Germans more ruthless, Camille’s courage will be tested to the extreme…
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan is very relevant today. After the October 7th Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians that included the raping of women and children, burning babies alive, and brutal torture, readers will understand why people have dubbed this the Holocaust of the 21st Century. Ms. Ryan has a knack for getting into the minds and hearts of her readers.
In this story there are three main characters who become connected through the world-famous Hotel Ritz after the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940. It is a multi-narrative story where readers can see events from several different views. Three women from different socio-economic backgrounds are thrust together. Vivian Miller, a glamorous American socialite widow is chosen by the SS officer Gunther Von Bauer to be his mistress. Both she and he are residing at the Ritz. She appears to be a Nazi sympathizer but is working behind the scenes to help French Jews escape. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the Ritz, becomes his household maid to support her family back home in Brittany, especially her sister Jacqueline who has emotional issues. Rachel Berman is Camille’s Jewish co-worker and needs her help to survive. Knowing that Vivian can help, Camille turns to her to help save Rachel and her mother.
The plot is very powerful and moving. There is suspense and tension as readers take the journeys with the characters. Some of them are brave, resilient, courageous, while others are self-absorbed and cruel. The twists and turns enhance this very captivating read.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Just as with the characters in this book many people, after October 7th, feel helpless, scared, and angry. They can find solace in some of the characters’ quotes. The first quote by the Jewish character, Rachel, “This enemy, these new Germans are hardened, angrier, and more ruthless. Hate lives in their heart. Hate for people like us.” Her father says, “We are French citizens.” Rachel responds “No papa. We are Jews.”
Renee Ryan: For me, that quote summed up the Holocaust with the evil of how people looked the other way and rationalized and pretended that nothing was happening. I thought when I wrote that quote about the 1940s, ‘what is wrong with these people. How are you missing this.’ Even though I am not Jewish I wondered why did so many just look away. Today it is happening all over again, where people just turn and look the other way. History is repeating itself. People are saying it is a two-sided conversation and this is so untrue. It is a one-sided conversation. Everyone should be supporting our Jewish allies and our Jewish people in this country. We should not allow genocide to happen again. We should not be looking away. It is about people who are our friends, colleagues, and I wonder why we are not standing next to them shoulder to shoulder.
EC: Can you explain the other quote, people are “clinging to a lie and calling it hope.”?
RR: I wanted to show in the book how people thought it will not happen to me. It will only happen to those who are not French born, or it will only happen to the poor, not the wealthy, or it will only happen to people without connections, not us. The goalpost kept moving. Laws in France kept changing during the occupation. It was not the Germans, but the French that were doing the roundups of the Jews and passed the harsh laws towards them.
EC: Do you also agree that these quotes are very relevant today?
RR: Yes. I wrote this book a year ago. I thought I was writing these quotes about what happened fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty years ago during the Nazi reign. I cannot comprehend that these quotes can be applied to October 7th. It is so heartbreaking. Have we not learned anything. It is very similar to what happened. It is the same rhetoric, the exact same things said in the 1930s, 1940s. It led to all the antisemitism and for people to look away. People do not want to educate themselves. They only listen to the propaganda about the Jews. I have a quote in the book, “Good people should stop looking the other way and stand up to evil.” People should stand up with Israel. Nothing can be justified.
EC: Where did you get the idea for this story?
RR: There was a news article about Irene Gut. She had a tragic life. She became a housekeeper for a Nazi official in Poland. She hid nine Jews in his basement, and they all survived two years of hiding. This was the jumping off point. What would it be like for someone working in a home and hiding Jews right under the nose of someone trying to wipe them out.
EC: How would you describe Camille?
RR: Trustworthy, loyal, decent, guilty, and courageous. She was relieved to be in Paris away from the stress of her family. She felt guilty of being relieved that she was not guilty. She struggled with it. She was conflicted and eventually decided to take a stand.
EC: What was the role of Jacqueline, Camille’s sister?
