Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HER FORGOTTENSHADOW (Detective Delaney Pace Book #4) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins on this Bookouture Books-On-Tour blog.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A violent storm erupts over the small town of Kearny, bringing a devastating mudslide. Amongst the debris, the worn threads of a child’s blanket, hides the body of a young girl, her long dark hair matted with the fallen earth that killed her.
When the rescue team find rope marks around the ankles of the teenage girl, they call in Detective Delaney Pace. Fourteen-year-old Marilyn Littlewolf went missing five years ago after moving to Kearny from a local reservation. Fearing she was dead, nobody expected Marilyn to ever come home. So where has she been? And why is her body covered in bruises?
Delaney thinks Marilyn was held captive in the mountains that tower above the town, but with acres of remote wilderness to search, the investigation seems impossible. Diving into Marilyn’s case, one name stands out that makes her blood turn cold as ice: her friend and longstanding babysitter to her two adopted daughters, Skeeter Rawlins.
Racing to his home, she finds it in disarray, it’s clear he left in a hurry. In disbelief, Delaney takes in the empty whisky bottles and wonders if she was wrong to trust her reliable old friend with her darling girls?
As evidence piles up against Skeeter, Delaney’s heart shatters when another girl is reported missing. Tracing her to a remote cabin deep in the woods, she fears she’s about to finally uncover the truth about her once-trusted friend. But when she bursts into the disheveled shack nothing could have prepared her for what she finds. Was she wrong to suspect Skeeter as the twisted mind behind the missing girls? And is she already too late to save another innocent life?
HER FORGOTTEN SHADOW (Detective Delaney Pace Book #4) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a fast-paced, intense small town police procedural. Delaney and Leo are back in action investigating a series of crimes with young Crow heritage girls disappearing from Kearney, Wyoming. This book can be read as a standalone for the crime thriller plot, but this is a series with characters evolving throughout and their interactions impact the plot at times in other books. I have enjoyed reading them all in order.
When workers go to clear a landslide off the road after a storm, they discover the body of a young girl in the mud. Delaney and Leo discover it is a young girl who disappeared five years ago and was thought to be with her absentee father in Montana on the Crow reservation. Where has she really been? When another girl goes missing and is found dead at the base of a cliff, some of the clues are pointing to Delaney’s friend and babysitter, P.I. Skeeter Rawlins who is missing with another missing young Crow girl.
While some of the evidence leads Delaney and Leo to a teacher at the middle school who has a connection with all three girls, there is still a danger lurking in the mountains. It is a race to save the missing girl and unravel who is responsible.
I love this exciting series not only for the interesting crime plots, but also for the emotional character interactions. Delaney and her girls always make me laugh as well as feel the emotional ups and downs of raising young girls. Leo and Delaney have a relationship that is so frustrating and yet realistic. I do wish Delaney had a little more faith in Leo and not always jump to conclusions brought on by someone else’s interference. The crime plot in this book was intense and heart-breaking. It moves at an ever-increasing pace right up to the conclusion and was very realistic. I am looking forward to reading about the next criminal investigation in Kearney, finding out if Delaney and Leo work out their relationship, and seeing if Delaney and Skeeter discover if her mother is truly still alive.
I highly recommend this harrowing small town crime thriller/police procedural! I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series.
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About the Author
Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a USA Today bestselling and Silver Falchion Best Mystery winning mystery/thriller/suspense author (and recovering attorney and investigator) who splits her time between an off-the-grid lodge on the face of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains and a rustic cabin on Maine’s Lake Mooselookmeguntic with her husband, kids and grandkids, rescue pets and sled dog, and draft cross horses.
A GATHERING OF SECRETS (A Kate Burkholder Novel Book #10) by Linda Castillo is a gritty new small-town police procedural/crime thriller featuring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder in Painters Mill which is in Ohio Amish Country. This book can be read as a standalone for the crime thriller plot, but Kate’s personal and professional life have evolved throughout the series, and I enjoy reading them in order.
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called late in the night when an Amish family’s barn burns to the ground and their son is missing. The fire investigator is called when the fire fighters smell gasoline and a charred body is found locked in the tack room. The body is identified as eighteen-year-old Daniel Gingerich who appears to be a well-liked and hard-working Amish young man, so who would want him dead?
