Helpful Score: 1
Former Prosecutor Morgan Dane and her three young daughters have returned to her hometown of Scarlet Falls, following the death of her husband while serving our country in Iraq.
Now that she's near family and old friends, and with the promise of working with the District Attorney, she feels she's finally ready to put her grief aside and start her life again.
All goes well until her teenage babysitter is found murdered. The accused is her neighbor's son, Nick, who is just a few years older than the sitter. Nick was a frequent visitor in Morgan's home, entertaining her daughters, playing chess or checkers with her father. Nick's father begs for help for him and Morgan agrees. Deep down, Morgan just cannot accept that Nick could murder anyone.
Her decision turns her neighbors and friends against her and she loses the lucrative job before she even begins putting together a defense for Nick. Needing an investigator, she turns to her friend Lane Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye. Morgan and Lance are going to have to battle the community, the cops, the DA.
As they systematically interview and question the girl's friends and family, they learn that just about every teenager in town knows something they aren't sharing. Meanwhile more evidence is stacking up against Nick.
Never a dull moment in this book! I really enjoyed how law enforcement worked with a private eye... just a touch of distrust on both sides, especially as the police looked in one direction only and never considered anyone else a suspect. There's an attraction between Morgan and Lance, she's a bit hesitant, he's determined not to scare her away.
There's a little bit of everything here .... a sadistic killer, a young murder victim who argued with her grandparents the very last time they saw her, a young man accused of a brutal crime, who only wants to continue helping his father with a landscaping business, a friend of the victim who seems to be in hiding... but from what?
Many thanks to the author / Montlake Romance / Netgalley for the digital copy of this romantic suspense. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Now that she's near family and old friends, and with the promise of working with the District Attorney, she feels she's finally ready to put her grief aside and start her life again.
All goes well until her teenage babysitter is found murdered. The accused is her neighbor's son, Nick, who is just a few years older than the sitter. Nick was a frequent visitor in Morgan's home, entertaining her daughters, playing chess or checkers with her father. Nick's father begs for help for him and Morgan agrees. Deep down, Morgan just cannot accept that Nick could murder anyone.
Her decision turns her neighbors and friends against her and she loses the lucrative job before she even begins putting together a defense for Nick. Needing an investigator, she turns to her friend Lane Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye. Morgan and Lance are going to have to battle the community, the cops, the DA.
As they systematically interview and question the girl's friends and family, they learn that just about every teenager in town knows something they aren't sharing. Meanwhile more evidence is stacking up against Nick.
Never a dull moment in this book! I really enjoyed how law enforcement worked with a private eye... just a touch of distrust on both sides, especially as the police looked in one direction only and never considered anyone else a suspect. There's an attraction between Morgan and Lance, she's a bit hesitant, he's determined not to scare her away.
There's a little bit of everything here .... a sadistic killer, a young murder victim who argued with her grandparents the very last time they saw her, a young man accused of a brutal crime, who only wants to continue helping his father with a landscaping business, a friend of the victim who seems to be in hiding... but from what?
Many thanks to the author / Montlake Romance / Netgalley for the digital copy of this romantic suspense. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Helpful Score: 1
Ok book. Story moves along pretty good. No actual set up for the killer, just someone in the story. I give it a C-
