Book Review: Untraceable by Laura Griffin

Untraceable
Author: Laura Griffin
Series: Tracers (Book 1)
Publication: Pocket Books (November 10, 2009)

Description: With a “fast pace, tight plotting, terrific mystery, sharp dialogue, [and] fabulous characters” (Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author), this white-knuckled thrill ride follows an expert who helps her clients “disappear”—until she finds herself in the middle of a homicide investigation as the next victim.

Private investigator Alexandra Lovell uses computer skills and cunning to help clients drop off the radar and begin new lives in safety. Melanie Bess, desperate to escape her abusive cop husband, was one of those clients. But when Melanie vanishes for real, Alex fears the worst, and sets out to discover what happened.

Using every resource she can get her hands on—including an elite team of forensic scientists known as the Tracers, and a jaded, sexy Austin PD detective—Alex embarks on a mission to uncover the truth. But as far as homicide cop Nathan Deveraux is concerned, no body means no case. Yet his instincts—and his visceral attraction to Alex—won’t let him walk away.

As a grim picture of what really happened begins to emerge, Nathan realizes this investigation runs deeper than they could ever have guessed. And each step nearer to the truth puts Alex in danger of being the next to disappear.

My Thoughts: Alex Lovell is a private investigator whose bread-and-butter is insurance claims, but her love is helping women in trouble disappear. Melanie Bess needed her help to get away from her abusive husband, and Alex was there for her. But now Melanie has dropped off the radar and Alex's investigations indicate that she has come back to Austin and might have been murdered. 

She goes to Nathan Deveraux who is a detective with the Austin Police Department. He isn't eager to investigate because Alex doesn't have any proof and also because Alex suspects Melanie's husband who is also a member of the Austin Police Department. 

She and Nathan are both investigating but Nathan is also investigating some other murders which may or may not be related to Alex's investigation. 

The story was action-packed and fast-paced. I liked Alex's determination to find her missing client even though she is being followed by bad guys. I liked the Delphi Center which was an interesting private center for forensic investigation. I liked that Alex's computer skills makes her someone Delphi wants to recruit. I also liked the slow burn romance between Nathan and Alex. 

Favorite Quote:

"You want to know the first rule of murder investigation? It's real simple. Have a body."

"I told you, she's--"

"Yeah, I know, she's missing. If your really thing something happened to this girl, you need to get down to the police station and fill out a missing-person report. Get it on record, along with your suspicions about her husband."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Untraceable by Laura Griffin

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

Melanie bumped along the pitted road, almost certain she wasn't lost. She peered through the darkness and drizzle, searching for nonexistent landmarks.

Friday 56:

"How'd your interview go?" she asked, and he caught an edge in her voice. Or maybe he's imagined it. 

This week I am spotlighting Untraceable by Laura Griffin. This one was a BookBub deal. It appealed to me because it is the first in a series and I have read and enjoyed other books by the author. Here is the description from Amazon:

With a “fast pace, tight plotting, terrific mystery, sharp dialogue, [and] fabulous characters” (Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author), this white-knuckled thrill ride follows an expert who helps her clients “disappear”—until she finds herself in the middle of a homicide investigation as the next victim.

Private investigator Alexandra Lovell uses computer skills and cunning to help clients drop off the radar and begin new lives in safety. Melanie Bess, desperate to escape her abusive cop husband, was one of those clients. But when Melanie vanishes for real, Alex fears the worst, and sets out to discover what happened.

Using every resource she can get her hands on—including an elite team of forensic scientists known as the Tracers, and a jaded, sexy Austin PD detective—Alex embarks on a mission to uncover the truth. But as far as homicide cop Nathan Deveraux is concerned, no body means no case. Yet his instincts—and his visceral attraction to Alex—won’t let him walk away.

As a grim picture of what really happened begins to emerge, Nathan realizes this investigation runs deeper than they could ever have guessed. And each step nearer to the truth puts Alex in danger of being the next to disappear.

Audiobook Review: Sweetwater and the Witch by Jayne Castle

Sweetwater and the Witch

Author: Jayne Castle
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Harmony (Book 15)
Publication: Recorded Books (September 20, 2022)
Length: 9 hours and 1 minute

Description: Welcome to the world of Harmony, where—despite its name, things are anything but—danger lurks just beneath the surface in this new novel by New York Times bestselling author, Jayne Castle.

If there's something Ravenna Chastain knows, it's when to end things. And after she almost winds up the victim of a cult that believes she's a witch, it's easy to walk away from her dead-end career, ready for a new start. But where to find a job that would allow her to use her very specialized skill set? The answer is clear: she becomes a matchmaker.