As Kate investigates Daniel’s life, she finds herself impeded by the Amish community of which she was once a member. As dark secrets begin to surface, Kate is forced to once again face the personal crime perpetrated against her in her youth which has an eerie similarity to what is whispered about Daniel Gingerich. While the Amish are a peaceful and loving community, there are certain things that are not discussed and can go unpunished due to shaming of the victim, and which are crimes in the Englisher world. Kate has many suspects, but the solution to this crime will lead to danger and sorrow.
I love reading this series and following Kate’s life. Kate is a complex character. She at times misses the Amish life but accepts her current path is the right one for her, especially when it comes to justice for everyone. All of Kate’s officers have a strong bond, Tomasetti is once again a great personal partner, and finally Tomasetti has popped the big question. Yeah. The crime plot was dark and gritty, especially juxtaposed against the assumed always perfect Amish way of life. This crime thriller is perfectly paced with plenty of surprise twists along the way and a surprise ending I was not expecting.
I highly recommend this small-town police procedural/crime thriller!
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About the Author
Linda Castillo is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Kate Burkholder series, set in the world of the Amish. The first book, Sworn to Silence, was adapted into a Lifetime original movie titled An Amish Murder starring Neve Campbell as Kate Burkholder. Castillo is the recipient of numerous industry awards including a nomination by the International Thriller Writers for Best Hardcover, the Mystery Writers of America’s Sue Grafton Memorial Award, and an appearance on the Boston Globe’s shortlist for best crime novel. In addition to writing, Castillo’s other passion is horses. She lives in Texas with her husband and is currently at work on her next book.
A thrilling standalone mystery featuring a San Diego florist grappling with post-traumatic amnesia. The only witness to a murder she can’t remember, her handwritten notes and razor-sharp wits are all she has to solve the crime—and save her life.
After surviving a terrible attack, Quinn Fleming has recovered in every way but one—her ability to retain new memories. Now, months later, it appears to the outside world as if the San Diego florist’s life is back to normal. But Quinn is barely holding on, relying on a notebook she carries with her at all times, a record of her entire existence since the assault. So when she witnesses a murder in the shadowy alley behind the florist shop, Quinn immediately writes down every terrifying detail of the incident before her amnesia wipes it away.
By the time the police arrive, there’s no body, no crime scene, and no clues. The killing seems as erased from reality as it is from Quinn’s mind . . . until the flashbacks begin. Suddenly, fragments of memories are surfacing—mere glimpses of that horrible night, but enough to convince Quinn that somewhere, locked in her subconscious, is the key to solving the case . . . and she’s not the only one who knows. Somebody else has realized Quinn is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Now, with her life on the line and only her notes to guide her, Quinn sets out to find a killer she doesn’t remember, but can’t forget . . .
ECHOES OF MEMORY by Sara Driscoll is a fascinating suspense/crime thriller police procedural featuring a protagonist with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) who witnesses a murder, or did she? This standalone slow burn thriller has a sense of foreboding throughout that kept me turning the pages.
Quinn Fleming is a florist in San Diego who survived a horrific mugging. She is back to work, but her TBI has her finding ways to compensate for her inability to retain new memories. She relies on recording everything she must remember in a notebook she always carries with her. After work, as she is emptying the shop’s trash in the back alley, she witnesses a murder as she hides in the shadows.
Detective Nura Reyes knows about Quinn’s attack and challenges and believes her tale of witnessing a murder even though there is no proof. Bits and pieces of that night return in flashbacks, dreams, and Quinn’s art, so when she goes to find proof that what she saw was real, someone else realizes she is a threat. Det. Reyes is now in a race to uncover the truth with Quinn’s life on the line.
This is such an interesting plot twist with a protagonist that does not remember anything past approximately an hour unless it is reinforced by repetition or a traumatic incident. Her coping skills were amazing and yet she was embarrassed when anyone found out about them. The explanations of her TBI complications are well integrated throughout the story between Quinn’s actions and thoughts and her TBI therapy group instructor, Will. The plot does start out a little slow, but there is always a shadow of foreboding and as more clues come together, the plot pace increases exponentially. This is an all-around gripping story.
I highly recommend this intense crime thriller/police procedural.
