No Strangers Here by Carlene O'Connor

Hello my friends,

Today I am reviewing “No Strangers Here” by Carlene O’Connor it's the first instalment in the County Kerry Series, grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

Set in Ireland’s striking, rugged countryside, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s dark, atmospheric new crime fiction series combines the eerie atmosphere of Tana French and Louise Penny with the compulsively taut plotting of Dervla McTiernan and Lucy Foley, as an Irish veterinarian grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.
 
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.
 
Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she's in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes…

The story is character-driven and also very descriptive you feel like you are right there in Dingle, Ireland.  I’m a huge fan of the authors other mystery series set in Ireland so had to get this one and boy was I not disappointed.

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. With so many suspects to follow I was surprised I guessed just before it was revealed.  

I highly recommend this book to all my Irish Mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs, 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Fan Mail by Daryl Wood Gerber

Hello my cozy friends,

Happy Boxing Day! I am forgoing the sales to read and relax at home with all the furbabies. (will post next week about the new additions to our family)

Today I am reviewing "Fan Mail" the 2nd instalment in the “An Aspen Adams” Suspense series by Daryl Wood Gerber. If you haven’t read Desolate Shores yet, you can read as a standalone.

Fan Mail: An Aspen Adams Novel of Suspense by Daryl Wood Gerber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An adoring fan and a string of murders: a demented show of love that leaves no one safe . . .

Local celebrity news anchor Gloria Morning is used to receiving declarations of love and praise in her weekly fan letters, but when a Lake Tahoe doctor is murdered and she gets an anonymous note telling her it was done for her glory, her appreciation turns to panic. Unsure of where else to turn, she enlists the help of novice private investigator Aspen Adams. No sooner does Aspen begin digging into who sent the macabre note than another murder occurs, followed by another note, and she soon realizes she’s up against a ruthless and deranged killer.

Working with scant clues and a puzzling array of potential suspects, Aspen is determined to unearth the elusive connection between the victims and her client. But as the body count grows and the murderer remains a mystery to both her and the police, Aspen discovers she’s gotten closer to the killer than she ever imagined, and now she must risk everything she holds dear to stop the killings, including her own life . . .

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in one sitting. It was entertaining, suspenseful and full of twists and turns. I thought all the characters were well developed. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Beyond the Page Publishing and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

View all my reviews

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Little Girls Sleeping (Detective Katie Scott Book 1) by Jennifer Chase

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Little Girls Sleeping" (Detective Katie Scott Book 1) by Jennifer Chase. It is a great beginning to a new series.

Print Length: 335 pages

Publisher: Bookouture (May 31 2019)

He looked down at the little girl, sleeping peacefully, her arms wrapped around a teddy bear. He knew he was the only one who could save her. He could let her sleep forever.

An eight-year-old girl, Chelsea Compton, is missing in Pine Valley, California and for Detective Katie Scott it’s a cruel reminder of the friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Unable to shake the memories, Katie vows she won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.

But as Katie starts to investigate, accompanied by her loyal ex-military dog, Cisco, the case reveals itself to be much bigger and more shocking than she feared. Hidden deep in the forest she unearths a makeshift cemetery: a row of graves, each with a brightly coloured teddy bear.

Katie links the graves to a stack of missing-persons cases involving young girls—finding a pattern no one else has managed to see. Someone in Pine Valley has been taking the town’s daughters for years, and Katie is the only one who can stop them.

And then another little girl goes missing, snatched from the park near her home.

Katie’s still haunted by the friend she failed to protect, and she’ll do anything to stop the killer striking again—but can she find the little girl before it’s too late?

The description of this book is what made me want to read it and I was not disappointed! I havent read a thriller in awhile and I am glad I chose to give this a try.

The Protagonist Katie is well developed, likeable and her uncle, aunt and Chad, a childhood friend were all likeable side characters. Templeton is a jerk as he tries to undermine Katie throughout the story.

I found that the beginning was slow but half way through I couldn’t put the book down as I wanted to know who the killer was. The description of the setting and crime scenes are strong and really drew  me in. The ending was shocking and totally unexpected. 

Highly recommended. A fabulous first book for an author I will definitely follow in the future.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Kensington and NetGalley. 

 All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!

I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,

Follow my blog with Bloglovin