RR: She represented the mentally ill. There is a scene in the book where Camille discovers the German euthanasia program with the mentally ill. It was refined and then applied to the Jews. The sister represented that part of the German history.
EC: How would you describe the Jewish character, Rachel?
RR: Innocent, helpless, sweet, not a complainer, has a sense of powerlessness because she is scared and bitter. She also feels humiliated, angry, and is being persecuted. Her anger is her saving grace because without it she would not have survived. The anger is what drove her. While she was fearful and felt helpless, she was also very angry that had her trying to figure out how to escape.
EC: Was Vivian a complex character?
RR: She is responsible, direct, lonely, and at an earlier age suffered mental and physical abuse. She was also confident and passionate yet could be very selfish and self-centered. In some ways she was the villain yet at the same time she was an anti-hero. I would not call her a hero. She represents those people today who say if I do a little bit then I am still good. She justifies rotten behavior by a few good acts. She wanted to believe ‘if I do a few good things that erases all the bad.’ Although deep down she knows that is not true. She also makes a really bad decision.
EC: How would describe Nazi SS officer Von Bauer?
RR: He is controlling, an opportunist, ambitious, driven, and possessive. Regarding Vivian he is obsessed with her, likes to steal her dignity, cruel, and demanding. He represents the abusers of woman. He was to Vivian the ‘devil you know.’ At times she saw in him comfort and familiarity. He was bad because he was a Nazi.
EC: Why did Vivian get the nickname The Snow Queen versus Von Bauer’s the Raven?
RR: It comes from the Nordic folklore fairy tale. They were always in battle. I think it was a perfect metaphor for their relationship. They were going to battle until one survived. Both characters in the fairy tale are evil. Their relationship was based on a tug of war, like a weird chess game.
EC: Did the American government really freeze accounts of Americans overseas?
RR: Yes. Laura Mae Corrigan was a real person they did it to. It was very much justified. She was very much a Vivian type character, an ex-Patriot living in the Ritz. She left the Ritz because they took her money. But Vivian stayed at the Ritz because she had a plan. The Ritz was not shut down because they remained neutral.
EC: Was there an interconnection between the relationship of Vivian, Rachel, and Camille?
RR: The Ritz brought them together as three people trying to survive the war. They are not really friends. Rachel and Camille are more friendly. They need each other. Camille and Rachel see their families as number one, while Vivian has no family. Vivian is number one to herself. They help each other but always will consider their family first.
EC: Next book?
RR: It is titled The Last Fashion House in Paris and will be out this time next year. The setting is occupied Paris. The character from my first book, The Widows of Champagne, Paulette, has her story on what happened to her during the banishment to Paris, the final two years of WWII. She must redeem herself.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
When Cara Roberts’ family plans an extra special Christmas to support her after her broken engagement, she wants nothing to do with the holiday. After learning her brother and his wife can’t use the cottage vacation they purchased, she impulsively escapes to an English cottage in the bucolic village of Bakewell, despite having no idea where Bakewell is.
Lord Alec Sherbourne of Langley Park is no fan of Christmas, but following in his parents’ footsteps, he annually donates his impressive 19th century country home to be decorated and opened on December weekends as a community fundraiser. This year, Christmas is complicated by the arrival of a pretty American woman who booked a cottage on his estate—only the cottage is occupied. Forced to take her under his vast roof, he’s dismayed when a storm and frozen pipes keep her with him longer than he’d anticipated. Even more worrisome, her presence is making it feel like Christmas for the first time in forever.
As these two holiday housemates become friends, is there something more in the Christmas air?
ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS (Love at Langley Park Book #1) by Jane Porter is an enchanting and heartwarming holiday contemporary romance featuring a hero and heroine finding love over the Christmas holiday. This is the first book in the Love at Langley Park series, and it has everything I want and hope for in a holiday romance read.
Cara Roberts broke up with her fiancée and is looking for a change of scenery over the holidays. Her brother gives her an English cottage vacation at Langley Park won in a school raffle. After a sixteen-hour trip from Seattle, Cara discovers a problem with overbooking and she is given a room in the main house with the handsome, but grumpy lord of the manor.