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About the Author
Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna, coauthor of the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries and author of the FBI K-9s and the NYPD Negotiators. After over thirty years in infectious diseases research, Jen hung up her lab coat to concentrate on her real love—writing “exceptional” thrillers (Publishers Weekly). She is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and lives with her husband and four rescued cats outside of Toronto, Ontario.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. Detective Kevin Dawson always wondered if Della even existed.
A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession. Then a girl’s body is discovered—a link to Scarlett’s horrific past—and all her old traumas resurface. So does Della. Scarlett has seen her hiding in plain sight. The girl who knows Scarlett’s secrets, who understands the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive.
As a suspicious Detective Dawson once again comes calling, and obsessions turn deadly, Scarlett fears there isn’t a living soul she can trust. As for Della, who’s watching from afar, what could she possibly want from Scarlett now? And what new nightmare lies ahead?
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Elise’s Thoughts
Another Girl Lost by Mary Burton has suspense, intrigue, and mystery. This plot will keep readers wondering if her characters are like the ones in the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or are they real heroines, especially after the victim becomes a suspect.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession.
Della knew Scarlett’s secrets, understanding the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive, considering they were abused. The scenes of abuse are somewhat disturbing but not graphically described. Now Scarlett is confronted when a girl’s body is discovered, a link to her horrific past, and all her old traumas resurface. Nobody except Scarlett believes that Della ever existed, including Detective Kevin Dawson, who killed her captor and rescued her initially. But Scarlett still feels as if Della is around every corner.
Detective Dawson and his partner Margo Larson are both trying to pin on Scarlett the murder of the girl discovered. They no longer see her as a victim but now a suspect. Scarlett believes that it was Della who participated in the murder, but no one believes Della is alive. The detectives believe Della was made up to help Scarlett cope with her terrible situation or to give her an alibi for the murdered girl found.
What makes the plot very interesting is how it goes back and forth between present and past. Readers get to know Scarlett better realizing she was broken while trapped in the basement, trying to build a normal life, and how she is dangerously obsessed with Della. Although broken, she is did not permanently break even with her psychological and physical abuse.
It is interesting how the main characters are all involved in subterfuge and deception. All the characters are complex. The plot is gripping, engaging, twisty, dark, with triggers and twists.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What is the idea for the story?
Mary Burton: This is stand-alone. I wanted to use gaslighting, how a woman believes she knows the truth but everyone around her is convinced she is wrong. I thought that is a good jump off point to have the heroine remember something while everyone around her is trying to convince her that might not be true.
EC: You like the heroines to be complex?
MB: I wanted my heroines to have imperfections that push the boundaries and are dealing with their own demons and imperfections. Their intentions are very good people with their methods unconventional. They are also trying to be independent.
EC: How would you describe Della?
MB: She is connected to the heroine, Scarlett. Scarlett thinks she comes back for her own reasons to want to control her. She was trapped with Scarlett, which bonded them in many ways. She discovered the body of another girl when trapped with Scarlett by the rapist. She embraced the darkness. While trapped with Scarlett she used hate and fear to her advantage.
EC: How would you describe Scarlett?
MB: She is frustrated that people think she is lying or confused about Della returning. She is clear-headed. She has not let go of Della. She is angry about Della, even obsessed with her, and cannot move on. This is why she keeps repainting Della’s picture. I think she is broken, trying to put herself back together, but the cracks are there. She is getting stronger, but still is fragile. Scarlett is searching for normalization. She is trying to leave her past behind, but it is not letting her go. Scarlett is trying to distance herself from the darkness, which was helped by the Judge.
EC: How would you describe Margo?
MB: She is broken and damaged, and she did some bad things in the name of justice. She is desperate for love and attention. She is angry and readers can see that in how she has handled her former cases. She is looking for retribution and has a destructive pattern. She likes being on the edge, taking dangerous assignments, and has an edgier relationship with Detective Dawson. Margo very much likes control and manipulates people. She presses the boundaries and sometimes breaks them. She wants to set Scarlett up. She is very persuasive and a bit of a sociopath. She knows how to use people’s emotions against them.
EC: What role does Detective Dawson play?
MB: He likes to give orders. He is determined and has tunnel vision. He is not a perfect guy and is not a great detective. His loyalty to Margo is his Achilles heel. He is manipulated by Margo.
EC: What about the rapist Reed?
MB: He is pure evil. He found Della who became his facilitator and helper. He is a psychopath who will do physical harm.
