ARC Review: All the Secret Places by Anna Carlisle

All the Secret Places
Author: Anna Carlisle
Series: Gin Sullivan (Book 2)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 12, 2017)

Description: Gin Sullivan is back in her small hometown of Trumbull, Pennsylvania on an extended leave from her job at the Chicago medical examiner’s office and rekindling an old flame with her high school sweetheart, Jake. Gin is readjusting to life at home when Jake receives harrowing news early one morning. The new housing development his construction firm is building has caught fire and underneath one of the burnt homes is a dead body.

When the body is identified as a man who may very well be the violent offender who terrified Gin’s childhood town years ago, the pool of suspects broadens and it becomes a greater challenge to pinpoint his killer. Gin is determined to unearth old demons, hers included, but soon finds some people will kill to keep them buried.

Small town secrets cast daunting shadows in All the Secret Places, Anna Carlisle’s riveting second Gin Sullivan mystery.

My Thoughts: Gin Sullivan came back to her hometown of Trumbull, Pennsylvania, and was instrumental in solving the death of her younger sister. In the course of that investigation she reconnected with her teenage boyfriend Jake Crosby. This book begins with the two of them living together and trying to build a new relationship now that they are adults. Gin is a medical examiner who is on leave from a prestigious job in Chicago. Jake is a building contractor who has taken quite a risk by buying some land and building some high priced homes in hopes of attracting buyers from nearby Pittsburgh. He has put everything he has into the project.

The story begins when Jake receives a phone call telling him that the first house in the project is on fire. The fire would be bad enough but the firefighters discover a buried body when they are making a firebreak to keep the fire from spreading to the nearby woods. Jake had been a suspect in the disappearance and death of Gin's sister and the police who investigated that crime don't seem to be able to get over it. They are immediately suspicious both about the fire and the body and even more suspicious when the fire is proven to be arson. Jake's business takes another potential hit when the body is assumed to be that of a Civil War soldier and protestors show up determined to have Jake's land declared a historical site.

Jake deals with these suspicions and the hit to his business by becoming secretive and withdrawing from Gin. Gin starts to wonder about the staying power of their relationship especially when she meets the new Chief of Police who shows an interest in her. Gin decides to fight for her relationship with Jake by using her medical and investigative abilities to get to the bottom of the two crimes.

For someone who prides herself on not jumping to conclusions without all the facts, she manages to jump to a number of conclusions and puts herself in danger many times during the story. The story is fast-paced. The mystery is twisty.

Favorite Quote:

"Even if it's not scientific..."

"I look at it a little differently," Gin said. "There's so much that science can't explain. So many questions that go unanswered. I like to think that people like you and me work in that place in between mystery and truth. That by being open to things that don't fit into what we know, we create the possibility of discovering something new."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.