NATURAL CAUSES
by Nikki Stern
July 20 – 31, 2026 Virtual Book Tour
Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NATURAL CAUSES (Sam Tate Mystery Series Book #5) by Nikki Stern on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy and good luck!
***
Book Description
Nature abhors a vacuum. One killer is filling it with bodies.
Three years after quitting her job as a homicide cop, Sam moves to Denver as a named partner with a boutique private investigation firm. She’s finished with the violence and trauma that have marked both her personal and professional lives. But when a zealous eco-terrorist begins a killing spree with plans to escalate, she finds herself once again hunting a serial killer whose past too closely resembles Sam’s own.
Natural Causes
Genre: Police Procedure, Suspense Thriller, Crime Mystery
Published by: Ruthenia Press
Publication Date: June 23, 2026
Number of Pages: 280
ISBN: 979-8996092208
***
My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
NATURAL CAUSES (Sam Tate Mystery Book #5) by Nikki Stern is another exciting addition to the Sam Tate mystery/crime thriller series of books. Sam is now a private eye and partner in an exclusive firm in Denver, Colorado. This book is easily read as a standalone with Sam starting a new career in a new location with enough background on the few carryover characters from the previous book that you are not confused or feel like you are missing something. Like the other books in this series, it is plot based around a complete serial killer investigation.
P.I. Sam Tate is getting used to her new life with the help of a few close friends. After twenty years in law enforcement, she is looking forward to more low-key investigations. When a family requests an investigation into the disappearance of their husband/father, Sam only begins to investigate when his body is found. Almost immediately after, the son of a prominent businessman is killed. Both have cryptic one-word notes and pin pricks at the base of their necks. When a third is discovered, it becomes a multi-agency investigation and Sam is once again involved in a serial killer investigation.
The notes lead Sam and the others to the possibility of eco-terrorism revolving around conspiracy theories and the dark web. Will Sam and her friends be able to unravel the truth from lies and stop a serial killer with an agenda on the loose in Denver?
The plot in this book, as well as all the books in this series, are fast-paced and full of red herrings and twists that continually surprise. This story is intriguing and kept me reading right up to the suspenseful ending. Sam is trying to move on and yet she gets pulled right back into a serial killer investigation. This book does a good job of pulling in key points of Sam’s life from the previous books. If you haven’t read them this is a good starting point and you will not feel like you are missing anything while I can recommend all the previous books.
I highly recommend this serial killer thriller in the Sam Tate series and look forward to many more to come.
***
Excerpt
“Gorgeous, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.”
Todd Fischer stood near the edge of a snowy precipice and slapped his chest like a primate surveying his kingdom. He pulled in a lungful of air, his new Filson hiking vest tight against his broad chest. He was winded, more than he cared to admit, and cold. Even at the end of April, the temperatures on this trail lingered in the low thirties. A late-season snowfall added to the discomfort, not to mention the threatening gusts of frigid air.
“You know,” he continued, turning to his companion, “people would pay plenty to live here.”
“I don’t think you can just put up housing in a national park,” she replied.
“Anything can be bought and tamed, Elena. “Even the Rockies.”
“I believe you, Todd. Now, please come down off that ledge? Remember the warnings we received about the missing railings and the danger of microbursts? I do not want my husband to be blown away like a character in The Wizard of Oz.”
Fischer laughed. “I’m not about to be knocked over by a blast of air. I think you should worry more about the kids. Go see what’s happened to them.”
As soon as she’d moved out of sight, he bent over, suddenly dizzy. Crap, getting old was not for sissies. He needed more exercise, more hydration, more time, more of everything.
Elena turned back to the trail, shaking her head. The “kids” were young adults and, as far as she was concerned, pampered twenty-somethings. She was the “wicked” stepmother, just ten years older than the eldest, perpetually a graduate student. Whereas younger brother Paulie treated school as one long excuse to party.
Now she heard them, bickering, as usual.
“Could you stop complaining?” Rowan was saying.
“Not a chance,” Paulie griped. “We are tramping in the mountains, just past dawn, in the cold and the wind. In late April. I left a warm bed and a warm body so I could freeze my backside off with distant dad and wife number three.”
“Maybe the warm body should have helped you dress for a hike in the Rockies.”
“You’re just jealous.”
Rowan appeared first, dressed perfectly for a mountain trek. Paulie, on the other hand, looked like he’d come from a night of clubbing, right down to his overpriced sneakers and his curated day-old beard.
“There you are,” Elena said, forcing a smile. “We were on the ledge for a better view.”
“The one with the ‘danger’ sign?” Paulie asked. “Oh, right. Dad likes to go where he’s not supposed to. I guess you could call it his specialty.”
Elena reminded herself that she could handle two brats for one morning. Before long, she would get herself pregnant and make them both irrelevant.
“Take a look,” she suggested. “It’s quite lovely.”
But they were back to fighting, ripping into each other like territorial animals. Until an unexpected gust of wind interrupted their discourse, strong enough to send a few rocks scuttling down into the valley.
“What was that?” Paulie asked.
“Nature, dummy,” Rowan retorted.
“Wait, where is your father?” Elena demanded.
Paulie cupped his hands and yelled, “Attention, Todd Fischer. We’re officially concerned. Show yourself.”
Rowan climbed to the ledge and swallowed hard. “Maybe he found another way to head down,” she said.
“No,” Elena declared. “Something happened.”
***
Author Bio
Nikki Stern is the author of eight books, including five in the award-winning Sam Tate Mystery Series. She was a co-author of several musical murder mystery plays in the popular Café Noir collection. She’s also written a number of short stories and essays, some of which can be found here. A former families’ advocate following the death of her husband on 9/11, Nikki now serves on the leadership council for Search for Common Ground, a global conflict transformation organization. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
Social Media Links
NikkiStern.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @NikkiStern
Instagram – @realnikkistern
Threads – @realnikkistern
Facebook – Nikki Stern, Author
YouTube – @NikkiStern
Purchase Links
- Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/R2bM1461
- Kindle – https://pictbooks.tours/1bWm7OGV
- BN – https://pictbooks.tours/6uLoHpVh
- BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/s19C9LpB
- Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/VT9bdXb2
- BookBub – https://pictbooks.tours/pBV2Myqa
###
PICT GIVEAWAY
https://pictbooks.tours/htAVSDFS