EC: Next book?
MB: It will be another stand alone with a complicated heroine who is trying to piece together clues from a cold case. No title yet.
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.
Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer…
A secluded cabin retreat
For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.
A murderer in their midst
Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying….Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.
Who killed Mercy McAlpine?
It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…
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Elise’s Thoughts
This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter is a book that has all the trademarks including twists, and intensity. A word of warning there is child abuse, domestic violence, brutal treatment of women, incest, substance abuse, and rape as part of the story, but it is done in a very empathetic way for the victims.
The plot has GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, going to McAlpine Lodge to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night. They investigate and find out that Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying.
Every member of this family is despicable. They are cold, unfeeling, manipulative, abusive, and controlling. There are suspects galore because almost everyone in the story, not just the family, has some sort of motive to kill Mercy.
The story unfolds through the dual points of view from Will and Sara. Mercy’s point of view and backstory are revealed in the letter entries written to her son over the years that chronicle her mental and physical abuse as well as the resentment festering within her toxic family.
This is a great crime procedural. As Faith, Will’s police partner, says about the crime, “an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery with a VC Andrews twist.”
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How is the TV series coming along?
Karin Slaughter: It is going great. It is starting up on the third season. I read the first script, and it is fantastic. I think they are doing a terrific job. I think they captured the spirit of the characters and Ramon, who plays Will Trent, is incredibly sexy and really has the heart of Will. This is what matters. I think of this as a separate thing where the books are the books, and the show is the show. I keep to the books as I tell stories based on the characters I created, and they tell stories based on the interpretation of the characters.
EC: How did you get the idea for the story?
KS: It was a locked lodge mystery. I go up to my cabin in the North Georgia mountains when I write my books. I want to lean into it to write about the woods and the mountains. Of course, I must bring in a murder and not have people just being happy.
EC: Did you take any of your characters out of their comfort zone?
KS: Sara is comfortable in the woods, while Faith hates it. Sara and Will see nature as beautiful and amazing. Faith complains about there being too many birds, the heat, not to mention how many mosquitoes. She is not an outdoor person by any stretch.
EC: What role did Will and Sara’s honeymoon play in the story?
KS: I think it was my way of moving the relationship forward without having to write a wedding scene. I was able to show the difference for them between dating, living together, and being married, having it formalized. Sara previously has been in a bad marriage and a good marriage, to the same guy. Sara wants to make sure she is supportive, but also very clear about her needs. Sara has learned as she got older to listen and compromise.
EC: Can you talk about this dysfunctional family? How would you describe Mercy?
KS: She is complicated. Women like her tend to be presented in black and white. She needed to get away from her family, protect her son, break the cycle of abuse, and get away from her lover, Dave. As readers find out more about her, they will realize she has no money, no friends, no place to live, no driver’s license, and no car. Questions to explore: if in that situation could someone walk away and take their child with them? For Mercy the answer is no. Dave has always pulled her back each time. For her, it is easier to just give in and stick with the devil she knows. She is really cut off from the world. She makes bad decisions for herself.
EC: Did you base her abuse on reality?
KS: Yes, considering that is how someone in an abusive relationship lives with no one to turn to, no one to help them, and in complete isolation.
EC: How would you describe Dave?
KS: He has a similar background to Will but is a miserable, horrible turd, while Will is on his honeymoon, and this is the happiest time in his life. Dave is a drifter, abusive, and an alcoholic addict. Amanda, Will’s boss best sums it up, Dave is addicted to being broken.
EC: What is the theme of the book?
KS: It is about safety. Mercy never felt safe. Sara felt safe because of her family and Will. The realization for Will is that he can trust Amanda, Faith, and Sara. He has a support system he never had as a child.
EC: Is Mercy the likable character and Dave the dislikable character?
KS: I do not think it is that easy. If you met Dave in real life someone would think he is fun, interesting, and charming, while people would not particularly warm to Mercy. Like people I have known, in her core Mercy is trying but she cannot get out of her own way.
EC: What role did Mercy’s letters to her son Jon play?
KS: They are important. They give readers some clues to figure out who done it. They also show how she felt invincible in her own life. She does not feel anyone is looking out for her. She is very aware that her job is to protect him and not the other way around.
EC: What do you want to say about Jon?