But even a successful matchmaker can't find someone for everyone, and Ravenna considers Ethan Sweetwater her first professional failure. After nine failed dates, Ravenna knows it's time to cut Ethan loose. But Ethan refuses to be fired as a client—he needs one final date to a business function. Since Ravenna needs a date herself to a family event, they agree to a deal: she will be his (business) date if he will be her (fake) date to her grandparents' anniversary celebration.

What Ethan fails to mention is that attending the business function is a cover for some industrial espionage that he's doing as a favor to the new Illusion Town Guild boss. Ravenna is happy to help, but their relationship gets even more complicated when things heat up—the chemistry between them is explosive, as explosive as the danger that's stalking Ravenna. Lucky for her, Ethan isn't just an engineer—he's also a Sweetwater, and Sweetwaters are known for hunting down monsters...

My Thoughts: Working as a profiler for the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation proves to be a little more dangerous than Ravenna Chastain had anticipated. After being kidnapped by a cult that wanted to burn her as a witch, she decided to make a career change. 

Now a matchmaker in Illusion Town, she only has to deal with finding matches for covenant marriages for her clients. But Ethan Sweetwater isn't the sort of client the business is looking for. He is a member of one of the premier families on Harmony with talents that reach back to the old world of Earth, but his strong talents and inclination to secrecy makes it hard to find a perfect match for him. 

Ravenna wants to fire him, but Ethan demands his final contracted date, and he wants it to be with her. This has some positives for Ravenna too since she needs to find a date to her grandparents' anniversary party. Agreeing to "fake" date him to give him some pointers on his dating techniques should be a simple exercise. However, his ulterior motives put both of them in the crosshairs of a man who wants Sweetwater dead before he can expose his connection with Vortex. 

And Ravenna has an enemy of her own who wants her dead. Both Ethan and Ravenna find themselves beset by a variety of enemies. But Ethan's biggest problem is convincing Ravenna that their "fake" dates should lead to a real covenant marriage. 

Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, the story moves along at a quick pace. The banter between the two takes on a new life when the story is heard rather than read. And there is a lot of banter...

Fans of Harmony and dust bunnies will also like getting to know Harriet who has a penchant for collecting pens. 

I bought this one at an Audible sale. 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: A Deceptive Compostion by Anna Lee Huber

A Deceptive Composition
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: Lady Darby Mysteries (Book 12)
Publication: Berkley (June 18, 2024)

Description: Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, hope they’ve finally found peace after a tumultuous summer, but long-buried family secrets soon threaten to unravel their lives . . .

October 1832. Kiera is enjoying the slower pace of the English countryside. She, Sebastian, and their infant daughter have accompanied her father-in-law, Lord Gage, home so that he can recuperate from the injuries he sustained in a foiled attempt on his life. But as the chill of autumn sweeps across the land, they receive a summons from an unexpected quarter. Lord Gage’s estranged uncle—a member of the notorious Roscarrock family—has been murdered, and his family is desperate for answers. Despite Lord Gage’s protests, Kiera and Sebastian press on to Cornwall to assist.

It isn’t long before they discover that almost nothing is as it seems among the Roscarrocks, and they’ve been lured to their isolated cove under false pretenses. There are whispers of a lost treasure and frightening allusions to a series of murders stretching back decades that touch the lives of the family personally. Kiera and Sebastian are left with no choice but to uncover the truth before the secrets of the past threaten to destroy them all.

My Thoughts: The twelfth book in the Lady Darby mystery series takes place in 1832. Keira, Sebastian, and their six-month-old daughter are staying with Sebastian's father as he recovers from almost being killed. Things are finally going well with her father-in-law who has finally accepted her. And he is besotted with his granddaughter. 

Then a letter arrives from Lord Gage's estranged family. He learns that his uncle has died in a suspicious manner and his aunt wants them all to come and investigate. Lord Gage left almost fifty years earlier when his choice was to be tried for smuggling or join the Navy. He had a successful Navy career, but he never forgot the betrayal he felt at being sent away. 

Keira and Gage manage to convince him to got to his relatives in Cornwall because they are curious. However, the quickly learn that the bad feelings haven't gone away in fifty years and that everyone is lying to them about one thing or another. 

Besides the smuggling which the family has not abandoned, there is also the question of some hidden treasure that the family wants found and believes that Lord Gage can locate. 

This was an entertaining story with lots of twists and turns and lots of interesting characters. 

Favorite Quote:

"Do you never tire of being impertinent?"

I turned away, unwilling to admit I didn't always understand where that line was. "Not when there's a question to be asked. Not when there's an answer that needs to be given," I replied instead. 

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

Audiobook Review: A Liaden Universe Constellation Book Five by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

A Liaden Universe Constellation 5
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins
Series: Liaden Universe Constellation
Publication: Tantor Audio (December 26, 2023)
Length: 14 hours and 41 minutes

Description: Tales of the Liaden Universe brought together for the first time. Space opera and romance on a grand scale in a galaxy full of interstellar trading clans.

