ARC Review: Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni

Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Author: Robert Dugoni
Series: Keera Duggan (Book 2)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (October 22, 2024)

Description: A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court―she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Five years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she was: a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears that this time she's telling nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.

My Thoughts: The second Keera Deegan mystery has Keera defending a woman who has been arrested for murdering her business partner and lover. Keera has known Jenna Bernstein since they were children and knows her as a sociopath and liar. 

Her father Patsy has agreed to take the case since he feels he owes something to Jenna's parents. Also, he defended her before when she was accused of murdering her chief scientist after he told her that their groundbreaking medical procedure was much further from reality than she had been touting to potential investors. He managed to free her because he raised enough reasonable doubt that she didn't murder the man. 

Keera isn't at all sure that Jenna was innocent of the first murder and she's not at all convinced that she's innocent of this crime either. She knows Jenna is a sociopath and a liar and can't believe anything she tells her. As she and her investigator look into the case, she is looking for the truth and finds lots of things that might or might not clear Jenna.

With Patsy finally agreeing to in-patient treatment of his alcoholism, Keera is on her own in defending Jenna. Hopefully her genius at chess with let her make the correct moves to get her client off. Finding out whether or not she's guilty would also ease Keera's mind.

This was another excellent legal thriller with an engaging cast of characters. 

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

ARC Review: One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

One Big Happy Family
Author: Jamie Day
Publication: St. Martin's Press (July 16, 2024)

Description: Could this reunion be the death of them?

The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters--Iris, Vicki, and Faith--have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there's murder in the air-- and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe's nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she's using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

With razor-sharp wit, heart, thrills, and twists, Jamie Day's ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY delivers a unique brand of summertime suspense.

My Thoughts: The Precipice Hotel is the scene of a locked room mystery when the Bishop sisters come to claim their inheritance just as Hurricane Larry has the hotel in its sights. 

Chambermaid Charley Kelley has worked at the hotel since she was seventeen and left school in order to earn money to keep her grandmother who suffers from dementia in her nursing home. She was willing to put up with a handsy boss if that was what it took. But she doesn't know what changes will happen now that the sisters are in charge. 

Each sister has her own secrets. Vickie is the oldest. She comes with her husband Todd and is later joined by her son Quinn. Next comes her sister Faith and her wife Hope and their son Oliver. Finally comes Iris. They are quickly followed by Brenda Black, the attorney who is set to read the Will.

Charley has taken in a new acquaintance with a sob story: abusive boyfriend and a need to hide out until she can get out of town. Bree offers Charley enough money to pay for her grandmother's care for a while which is the main reason she agrees to let her stay in the hotel. 

When Todd is murdered, almost all of the new residents have a reason to want him dead. And then Brenda Black disappears and is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. By this time the storm has hit, suspicions are raised, and secrets are starting to come out.

This was an incredibly twisty story. Todd's relationships with all three sisters certainly give all of them reason to want him dead. And his influence on George Bishop which led to a very unfair Last Will didn't endear him to any of the Bishop sisters. 

Mostly told by Charley, the story also includes flashbacks to some of the secrets the Bishop sisters are keeping. Charley is an interesting character with a hard life. I liked her and was wishing her well as the story went on. 

This was an interesting story. I did feel that the ending was a little too rosy considering the personalities of the sisters. 

Favorite Quote:

But when the person you love most in the world can't remember your name, it leaves you feeling adrift. I want so badly to be seen and heard, to feel like my story, small as it is, matters to somebody other than me. 

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

ARC Review: Pitch Dark by Paul Doiron

Pitch Dark
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: Mike Bowditch Mysteries (Book 15)
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 25, 2024)

Description: Game Warden Mike Bowditch must chase down a cunning and dangerous fugitive in the North Maine Woods in this nail-biter of a thriller from Edgar Award-nominated author Paul Doiron, Pitch Dark.

Legendary bush pilot Josie Jonson can’t believe her luck when a skilled builder just happens to show up after she purchases land near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks in return for building Josie’s dream cabin is that he be left alone to homeschool his 12-year-old daughter, Cady.

For Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch, the intensity of Redmond's secretiveness is troubling, especially in light of suspicious criminal activity being reported around the area―including rumors of an armed man offering large sums of money in exchange for the location of Redmond and Cady. Josie, though hesitant to violate the trust of her prized builder, eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the secluded pond in an attempt to protect Redmond and Cady. But hours after landing, the trip takes a dark turn when they witness a horrific murder and are taken captive themselves.

Freeing himself, Mike is forced to set off through the impenetrable Maine forest towards Canada, alone and unarmed in pursuit of a mysterious fugitive. As he navigates a windblown landscape choked with deadfalls and blocked by swollen streams, he marvels at his enemy’s bush craft. The killer possesses skills surpassing his own, and Bowditch can't tell if he is the cat or the mouse in this dangerous game. Can Mike Bowditch stop his adversary in time to save the life of a young girl, or will he be forced to watch another innocent soul die?

My Thoughts: Game Warden Mike Bowditch finds himself chasing a cunning killer through the deep woods on Maine near the Canadian border. A possible lost tourist starts the investigation. Since the missing man Hammond Pratt had been asking about a reclusive cabin builder. 

Since the cabin being built belongs to a friend of Mike's father-in-law and is a feisty type, Mike asks his father-in-law Charley to go along as they check out the builder and find out why the missing guy wants to find him. 

Josie Jonson takes them in her helicopter to the site of her new cabin. There they meet Mark Redmond and his daughter Cady. Soon after arrival, they find themselves drugged and tied up to trees. Mark and Cady damage their transportation and take off soon after Mike comes to. The Mike watches Josie die as a result of the drugs. Charley also comes to and is able to get himself untied and managed to untie Mike. 

Mike is determined to take off after Mark and Cady and bring Mark in for the murder of Josie. And so a wild chase through the wilderness begins...

Mike is both injured and short on equipment, but he is also determined to track down Redmond in part because he fears for his daughter. This missing man who started this investigation turns up and joins himself to Mike's search. It turns out he's a bounty hunter who has been after Redmond for a while.

The story was fast-paced and filled with action. I enjoyed the Maine wilderness as a setting. I like Mike's determined character and his willingness to throw his career over if that what he has to do to get his man. 

Favorite Quote:

I was certain our deliverance had been blessed by whatever saint looks out for grown men with the terrible judgment of teenage boys. 

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

ARC Review: The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

The Nature of Disappearing
Author: Kimi Cunningham Grant
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 18, 2024)

Description: In this captivating novel of suspense from the USA Today bestselling author of These Silent Woods, a wilderness guide must team up with the man who ruined her life years ago when the friend who introduced them goes missing.

Emlyn doesn't let herself think about the past.

How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the love of her life, left her half dead on the side of the road three years ago.

Her new life is simple and safe. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer and works as a fishing and hunting guide in scenic Idaho. Her closest friends are the community's makeshift reverend and a handsome Forest Service ranger who took her in at her lowest.

But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged boyfriend. She hasn't posted lately, though, and when Emlyn realizes the most recent photo doesn't match up with its caption, she reluctantly joins Tyler to find her old friend. As the two trace Janessa's path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can't deny the chemistry still crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn't the only one in danger.

Poignant, suspenseful, and unforgettable, Kimi Cunningham Grant's THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING explores what it takes to start over―and the cost of letting the past pull you back in.

My Thoughts: THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING centers around Emlyn who is a fishing and hunting guide in Idaho. Before that she was the child of a depressed mother and a father who disappeared from her life. And she was a poor college student who kept to herself for fear of being a person easy to leave behind.

She met Janessa as a college freshman when Janessa saved her from some overaggressive college boys at a local diner. The two become inseparable with Janessa as the charismatic leader and Emlyn the quiet follower. Emlyn is mostly content to let Janessa make her decisions for her. 

At least she is until she meets Tyler, Janessa's childhood friend. Emlyn and Tyler become a couple but Tyler's addiction to drugs leads to their breakup which comes to a head when he leaves her for dead in the wilderness.

Rescued by a forest ranger and cared for by an older woman, Emlyn decides to leave her past behind and build a new life. She's doing well until a couple of years later when Tyler comes to find her because Janessa, who has become a social media darling, is missing in the wilderness.

Together the two of them head into the wilderness to try to find Janessa. Along the way, Emlyn learns things Tyler doesn't want her to know about himself. And she learns that she is much stronger and competent than she has ever thought she was. 