KS: Mercy tried to separate him from the toxicity of their family. She has diluted herself that Dave never hit him and was never awful to him. Like a lot of women, she does not understand their children watched what was happening, when their mother was being abused by their father. In Jon’s world it was acceptable, and the abuse was normalized.
EC: What about Cecil, Mercy’s dad?
KS: He is just an angry old man. He has lost his sense of who he is. From a physical level he lost some of his mobility. I think he knows he is an asshole and wants his way. Mercy speaks about him being two different people where guests see him as laid back, outdoorsy guy, but he is a miserable person. He knows how to be nice and accommodating with strangers but does not do it with his own family. He was a bully and cruel, a choice he made.
EC: What about Bitty, Mercy’s mom?
KS: She is a lousy mother and grandmother. She is the worst kind of liar because she gaslights both her children, saying ‘listen to your father and do not talk to him that way,’ even though he deserves to be talked to that way. Her silence is just as damaging than showing anger. She was never on her children’s side. She was psychologically abusive and cruel.
EC: Would you say that Christopher, Mercy’s brother is a schlump?
KS: Yes. He is just a weak-willed person who never stands up for her. He does the easiest thing. He allows her to be on her own. He never confronts anybody. He likes to fish, because it is solitary and quiet.
EC: How did you come up with the way you did the interviews with the suspects?
KS: I showed the different aspects of how they can approach an interview. They can be defensive, combative, disinterested, or helpful. This is policing 101. I did want to show these different sides. The title of the book becomes so appropriate because everybody is lying. Some lie because they want to be helpful and exaggerate. But exaggeration is a lie. Some are hiding something that has nothing to do with the crime. Some are lying because they know about the crime and are complicit.
EC: Do you canoe because you wrote a whole scene about it?
KS: Yes, I do and kayaking. I prefer kayaking because it is a good workout and can take people to the most beautiful places.
EC: Next books?
KS: It will be a stand-alone crime novel, and my 25th book, out next year. No title. After that I will do another book with the whole gang surrounding Will Trent.
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.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A COLD, COLD WORLD (Sheriff Bet Rivers Book #2) by Elena Taylor on this Partners ‘n’ 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 Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A female sheriff tries to fill her late father’s boots and be the sheriff her small Washington State mountain town needs as a deadly snow storm engulfs the town, in this dark, twisty mystery.
The world felt pure. Nature made the location pristine again, hiding the scene from prying eyes. As if no one had died there at all.
In the months since Bet Rivers solved her first murder investigation and secured the sheriff’s seat in Collier, she’s remained determined to keep her town safe. With a massive snowstorm looming, it’s more important than ever that she stays vigilant.
When Bet gets a call that a family of tourists has stumbled across a teen injured in a snowmobile accident on a mountain ridge, she braves the storm to investigate. However, once she arrives at the scene of the accident it’s clear to Bet that the teen is not injured; he’s dead. And has been for some time . . .
Investigating a possible homicide is hard enough, but with the worst snowstorm the valley has seen in years threatening the safety of her town, not to mention the integrity of her crime scenes – as they seem to be mounting up as well – Bet has to move fast to uncover the complicated truth and prove that she’s worthy of keeping her father’s badge.
Genre: Police Procedural, Mystery Published by: Severn House Publication Date: August 6, 2024 Number of Pages: 256 ISBN: 9781448314065 (ISBN10: 1448314062) Series: A Sheriff Bet Rivers Mystery, Book 2 | Each is a Stand-Alone Mystery
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A COLD, COLD WORLD (Sheriff Bet Rivers Book #2) by Elena Taylor is an intricately plotted small town sheriff procedural crime thriller and the second book in the intriguing Sheriff Bet Rivers series. This book can be read as a standalone, but I felt both books are great reads, and I feel you would enjoy the first in the series, All We Buried, too.
Sheriff Bet Rivers is now the duly elected sheriff in place of her deceased father in her small hometown in Collier, a Cascade Mountain valley in Washington state. With a massive snowstorm looming, Bet receives a call that a family of tourists discovered a snowmobile accident with a teen victim. Bet finds the teen is not only dead but shows signs of having been dead for some time. As she investigates, she is called about a break-in at a summer cabin that appears to be a crime scene. Is it related to her dead teen even though the cabin is in a different area of the valley?
