A Sliver of Darkness: Stories by C J Tudor- #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor

Book Blurb:

The debut short-story collection from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man, hailed as “Britain’s female Stephen King” (Daily Mail), featuring eleven bone-chilling and mind-bending tales

Time slips. Doomsday scenarios. Killer butterflies. C. J. Tudor’s novels are widely acclaimed for their dark, twisty suspense plots, but with A Sliver of Darkness, she pulls us even further into her dizzying imagination.

In “The Lion at the Gate,” a strange piece of graffiti leads to a terrifying encounter for four school friends. In “Final Course,” the world has descended into darkness, but a group of old friends make time for one last dinner party. In “Runaway Blues,” thwarted love, revenge, and something very nasty stowed in a hat box converge. In “Gloria,” a strange girl at a service station endears herself to a coldhearted killer, but can a leopard really change its spots? And in “I’m Not Ted,” a case of mistaken identity has unforeseen fatal consequences.

Riveting, macabre, and explosively original, A Sliver of Darkness is C. J. Tudor at her most wicked and uninhibited.

His Review:

A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor — A Sliver of Darkness – US cover

As I read this author, I harkened back to my teen years. Many years ago I became engrossed in the writings and short stories of Edgar Allen Poe. His use of the macabre in his short stories was intriguing. Reading C.J. Tudor I wondered if Edgar could have been reincarnated.

Each of these stories has a diabolical twist at the conclusion. I was also enchanted by the idea of the apocalypse and end of life as we know it. The defeatism and loss of control by the individuals involved became predictable. My sympathies went out to the people who tried to escape to Butterfly Island. I did find it hard to believe, however, that sailors giving transfer services would not be aware of the dangers lurking in the shoals.

CE Williams [Note: Clyde also read The Burning Girls in 2020 and I read a couple prior to that, including The Other People. You always get a nail-biter with a book from this author.] Enjoy these short stories and harken back to the writing mystique of long ago. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Supernatural Thrillers, Paranormal Suspense
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ASIN: B09PB2HH4J
Print Length:
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Links: A Sliver of Darkness [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: C. J. Tudor lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author.

Her first novel, The Chalk Man, was a Sunday Times bestseller and sold in thirty-nine territories.

#TuesdayBookBlog

The Lindbergh Nanny: A Novel by Mariah Fredericks- #BookReview – #historicalbiographicalfiction, #MinotaurBooks

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household—Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny.

A Scottish immigrant deciphering the rules of her new homeland and its East Coast elite, Betty finds Colonel Lindbergh eccentric and often odd, Mrs. Lindbergh kind yet nervous, and Charlie simply a darling. Far from home and bruised from a love affair gone horribly wrong, Betty finds comfort in caring for the child, and warms to the attentions of handsome sailor Henrik, sometimes known as Red. Then, Charlie disappears.

Suddenly a suspect in the eyes of both the media and the public, Betty must find the truth about what really happened that night, in order to clear her own name—and to find justice for the child she loves.

His Review:

The kidnapping of the century happened in 1932. Charles Lindbergh’s son is missing and one of the primary suspects is his nanny, Betty Gow. She is an attractive young lady from Scotland who has come to the United States to make her fame and fortune. She is very well vetted by the Lindberghs prior to being hired to take care of their young son Charlie.

Charlie is very taken with his new nursemaid and sees her as his mother figure. His mother, Anne Morrow Lindberg, is busy making trips all over the globe with the first man to cross the Atlantic on a solo flight. Anne is a very attractive woman and achieves her pilot’s license during the time Betty was the nanny. Colonel Lindberg has set strict rules that the baby is to be put in his room from 8 until 10 at night and is not to be coddled! The baby is spirited from his room during those hours by a ladder set on the second floor of the family home.

During the deepest hours of the Great Depression many people are out of work. The ransom set at $70,000 is a very large amount during the time. The U.S. has just been taken off of the gold standard and the bills are all U.S. gold certificates with the serial numbers carefully recorded and the banks in the area alerted to anyone who uses the bills.

Betty is suspected of the crime and under continual suspicion. She has to return to Scotland because of the notoriety in the case but later returns. Some of his nightwear is found in the woods near the home and days later the body of baby Charles Lindbergh is also found fairly close to the home. Betty is totally devastated by the boy’s death and stays on through the investigation and trial.