Lord Alec Sherbourne returns to Langley Park every Christmas holiday out of duty, but not with much holiday cheer after the death of his wife eight years ago. When burst pipes and a snowstorm have Cara staying in the manor with Alec and his elderly relatives over the holiday, he discovers this American is making Langley Park feel like Christmas for the first time.
This is a wonderful holiday romance. Cara is a sunny, optimistic person who loves people. Alec is a reserved English aristocrat who believes his responsibility is to his family estate and heritage above all else. When these two are forced together over the holiday, what should not work, does. I love Cara and the fact that she is always willing to tell the truth and have difficult discussions, even when it hurts her, but she does not stay down. She is able to open Alec’s closed off heart. This is a cozy romance with no sex scenes, just kisses, and yet it is one of the most romantic love stories I have recently read. Ms. Porter’s romances always give me realistic characters, dialogue, and emotional HEAs.
I highly recommend this delightful holiday contemporary romance! I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
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About the Author
USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author of 75+ romances and women’s fiction titles, Jane Porter has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award six times, with her Tule Publishing novella, Take Me, Cowboy, winning the Novella Category July 2014. Today, Jane has over 15 million copies in print, including her wildly popular Flirting with Forty, a novel picked by Redbook Magazine as it’s Red Hot Summer Read in 2006 before being turned into a Lifetime movie in 2008 starring Heather Locklear. In 2021 two of Jane’s Taming of the Sheenan romances were turned into original movies for the Great American Family Network. Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband, three sons, and three dogs.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Book #3) by Peter Boland on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Dog-lovers, please note none of our furry friends die in this book.
It’s the day of the Christchurch Dog Show. The whole town is aquiver with excitement. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency are hoping to make lots of new furry friends.
After a very dramatic Best Biscuit Catcher competition, Fiona, Sue and Daisy, from the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop, come across a shocking scene. The dog show’s vet is performing CPR on a woman. The ladies rush over, but it’s too late.
Back at the shop, the ladies are shocked to learn that the poor woman was murdered. Someone injected Sylvia Steadman with something very nasty indeed. Then our silver sleuths uncover that Sylvia was the owner of ex-Crufts-winner Charlie. She must have had lots of very jealous competitors . . .
There’s barely time for elevenses. The charity shop detectives must roll up their sleeves — they have a killer to catch.
THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVES
Level-headed Fiona has found a quiet sanctuary volunteering at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes. A charity shop that raises money for dogs in need of nice homes. And she’s found firm friendship with the strong-willed Partial Sue (she’s ever so partial to a cup of tea) and the kindly and surprisingly tech-savvy Daisy. Together, these ladies, with Simon Le Bon, Fiona’s scruffy-haired terrier cross, investigate murders as the Charity Shop Detective Agency.
THE SETTING
The lovely coastal town of Southbourne is, on paper, little more than a small suburb hemmed in by Bournemouth to the west and Christchurch to the north. But it’s home to the prettiest avenues lined with gorgeous Georgian homes which lead to a grass-topped cliff standing guard over a sweeping bay of blond sand, soft as Demerara sugar. Some say it’s also home to the best charity shops in the country. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency maintain that Dogs Need Nice Homes — though musty and more than a little cramped — is certainly number one. Well, they definitely solve the most crimes at least!
DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Book #3) by Peter Boland is an entertaining cozy mystery once again featuring the three indomitable ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency. This cozy mystery can easily be read as a standalone.
Fiona, Partial Sue, and Daisy have a booth at the Christchurch Dog Show for their charity shop, Dogs That Need Nice Homes. The ladies notice a crowd gathering and witness the show’s veterinarian performing CPR on a woman. The ladies discover the dead woman who is attending is the owner of a former Crufts champion. After a visit from their detective friends, the ladies learn the death is a murder by injection and not natural as they first believed.
The ladies put on their detective hats and get to work sorting all the possible suspects and motives.