With a major storm over the valley and multiple crime scenes, Bet is stretched thin. She is doubting her ability to fill her father’s shoes as this complicated case has surprises with every piece of evidence uncovered.
Bet is a wonderful protagonist who is dogged in her pursuit of justice, but still worries that she is not up to the responsibility of being the sheriff her father was in her hometown. With this complicated case, she proves that she is. I was happy to reconnect with Alma, who runs the sheriff’s office and Bet’s deputy, Clayton. The team is great together and now with the addition of Deputy Kane, I will be looking forward to reading how they all work together in future stories. The crime plot is intricately twisted and kept me on the edge-of-my-seat. The blizzard adds to the threat level throughout, and Ms. Taylor’s descriptions of the wind and snow had me shivering even though it is the middle of summer as I read this.
I highly recommend this crime thriller and look forward to many more books in this series featuring Bet and her team in the future.
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Excerpt
ONE
Bet Rivers sat in the sheriff’s station and watched the radar on her computer screen turn a darker and darker blue. Snow headed for the little town of Collier and keeping everyone safe was her responsibility. Bet’s advancement to sheriff had taken place less than a year ago, but the name Rivers had followed ‘Sheriff’ all the way back to the founding of the town. None of the previous Sheriff Rivers, her father included, ever failed the community, and she didn’t plan to be the first. With her father’s death last fall, Collier residents were the closest thing she had to family.
The valley Bet protected sat high in the Cascade Mountain Range of Washington State. Winter storms often dropped a couple inches of snow at once, a situation Collier could handle, and winter had been relatively mild so far. February, however, was shaping up into something else.
This morning, nearby Lake Collier – a dark and dangerous body of water the locals respected from a safe distance – started freezing completely over for the first time in years.
Bet couldn’t remember such a large storm ever bearing down on the valley. The weather was determined to test her in ways that patrolling the streets of Los Angeles and her short stint as sheriff had not yet done.
Clicking off the weather radar screen and opening another file, Bet read over her severe winter storm checklist. Snowplow – ready to go. Volunteers with tractors and trucks with snowplow attachments – set. The community center would be open twenty-four hours a day in case the town’s power went out and people needed a warm place to go. Donna, the elementary school nurse, was on hand for minor health emergencies. She would be staying at the center twenty-four seven until the storm passed.
Most residents owned generators and a lot of people used fireplaces for heat, but the community center provided a central location for anyone in trouble.
Nothing like living in an isolated mountain valley to make folks respect what Mother Nature hurled at them – and rely on each other, rather than the outside world. A lot of people would look to the sheriff as a leader. She couldn’t let them down.
Bet turned her attention to the pile of pink ‘while you were out’ notes that Alma still loved to use rather than sending information to Bet digitally. Alma was much more than an office manager, but she also fought certain modern conveniences.
Most of the notes were mundane issues that Alma could handle, but the last in the pile was a call from Jamie Garcia, a local reporter trying to get back into Bet’s good graces after an incident a few months ago had cost her Bet’s trust.
Wants to chat about the possibility of an increase in drug use in the area, the note read. Specifically – meth.
That would definitely have to wait. It crossed Bet’s mind that Jamie might exaggerate the situation just to have reason to touch base with her, but Bet taped it to the computer monitor to follow up on after the storm passed. Her valley didn’t have the kind of drug problems as many other communities, and Bet wanted to see it stay that way. If Jamie had any information on a rise in illegal activity, that could be useful.
The rest of the notes she would return to Alma to deal with. Right now, weathering the tempest would take all of Bet’s resources.
Bringing up the radar one more time, Bet’s stomach clenched as she tracked the monster storm. What if she made a decision during this event that hurt her entire community? Confidence didn’t make responsibility lighter to bear, and the hot, sunny streets of Los Angeles hadn’t prepared her for one thousand residents slowly buried under several feet of snow. They were a long way from the plowed highways and larger cities with fully functional hospitals.
Bet was the first line of defense against disaster.
She was also likely the last line of defense. Once they were snowed in, she couldn’t bring help in from the outside.
A year ago, she had been poised to take the detective’s exam in Los Angeles. Her goal was a long and successful career in the nation’s largest police force. But events outside her control got in the way, and now she was back in Collier, trying to fill her father’s large, all-too-recently vacated shoes.