This book is very well written and has some literary license taken to help support the final court decision in the case and the end story. The characters are very well developed and the narrative heartbreaking in its exposé. I found myself very sympathetic with Ms. Gow and the Lindbergh family. 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction, Biographical Fiction, Historical Scottish Fiction
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ASIN: B09NTKJMWX
Print Length:
Publication Date: November 15, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Lindbergh Nanny [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history. She enjoys reading and writing about dead people and how they got that way. She is the author of the Jane Prescott mystery series.

Enjoy your day!

Murder at Black Oaks: A Robin Lockwood Novel Book 6 by Phillip Margolin – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Murder at Black Oaks by Phillip Margolin

Book Blurb:

In Phillip Margolin’s Murder at Black Oaks, Attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself at an isolated retreat in the Oregon mountains, one with a tragic past and a legendary curse, and surrounded by many suspects and confronted with an impossible crime.

Defense Attorney Robin Lockwood is summoned by retired District Attorney Francis Hardy to meet with him at Black Oaks, the manor he owns up in the Oregon mountains. The manor has an interesting history – originally built in 1628 in England, there’s a murderous legend and curse attached to the mansion. Hardy, however, wants Lockwood’s help in a legal matter – righting a wrongful conviction from his days as a DA. A young man, Jose Alvarez, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend only for Hardy, years later when in private practice, to have a client of his admit to the murder and to framing the man Hardy convicted. Unable to reveal what he knew due to attorney client confidence, Hardy now wants Lockwood’s help in getting that conviction overturned.

Successful in their efforts, Hardy invites Lockwood up to Black Oaks for a celebration. Lockwood finds herself among an odd group of invitees – including the bitter, newly released, Alvarez. When Hardy is found murdered, with a knife connected to the original curse, Lockwood finds herself faced with a conundrum – who is the murder among them and how to stop them before there’s another victim.

His Review:

Attorney/client privilege is a cornerstone of American jurisprudence. In the course of defending his client, a young district attorney learns of the other attorney’s inability to disclose certain facts in a case. The result is the client being sent to death row for a crime the young man did not commit. Jose Alvarez spends over thirty years on death row- an innocent man.

Robin Lockwood is contacted 30 years later to help salve the conscience of the then much older district attorney. He resides at Black Oaks Manor, a desolate mansion in an even more desolate region of Oregon. Black Oaks Manor is at the end of a remote location often unable to be reached by land vehicle. Jose is now released because papers have surfaced that proved he could not have killed the man he was sentenced to death for.

The story’s plot is further complicated by a faulty elevator and washed-out roads. The washed-out roads strand Robin and her associate while deaths continue at Black Oaks. Who is responsible for these untimely deaths?

Throughout the novel’s plot line, the story leads to false trails and impossible outcomes. I found myself flummoxed by the possibilities and recognized my personal inability to discover the truth.

This novel harkens back to some of the older great mystery writers. As the body count mounted, I found myself on quicksand trying to ferret out the culprit. Usually, a concrete motive for the killings and an obvious villain begin to surface as the novel proceeds. This is not the case with this novel. Facts are not presented until the end which exposes the killer. However, I still found myself in disbelief as to the capacity of the killer to be responsible for the crime. CE Williams

I suggest you read the book and see if you reach another conclusion. I have read many of Phillip Margolin’s books and this is one of his slippery best. Enjoy! 4 stars – CE Williams

We’ve read several previous Robin Lockwood series novels, most recently The Darkest Place and A Matter of Life and Death, and in 2020 A Reasonable Doubt, and enjoyed them all, although more so the former. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thrillers, Crime Thrillers, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ASIN: B09NTKCH8C
Print Length: 288 pages
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Murder at Black Oaks [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: PHILLIP MARGOLIN has written over twenty novels, most of them New York Times bestsellers, including Gone But Not Forgotten, Lost Lake, and Violent Crimes. In addition to being a novelist, he was a long time criminal defense attorney with decades of trial experience, including a large number of capital cases. Margolin lives in Portland, Oregon.

[Read more about Mr. Margolin on his website.]