I liked the previous books in this series, but this is definitely my favorite. I enjoy the quirky individuality of Fiona, Partial Sue and Daisy and the backgrounds that each brings to the investigations. The plot is full of red herrings and twists that lead the ladies to several secondary crimes, but they doggedly (ha-ha) get back on track until they solve the main murder case and have the perpetrators apprehended. I was surprised in the end and satisfied with the conclusion. Being a huge dog lover, the bonus for me in this story is all the added canine characters. Overall, these cozy mysteries have endearing main characters and are intricately plotted amateur sleuth investigations.
I recommend this addition to the series for a delightful cozy mystery read.
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Author Bio
After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings, he just couldn’t make them stand up — a big handicap in an industry that’s partial to keeping things upright. So he became an advertising copywriter, the highlight of which was creating an ad featuring Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. He then tried his hand at writing his own stories and quickly realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about six months). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing and drinking beer in a garden chair.
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.
But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.
Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.
As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen has her venturing out from a traditional mystery to a spy thriller. In this story she expertly mixes spy drama with romance while adding some humor. Not only is this a riveting tale but the main character is very engaging as she tackles the ghosts of her past.
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement. Her final assignment left her very disillusioned. Out of the blue, she finds a young woman calling herself Bianca at her home looking for Diana Ward, another old CIA colleague of Maggie’s. Diana had a talent for making enemies, and Maggie blames her for the debacle in Malta that tore her life apart.
When Bianca’s body is dumped in her driveway and someone takes a few shots at her from across a field, Maggie connects the dots to the tragic case that led her to retire from the CIA. She enlists the help of her baby boomer drinking buddies, four ex-agents with a full assortment of tradecraft skills. The Martini Club, as the retired spies are called, realize that someone is seeking revenge on Maggie. They work together to identify and locate those people and are forced to revisit her role in a mission designed to flush out a Russian informant. It was the mission, Operation Cyrano, that changed Maggie’s life and the last one before she resigned. The story bounces between 18 years ago, 16 years ago, and the present, with locations across the globe.
The Martini Club also must match wits with Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau who is investigating the murder and shooting. Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information and wonders how they seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn. She realizes there is more to this bunch than meets the eye and is frustrated at being outmaneuvered by them at every turn.
Readers will not want to put the book down as they search for answers along with Maggie and her retired CIA buddies. The book is refreshing and an entertaining departure from spy thrillers because the protagonists are senior citizens. The story is amusing, suspenseful, and at times intense.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for The Spy Coast?
Tess Gerritsen: I moved here thirty-three years ago and found out that the town has many retired spies. My husband, who is a medical doctor, had patients who used to work for the government but could not talk about what they did. We found out they were retired CIA including two who lived on my street.
EC: Did you think of the movie “Red?”
TG: I thought a lot of the Helen Mirren character. I did not want to deal with assassinations. What I wanted to write about is the tragedy of the last operation that has haunted the main
character, a spy, Maggie Bird. Maggie is made up. Yet, all the spies in the Martini Club are like those retired spies who live in Maine. They are smart and very educated.
EC: The setting in Maine-why?
TG: It is a beautiful setting. This location has many safe houses. We have an International Conference in this little town of 5,000 people. They bring in every year leaders, politicians, and foreign policy experts from around the world. They come and speak here every winter. The town has residents with a lot of international experience.
EC: How would you describe the two spies, Diana Ward versus Maggie Bird?
TG: Diana is a bit of a sociopath. She does what needs to be done and does not care about the consequences or morality. She is the equivalent of the assassins in so many spy novels. She is very efficient. Diana is not someone who could be trusted, not loyal, and self-centered. Everything is all about her. She might be a good spy but is a bad person. On the other hand, Maggie is a spy with a conscience. She is in it to help her country. She was forced to cross a line she did not want to cross. It moved into her personal life, which had everything fall apart for her. Maggie is loyal, calm, friendly, accomplished with a strong sense of morality.