She faced a once-in-a-century storm with her lone deputy, a septuagenarian secretary, and one very big dog.
Her first instinct was to talk to her father, but his death prevented her from ever gaining new insight into his expertise. Her second instinct was to contact Sergeant Magdalena Carrera. Maggie had mentored Bet during her time at the LAPD.
‘We chicas need to stick together,’ she’d said to Bet early on in her career, back when Bet still called her sergeant.
But as good as Maggie was at her job, Bet doubted she’d have much advice about facing a blizzard.
‘It’s up to us, Schweitzer,’ Bet said to the Anatolian shepherd sitting in her doorway. ‘As long as no one has a heart attack after the storm hits, we’ll be fine.’ Schweitzer had a look on his face like he knew what was coming. He always could read her mood, not to mention the weather, and he’d been edgy all morning.
She had learned to read his mood too, and right now it wasn’t good.
‘It’s going to be all right, Schweitz.’ It surprised her to realize she believed her own words. She could handle this.
Lakers – residents proudly took the nickname from their mysterious lake – could hunker down in their valley and survive on their own. Everyone in town knew that if snow blocked them in and a helicopter couldn’t fly, they had no access to a hospital. But Donna was good at her job too. Plus, it would only be for a couple of days.
The phone on her desk rang, jarring her from her thoughts.
As long as the ring didn’t herald an emergency, everything would be fine.
Bet rolled out in her black and white on the long teardrop of road that circled the valley. She didn’t turn on her siren; there wasn’t anyone on the loop to warn of her approach and the sound felt too loud, like a scream into the colorless void. The emergency lights on top of her SUV stained the white unmarked fields of snow on either side red, then blue, then red again, like blood streaking the ground. Her studded tires roared on the hard-packed snow, the surface easy to navigate – at least for now.
The drive to Jeb Pearson’s place took less than twenty minutes, even with the worsening conditions. Pearson’s Ranch sat at the end of the valley farthest from the lake and the town center. The ranch occupied an area the locals called the ‘Train Yard’, though that name didn’t show up on any official maps.
Long ago, the roundhouse for the Colliers’ private railway perched there at the end of the tracks. The roundhouse was a huge, wedge-shaped brick structure, like one third of a pie with the tips of the slices bitten off. It was built to house the big steam engines owned by the Colliers. The facility could hold five engines, each pulled inside through giant glass and iron doors. Engines could be parked and serviced inside the roundhouse, while an enormous turntable sat out front to spin the engines around, sending them down different tracks in order to pass each other in opposite directions.
It was unlikely the Colliers ever housed five engines up here all at once, but they owned other mines around the state and had used engines in other places. It must have been reassuring to know that if they ever needed to, they could bring their assets up here, protected in their high-elevation fiefdom.
Jeb used the property as a summer camp for boys who struggled with drug and alcohol addictions and guesthouses for snow adventure enthusiasts during the winter. Jeb lived there year-round, with a giant Newfoundland dog named Grizzly, a half a dozen horses, and one mini donkey named Dolly that helped him rehabilitate the boys.
Bet pulled up in front of the roundhouse. The cabins and other outbuildings stretched away from where she parked, with the barn the farthest from the road. The pastures were empty with the storm bearing down, the animals all safely tucked away in their stalls. Jeb stood out front with two bundled figures that must have been the father and son who were currently staying at his place. A third member of their party, the mother, was nowhere to be seen.
Bet got out of her vehicle and walked over to where two of Jeb’s snowmobiles were parked, running and ready to go. Layers of winter clothing padded Jeb’s wiry form, his face ruddy in the arctic wind.
‘What have we got, Jeb?’
‘Mark and Julia Crews and their son Jeremy came across what looks to be a solo wreck up on Iron Horse Ridge. They didn’t have any details about the driver’s condition, so I’m not sure what we’re looking at. The parents wanted to protect their son and got him out of there before he could see anything gruesome. These two came down to get me while Mrs Crews stayed with the injured rider.’
Bet nodded to the man standing a few feet away. Only part of his face was visible through the balaclava he wore. His eyes looked haunted.
‘You did the right thing,’ she said to him. ‘If the driver’s got a spinal injury, you could have done more damage than good trying to bring them down.’ She didn’t add that if the driver was dead there was nothing to be done except locate the next of kin.