#TuesdayBookBlog

Out of Patients: A Novel by Sandra Cavallo Miller – #BookReview – #medicalfiction

Out of Patients by Sandra Cavallo Miller

Book Blurb:

After practicing medicine for more than thirty years in the sweltering suburbs of Phoenix, Dr. Norah Waters is weighing her options, and early retirement is looking better and better. At age fifty-eight, she questions whether she still needs to deal with midnight calls, cranky patients, and the financial headaches that come with running a small clinic. Fighting burnout and workplace melodrama, Norah gives herself one final year to find the fulfillment and satisfaction she remembers from the early years of her once-cherished career.

As she embarks on her year’s journey, Norah grapples with a medical practice that is experiencing a concerning loss of income. She is supervising two medical students, one whose shyness hampers his development and another whose arrogance and contempt for family medicine creates major friction at the clinic. Norah’s life is further complicated by her elderly mother, a feisty 86-year-old living in Sun City, who once rejoiced at Woodstock and recently partied at Burning Man. Troubled by a shadow in their past, both women find themselves on a quest for self-worth in their shifting worlds.

Norah also must cope with the end of an unhappy, long-term relationship with an aspiring, but deadbeat, novelist. Supported by her steadfast dog, a misfit veterinarian, and a thoughtful radiologist, Norah wrestles through a surprising assortment of obstacles, sometimes amusing and sometimes dreadful, on her way to making a final decision about her future.

His Review:

Dr. Waters works in a teaching hospital. Her students are generally very receptive and eager to learn. Jeremy is the exception. He comes from a long line of doctors and is convinced he knows it all and is horrible to his physicians’ tutor. He has no bedside manner, poor interviewing skills, and worse charting habits. Dr. Waters considers him a danger to his patients and the medical profession.

This book exploits the inner workings of a teaching hospital and the terrific job these teaching doctors do for the medical profession. I highly recommend it as a valuable insight into the grooming of our medical profession. Just released! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Medical Fiction
Publisher: University of Nevada Press

ISBN-10: ‎ 164779059X
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1647790592
Reading age: ‎ 13 years and up

ASIN: B09ZJ9R9WS
Print Length: 259 pages
Publication Date: August 16, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Out of Patients [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Sandra Cavallo Miller is a recently retired family physician in Phoenix who has always been a writer in her secret heart. Very little fiction has been written about women physicians, and she finds it a great challenge to show the struggles and triumphs of day-to-day practice in an entertaining and informative way. To show the human side and at the same time create an adventurous story. She likes to call her new genre “science-based medical adventure.” When not writing, you might find her on a horse, hiking with a dog, or exploring her latest hobby, volcanology.

You can contact her by email at skepticalword@gmail.com. And check out her website at http://www.skepticalword.com for some of her other writings.

Have a Nice Weekend!

Bad Axe County (A Bad Axe County Novel Book 1) by John Galligan – #Audiobook Review – #TBT

Bad Axe County by John Galligan

Book Blurb:

Dennis Lehane meets Megan Miranda in this “dark beauty of a novel” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author) about the first female sheriff in rural Bad Axe County, Wisconsin, as she searches for a missing girl, battles local drug dealers, and seeks the truth about the death of her parents twenty years ago—all as a winter storm rages in her embattled community.

Fifteen years ago, Heidi White’s parents were shot to death on their Bad Axe County farm. The police declared it a murder-suicide and closed the case. But that night, Heidi found the one clue she knew could lead to the truth—if only the investigators would listen.

Now Heidi White is Heidi Kick, wife of local baseball legend Harley Kick and mother of three small children. She’s also the interim sheriff in Bad Axe. Half the county wants Heidi elected but the other half will do anything to keep her out of law enforcement. And as a deadly ice storm makes it way to Bad Axe, tensions rise and long-buried secrets climb to the surface.

As freezing rain washes out roads and rivers flood their banks, Heidi finds herself on the trail of a missing teenaged girl. Clues lead her down twisted paths to backwoods stag parties, derelict dairy farms, and the local salvage yard—where the body of a different teenage girl has been carefully hidden for a decade.

As the storm rages on, Heidi realizes that someone is planting clues for her to find, leading her to some unpleasant truths that point to the local baseball team and a legendary game her husband pitched years ago. With a murder to solve, a missing girl to save, and a monster to bring to justice, Heidi is on the cusp of shaking her community to its core—and finding out what really happened the night her parents died.