STORYTELLING ON AN EPIC SCALE

For more than thirty years, the Liaden Universe novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have captivated fans with their unique blend of action adventure, science fiction, and interpersonal relationships. In addition to over twenty novels (and counting), Lee and Miller have written dozens of shorter works based in the Liaden Universe, featuring the strong characterization, detailed world-building, wit, and derring-do that listeners of the series adore.

Sure to delight longtime fans and newcomers alike, these tales highlight why the nationally bestselling Liaden Universe novels are treasured by space opera aficionados, with amazing settings, strong characterizations, compelling romance, and edge-of-the-chair action in stories that range from cosmic to comic.

My Thoughts: This collection of ten stories from the Liaden Universe has copyrights from 2019 to 2021. All the stories have been previously published in a wide variety of venues from chapbooks to themed anthologies. 

The stories vary in length and theme and reason for being. Some of discovery stories that fill in the background or catch up on characters who have roles in the novels. Others are told about brand-new characters in previously unexplored parts of the Liaden Universe. 

All of the stories were well-written and entertaining. Quite a few of the stories seem to touch on the Liaden concept of Luck from Mar Tyn's discovery story Fortune's Favors to Preferred Seating which tells of the days when the small talents were exiled from Liad and taken to a planet deep in the Ambient. Ambient Conditions is a companion story to Preferred Seating told from a different point of view. 

The story I liked the best was Dead Men Dream because I had been wondering whatever happened to Bar Jan and his man after his delm declared him dead after his fight with Jethri Gobelyn ven'Deelin. The story was filled with action, danger, and character growth. 

Fans of the Liaden Universe will enjoy having all of these shorter works conveniently to hand in one collection. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry

A Collection of Lies
Author: Connie Berry
Series: Kate Hamilton Mystery (Book 5)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 18, 2024)

Description: In USA Today bestselling author Connie Berry’s fifth Kate Hamilton mystery, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton follows bloodstained clues to discover the truth about the murder of a modern-day Victorian gentleman.

As Kate Hamilton and her new husband, DI Tom Mallory, honeymoon in Devon, a local history museum asks them to trace the provenance of a bloodstained dress said to belong to a Victorian lacemaker accused of murder. If genuine, the dress and its puzzling connections to a nineteenth-century Romani family who camped on Dartmoor will be the centerpiece of a new historic crimes exhibit—exactly Kate’s kind of mystery. But matters turn deadly when a shot is fired during a fundraising gala, injuring the man who donated the dress.

The injured donor, Gideon Littlejohn, is a cybersecurity expert who lives and dresses as a Victorian gentleman, but everyone believes the real target of the attack to be another attendee—a controversial politician intent on rooting out local corruption. This belief is overturned when Gideon is found dead in a pool of blood. But then the politician receives a death threat.

Who was the real target? Who would want to kill both a man with an obsession for history and a tough-on-crime politician? When asked to assist in the investigation, Kate races to discover the truth, as it becomes clear the killer isn’t going to come quietly.

My Thoughts: Tom Mallory and Kate Hamilton are on their honeymoon in Devon when a local history museum asks them to trace the provenance of a bloodstained dress that they want to use as the centerpiece of a Crimes in Devon exhibit. 

This investigation seems to be just what they are looking for. Tom is contemplating changing careers from the police to private investigation and Kate has had success in unraveling other historical puzzles. And Kate is pleased that the investigation won't put them in danger since they are both still bruised after their last adventure. 

But a gunshot at a museum fundraising gathering and the murder of the man who donated the dress to the exhibit put both of them back in the middle of a danger-filled mystery. The first mystery is just who the supposed victim of the shooting was supposed to be. The donor, Gideon Littlejohn, is a cybersecurity expert who is determined to live as a Victorian gentleman and is busy making his home into what was typical for the time period. But standing next to him was Teddy Pearce who is a newly elected member of Parliament who comes from a troubled past. 

While Tom is drafted into working for the local police, Kate finds herself investigating the bloodstained dress and its supposed owner Nancy Thorne who was a lacemaker. With no documentation but a forged note saying the dress belonged to Nancy who was also accused as a murderer, Kate begins research with the help of a local librarian who is a great researcher and intrigued by the mystery.

While it seems that the two investigations are separate, it soon begins to come clear that the investigations are related and finding out the provenance of the dress could lead to the contemporary murder. This was an interesting mystery with lots of local history in the story. From a drowned town to Romani culture, there are all sorts of interesting details. 

Fans of the series will enjoy this latest episode.  

Favorite Quote:

"Actually, I was thinking about historical mysteries in general. Uncovering the past. Everyone involved is long gone. No crime, no danger."

I never learn.

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