‘Thanks, Sheriff,’ Mark Crews said, his voice shaky. ‘That was—’
Emotion cut off the man’s words. He reached for his son and pulled him close. The boy didn’t resist, but he also didn’t hug his father back. Bet considered checking the boy for shock, but guessed he was just a teen being a teen.
She gave Mark a nod and hoped the accident victim survived the wait – otherwise Mark Crews would always wonder if he should have made a different choice.
The father got his emotions under control and turned his attention back to Bet. ‘Please get my wife Julia down safely.’
Jeremy might be shocky, but the two people up on the ridge were her priority.
‘Always prioritize,’ Maggie said to Bet on a regular basis. ‘Don’t get caught up trying to fix everything at once. Fix the big things first.’
Her father would have agreed. His voice no longer took precedence in her mind, but his teachings never left her.
Bet promised to take care of Julia Crews and walked over to straddle the closest snowmobile. Pulling on the helmet she’d brought, she tucked her auburn curls out of the way before closing the face shield. Bet admired the Crews family for helping a stranger as the ominous storm bore down on the area. It must be terrifying to know Mrs Crews waited up on the ridge as the weather closed in. Bet was impressed the family put their own safety in jeopardy for someone they didn’t know. Not everyone would do that. It would have been easy enough to pretend they never found the accident, leaving the driver alone in the snow.
Jeb hopped on the other snowmobile, which was already set up to tow the Snowbulance – a small, enclosed trailer with a stretcher mounted inside. Bet made eye contact with Jeb to confirm she was ready, and they took off with him in the lead. Search-and-rescue was Jeb’s specialty, and he knew the terrain better than she did.
Her father Earle always said a good leader knew when to follow. Like most of her father’s advice, Bet knew it was true even if her instinct was never to admit someone else was the right person for a job she could do. In her defense, her father never faced life in law enforcement as a woman.
Maggie always said, ‘Never let a man think he’s got control. If you hand control over, he’ll never give it up.’
Bet wasn’t her father, but she wasn’t a patrol officer in LA, either. Sometimes neither Maggie’s nor her father’s advice was any help to her at all.
Not far from the ranch, Jeb turned off the main road and started up a forest service road that went west and north into the mountains. The turnoff wasn’t obvious, so it was interesting that the Crews had found that particular trail.
Snowmobiling was a popular sport in Collier and a lot of people used these forest service roads for trails, even the ones that were officially closed to traffic because there were no funds for maintenance. Without anyone to police the extensive system, the locals used them as their own private playground.
The roads connected in a complex web throughout the area. The injured teen could have arrived at the ridge from any direction. The forest was riddled with paths that the forest service no longer had the money or workforce to keep up, but people and animals kept cleared. In a lot of ways, the community benefited from the interlopers who cleared the roads, because that provided fire access into their local forest, which would otherwise become impassable through neglect.
If the brunt of the storm held off long enough for them to locate the scene of the accident and get the injured teen down the mountain before the conditions worsened, everything should still be all right.
Bet kept her focus on Jeb’s sled as they rode up the hill. The road turned dark as they got farther into the trees and the cloud cover grew almost black. She was glad for the headlight and someone she trusted to follow. At least in this moment, her father’s advice was right.
If only the injured rider survived the wait.
***
CREDIT MARK PERLSTEIN
Author Bio
Elena Taylor spent several years working in theater as a playwright, director, designer, and educator before turning her storytelling skills to fiction. Her first series, the Eddie Shoes Mysteries, written under the name Elena Hartwell, introduced a quirky mother/daughter crime fighting duo.
With the Bet Rivers Mysteries, Elena returns to her dramatic roots and brings readers much more serious and atmospheric novels. The series introduces Collier, Washington, with its dark and mysterious lake, tough-as-nails residents, and newly appointed sheriff with her sidekick Schweitzer, an Anatolian Shepherd.
Elena is also a senior editor with Allegory Editing, a developmental editing house, where she works one-on-one with writers to shape and polish manuscripts, short stories, and plays. If you’d like to work with Elena, visit www.allegoryediting.com.
Her favorite place to be is at Paradise, the property she and her hubby own south of Spokane, Washington. They live with their horses, dogs, and cats. Elena holds a B.A. from the University of San Diego, a M.Ed. from the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.