There is a mystery here with moments of danger, but for me this was mostly Emlyn's story showing her growth and the changes she has gone through. Fans of thrillers will be engaged and so will fans of people exploring their lives. 

Favorite Quote:

If there's one thing her twenty-eight years have taught her, it's that there are people in this world who inspire loyalty and devotion, and there are people who are forgettable and leavable. She is the latter. A stepping stone, a place marker, a seasonal employee. 

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

ARC Review: Murder by Lamplight by Patrice McDonough

Murder by Lamplight
Author: Patrice McDonough
Publication: Kensington (February 20, 2024)

Description: As a deadly cholera pandemic burns its way through Victorian London in the winter of 1866, a trailblazing female physician and a skeptical Scotland Yard detective reluctantly team up to stop a sadistic killer in this dark, atmospheric, historically rich mystery for readers of Andrea Penrose and Deanna Raybourn.

“Enthralling debut. . . Mystery, pulse‑pounding suspense and a budding romance. More, please!”—Mary Jane Clark, New York Times Bestselling Author

When a vengeful, sadistic killer terrorizes London twenty years before Jack the Ripper will stalk its same streets, an unlikely duo is prompted to investigate: one of Britain’s first female physicians, Dr. Julia Lewis, and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Richard Tennant, a Crimean War veteran with lingering physical and psychological wounds.

November 1866: The grisly murder site in London’s East End is thronged with onlookers. None of them expect the calmly efficient young woman among them to be a medical doctor, arrived to examine the corpse. Inspector Richard Tennant, overseeing the investigation, at first makes no effort to disguise his skepticism. But Dr. Julia Lewis is accustomed to such condescension . . .

To study medicine, Julia had to leave Britain, where universities still bar their doors to women, and travel to America. She returned home to work in her grandfather’s practice—and to find London in the grip of a devastating cholera epidemic. In four years, however, she has seen nothing quite like this—a local clergyman’s body sexually mutilated and displayed in a manner that she—and Tennant—both suspect is personal.

My Thoughts: This Victorian mystery stars Inspector Richard Tennant of Scotland Yard and Dr. Julia Lewis. when a grisly murder is discovered, Tennant calls for Dr. Lewis - expecting Julia's grandfather, but she's taking his calls after a recent heart attack. 

Julia was trained as a doctor in the United States since no medical schools accepted women in England. However, a loophole in the law gave her a license to practice medicine in England. She is eager to assist the Inspector in his investigation. And it's quite an investigation. 

Someone is murdering seemingly random men and leaving a popped balloon as a clue. Many of the victims were sodomized and had their sexual organs removed. As Tennant and his team struggles to investigate what the victims had in common, the murderer is sending them "helpful" notes containing obscure clues. 

Julia is intrigued by the case and is quick to add in some possible suspects including a local business owner who is starting a political party for working men and a newspaper journalist who always seems to be in the right spot when bodies are discovered. 

The book is steeped in the time period. The cause of cholera has finally been discovered and agreed upon by most physicians. Julia's grandfather is one of the skeptics who didn't believe the cause during an earlier epidemic which may have contributed to additional deaths. The life of orphans and the doings of workhouses are central to the story too. They give the murderer incentive to gain his revenge on those who took advantage when he was a child. 

All in all, this was an entertaining story with engaging characters. There may possibly be a romance in the future, but Julia has many sensible reasons not to marry and give up her independence. I enjoyed both the mystery and the characters.

Favorite Quote:

She gave him a tight smile. "And you've accepted the fallacy of questionable cause and effect. You've concluded that men excel because they are male. But, by all means, let a 'sufficient sample' emerge. Let's give girls and boys the same education. Then we'll see what women can do."

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

ARC Review: There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

There Should Have Been Eight
Author: Nalini Singh
Publication: Berkley (November 21, 2023)

Description: In this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh, a remote estate in New Zealand’s Southern Alps hosts a reunion no one will ever forget.

Seven friends.
One last weekend.
A mansion half in ruins.
No room for lies.
Someone is going to confess.
Because there should have been eight. . .

They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago.

They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.

As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . . .

My Thoughts: A group of school friends are gathering at the isolated home of one of them for a reunion. Since the loss of Bea some nine years ago, the group has fallen apart. The narrator Luna hopes that there will finally be some answers for why Bea's sister Darcie buried Bea in secret and scattered her ashes in an unknown location.

Luna has some issues of her own that she is dealing with. She's a photographer who has just received a medical diagnosis that she has inherited a genetic condition that will make her blind. She's not dealing well with the diagnosis which isn't helped by her lifelong fear of the dark. 

As she photographs her friends, she sees currents and secrets and wonder what they are all hiding. When the weather closes in, and they are stuck at the creepy Gothic manor complete with a burned out wing, strange things begin to happen. 

One of Bea's old dolls is found on Darcie's bed which really freaks her out. Avid hiker Kaea has an accident due to a sabotaged boot. Nix takes a tumble down some stairs and breaks his neck. Darcie's husband Ash goes missing and is found in the burned-out section with multiple stab wounds. Aaron who brought his new girlfriend Grace is drugged while searching for Ash. As the numbers who have survived uninjured goes down, Luna becomes more and more certain about who she believes the killer is. But then there is the twist...

This was a compelling thriller that sent chills up my spine that had nothing to do with the cold house and stormy weather in New Zealand. Seeing events from Luna's tight viewpoint really kept the focus on her and her perspective. The ending fit perfectly considering Luna's own descriptions of her relationship with Bea.

Fans of creepy thrillers will enjoy this one. 

Favorite Quote:

Right this moment, Darcie leaned against Ash, who had his arm around her waist. But when he glanced down at her when she wasn't paying attention, his expression was...flat.

As if the love and emotion had been the mask and this was the truth.

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

ARC Review: Calico by Lee Goldberg

Calico
Author: Lee Goldberg
Publication: Severn House; Main edition (November 7, 2023)

Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg, comes an explosive, page-turning investigative thriller - with a mind-blowing twist.

There's a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . .

The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away.

But it's the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption.

Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.

His fate, all those years ago, and hers today are linked when Beth investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow, sandy grave . . . and also tries to identity a vagrant run-over by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm.

Every disturbing clue she finds, every shocking discovery she makes, force Beth to confront her own troubled past . . . and a past that's not her own . . . until it all smashes together in a revelation that could change the world.

My Thoughts: Beth McDade left the LAPD in disgrace. Now she is working as a detective for the Sheriff's Department in Barstow, California, drinking too much and picking up random first responders for one-night stands.

February 2, 2019, changes things. There was a lightning storm and explosion on the nearby military base. A man runs in from of an RV and is killed. And a man named Owen Slader disappears on his way back to LA from Las Vegas. 

Beth's initial case deals with the man, nicknamed Motor Home Man, who ran out in front of the RV. Not only can he not be identified, he is dressed in clothing out of the 1800s and has diseases also common at that time. The coroner confirms these things which don't really help Beth with the case. She checks with people in the area to see if anyone can identify him. She also visits the recreation of the town of Calico which was a mining town from the 1880s to see if he came from there.

The guy who was involved in the reason Beth left LA in disgrace comes to her about the missing Owen Slader. And when his body is found buried in an old coffin from the 1800s at a construction site, his death becomes her case too. But there are strange things about his body. He was fully skeletonized after only being missing for a few days and tests indicate that he died at least 100 years earlier which adds to the mystery. 

And the local military are quick to cover things up and unusually reticent to share information about what went on the night of February 2. While Beth is dealing with the impossible notion that time travel is involved in these strange occurrences, Owen is making a new life for himself in the 1880s where the chef has some knowledge of what the future will bring and is determined to do nothing that would prevent the birth of his daughter whom he was rushing home to see when swept back in time.

This was an engaging story. I'm not usually a fan of time travel stories but this one worked for me. I liked the action as Beth tries to keep herself and the evidence she has located out of the hands of the military. The car chases were exciting. 

Favorite Quote:

"You don't see the parallels between these two cases?" Amanda marched over to a morgue drawer and pulled out the shelf with Motor Home Man on it.

"Of course, I do," Beth said. "Motor Home Man seems to have stepped out of the 1800s and while Slader stepped into the past, both on the same night and in the same area. But other than that, the cases are entirely different. For one thing, we know how Motor Home Man died."

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