EC: How would you compare the two teenage girls, Callie versus Bella?
TG: Callie is the ultimate innocent. She is a farm girl who is hungry for a mother. She likes to lean on Maggie. Callie is a very vulnerable character. Bella starts off as a vulnerable character but ends up as a nightmare in training. She is being groomed for a bad role because her father is a powerful Russian oligarch, Phillip Hardwicke. Her father sees her as a tool. Her mother is much more of a traditional mom who cares about her daughter. Yet, her mother is disappointed Bella is not more like her. Bella is disrespected by both parents.
EC: Why make Danny, Maggie’s husband, a doctor?
TG: I started off making him a professional chef. But I needed someone who had close contact with the bad guy. It did not feel right so I made him a doctor who would know Phillip’s most intimate secrets. He traveled with him. I gave Hardwicke a lifelong history of seizures.
EC: How would you describe Hardwicke?
TG: He wants power, money, and prestige. He likes to get his way and does not care who gets hurt. He is a control freak, obsessive, intense, cruel, and very smart.
EC: How would you describe the spies in The Martini Club reacting with the police chief Jo Thibodeau?
TG: They simultaneously are cooperative but also antagonistic. At the beginning Jo does not know who these people are, but later realize they are retired spooks. As time goes on in this book and the next, she realizes they are a big help to her.
EC: Did you get any movie deals?
TG: It has been optioned by Amazon for a television series. This is one of the reasons I went with this publisher. They attached a TV deal. There is already a screenwriter, and they are talking about who will play Maggie Bird.
EC: Next book?
TG: I am working on the sequel now. The second book will take place entirely in the town of Purity Maine. It will be titled The Summer Guests and is scheduled for the spring of 2025. It will still have the five retirees and the police chief. The plot has a family visiting in the summer whose teenage girl disappears, plus there is a cold case mystery. The sequel will be more of a classic mystery. If I do a third book that is when I will probably go back to the international setting again.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
PROMISE NOT TO TELL (Sons of Anson Salinas Book #2) by Jayne Ann Krentz is the engaging and fast-paced second book in the Sons of Anson Selinas trilogy. This trilogy features the now three adult men Anson Salinas rescued as children from a cult compound when the leader of the cult set it all aflame. This book can easily be read as a standalone romantic suspense, but there is an overarching crime mystery plotline connecting all the main characters in this trilogy and I feel have enjoyed the stories better by reading them in order.
Art gallery owner Virginia Troy has been battling anxiety attacks ever since the night her mother died, and she was rescued from a burning barn on a cult compound. One of the artists Virginia represents was a surviving member of the cult until she commits suicide. Virginia has doubts about the suicide after receiving a photo of the artist’s last work in her a series of paintings and hires the P.I. firm run by Anson Selinas and his sons to investigate.
P.I Cabot Sutter was raised by Anson after he rescued him from the cult compound fire. Cabot is determined to help Virginia not only with her case, but to discover if the man who is the main cause of their nightmares has returned. As Cabot and Virginia follow the clues, both find their lives endangered even as they discover an emotional connection that neither has ever had with anyone else.
I love this trilogy so far. The overarching mystery plotline of the trilogy is interesting on its own, but the way it has shaped the lives of the main characters is compelling. The romantic suspense plot has plenty of surprises and twists, and it kept me guessing all the way to the conclusion. Both Virginia and Cabot still have emotional difficulties or quirks that not everyone can understand from their childhood trauma, and it was so wonderful reading how they dealt with each other physically and emotionally and then came together romantically. There are a few sex scenes, but they are not gratuitous, and the care Cabot takes with Virginia makes them very sweet. The ending has me now anxiously waiting for the last book in the trilogy; I will finally get to meet Jack and hopefully see the demise of cult leader, Quinton Zane.
I recommend this exciting second romantic suspense in this trilogy from an author who never disappoints.
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About the Author
The author of over 50 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print.
She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.
Ms. Krentz is married and lives with her husband, Frank, in Seattle, Washington.