With “striking prose, engaging characters, and a searing story of crimes rooted in the heartland,” Bad Axe County is a “darkly irresistible thriller” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) that you won’t be able to put down.

My Review:

I didn’t realize that the CE read and reviewed Book 3, Bad Moon Rising last year, and wasn’t wholly thrilled with it.

That is essentially my reaction to Book 1. From the beginning, it’s heavily atmospheric, describing Wisconsin very well. This is a small town with all the idiosyncrasies that comes with a small town: everybody knows everybody’s business. Most have been born, raised, and never strayed beyond the county city limits. Usually, that also means narrow thinking, biased attitudes, ole boy enclaves well entrenched. The haves; the have nots.

The protagonist, Heidi Kick is a former beauty queen turned law enforcement who suddenly discovers herself sheriff upon the death of the former officer. She has a history, of course, the apparent murder/suicide of her parents—something she never accepted and a case that is never far below the one currently being investigated.

And what’s being currently investigated is plenty. The storyline veers into missing girls, discovery of bodies, drugs, and human trafficking.
Lots of characters. Heidi is married with little ones. She is battling those who don’t want a “Dairy Queen” in the position—but she does have a base support.

The plot line turns decidedly dark, the dialogue raw, profane, denigrating, and demeaning. It is suspenseful, violent, and fast-paced. Better keep up!
The conclusion manages to work out all the threads, leaving Heidi snarking with her buddy, Denise—that part is fun—and I like the character of Denise.
It is well-plotted, loaded with atmosphere, and for the most part dark. I like strong female protagonists, but will have to give this one more thought.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths, Suspense
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B07NDYSZLJ
Listening Length: 10 hrs 24 mins
Narrator: Samantha Desz
Publication Date: July 9, 2019
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Bad Axe County [Amazon]

The Author: [Goodreads] John Galligan, in addition to being a novelist and teacher, John has worked as a newspaper journalist, feature-film screenwriter, house painter, au pair, ESL teacher, cab driver, and freezer boy in a salmon cannery. He currently teaches writing at Madison Area Technical College, where his experience is enriched by students from every corner of the local and world community.

2022 V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

Overkill by Sandra Brown – #BookReview – #crimethrillers

Overkill by Sandra Brown

Book Blurb:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown delivers a riveting thriller in which a conflict of conscience for a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor swiftly intensifies into a fight for their lives.

Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time—not since their volatile marriage imploded—so he’s shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he—despite their divorce—has medical power of attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.

Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban—the scion of a wealthy family in Atlanta—gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change—if she were to die—Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder.

It isn’t lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but can’t resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he’s in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca—and the end of his freedom.

His Review:

Rebecca Pratt Bridger is confined to a hospital bed. She has very little brain activity and for all practical purposes is a vegetable. Her ex-husband, Zack Bridger, has been designated her legal guardian and the one who can tell them to disconnect the life-saving devices. Theirs had been a very angry and contentious divorce, so why would his ex-father-in-law have made him responsible for “pulling the plug”?

Rebecca found her husband intolerable soon after the marriage. She began to sleep around. One of those times she chose a man who liked to choke the woman while having sex but did not wake up this time. Zack sees her everyday at the hospital but cannot bring himself to stop the equipment.

Rebecca’s father loathes Zack but cannot give the order to have his baby girl’s medical equipment disconnected. Sadly, there is no improvement in her condition as time ticks by. The two men often meet and tolerate each other though eventually Zack gives up responsibility for the decision.

The man who caused Rebecca to be in the coma is given seven years in prison for his crime but gets out after four years because of good behavior. His father buys him a brand new red Porsche to welcome him back from prison. Eban has been spoiled his whole life. He is a person with no scruples or remorse.

The author captured the essence of a narcissist who has no regard for other individuals. It kept me engaged expecting something would happen to Eban. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Fiction, Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: ‎ 1538752018
ASIN: B09VS2VH4M
Print Length: 417 pages
Publication Date: August 16, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Overkill [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Sandra Brown is the author of more than sixty New York Times bestsellers, including STING (2016), FRICTION (2015), MEAN STREAK (2014), DEADLINE (2013), LOW PRESSURE (2012), LETHAL (2011), and the critically acclaimed RAINWATER (2010).

Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

Brown recently was given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University. She was named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer’s Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Enjoy your day!

The Girl Who Escaped (Jake Wolfe Book 7) by Mark Nolan – #BookReview – #kidnappingthriller

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

One month ago, four college girls were abducted. Three were brutally murdered. One girl escaped.

Angie Taylor was traumatized and shocked speechless.
The police think she killed her friends, and then had a mental breakdown.
Her psychiatrist believes she has an emotionally unstable personality disorder.
Can she ever speak up and describe the killer’s face to a police sketch artist?
Is the murderer stalking her right now, eager to finish what he started?
Everyone in the city is on edge, fearing the worst, not sure what to believe.

A visit from a determined FBI agent shakes things up and raises the stakes. FBI Special Agent Brenda Reynolds of the VSRT must investigate whether the mysterious silent girl is a victim, a killer, or has gone insane.

Grab your copy of the suspense thriller everyone is talking about, and start reading right now.

His Review:

Young coeds are missing during spring break and cannot be found anywhere. Angie and her friends have enjoyed parties but the night is winding down. She has a strange feeling that someone is stalking them. She does not know why but as the designated driver for the group she stays vigilant. However, the attack on the girls is quick, disabled by a strange substance. They are taken on a remote road in the country and the outlook is desperate.

Jake and his faithful dog Cody are called in to assist the FBI and local law enforcement to help crack the case. This book introduces us to a division of the FBI called VSRT (The Victims Special Response Team). This group of dedicated agents work with victims who have been traumatized by vicious criminals.

Wealth seems to cause an altered reality for some billionaires. A remote island is owned by just such a man who prefers a harem of very young and attractive women. He pays large sums to a bounty hunter who finds and brings him the girls. He keeps them for a while and then sells them when he feels they have outlived their usefulness for his depravities.

Jake and Cody work with the hospital to assist in resolving the issue of the young woman charged with murder, restrained in the hospital. Charged with the murder of her three friends, she has been spread-eagled in the bed for the month but is slowly coming out of her catatonia by the love and attention of the dog.

Mark Nolan has written a superb and at times exasperating tale of friendship and heartache. Can this heinous crime be unraveled? The adversary is a very devious and persistent despot who wants to avenge the escape of Angie. The novel is well-paced and held my attention throughout. As always, Cody shines as the co-protagonist. Enjoy the latest as the author’s dynamic duo help to close another edge-of-your-seat thriller. 5 stars CE Williams

Between us, we’ve read most in this series, with Book 6, Key West Dead in 2021, and Deadly Weapon in 2020 most recent. Always a gripping plot and my favorite dog and his person. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me the opportunity to read and review this book. Available now.

Book Details:

Genre: Kidnapping Crime Fiction, Kidnapping Thrillers, Psychological Fiction
ASIN: B0B5MCGQKS
Print Length: 318 pages
Publication Date: July 29, 2022
Source: Author request
Title Link: The Girl Who Escaped [Amazon]

The Author: Mark Nolan is an Amazon Bestselling Author and Kindle Unlimited All-Star. Subscribe to his reader newsletter at marknolan.com for updates, specials, and news.

Mark Nolan is the author of the Jake Wolfe thriller series.

Book 1: Dead Lawyers Don’t Lie
Book 2: Vigilante Assassin
Book 3, Killer Lawyer
Book 4: San Diego Dead
Book 5: Deadly Weapon
Book 6: Key West Dead

Website: marknolan.com

Click FOLLOW under Mark’s author photo, and Amazon will notify you when a new book is available.

Have a Nice Weekend!

Lie Down with Dogs: A Laurel Highlands Mystery (Book 5) by Liz Milliron – #BookReview – #policeprocedurals

Lie Down with Dogs by Liz Milliron

Book Blurb:

Trooper Jim Duncan’s first day with the Criminal Investigation Division starts off with a bang when he is called to a murder scene with a badly decomposed body. After he finds an abused greyhound in the victim’s garage, the simple homicide becomes more complicated. Why would anyone want an unreliable racetrack employee dead, especially when greyhound racing is illegal in Pennsylvania?

Assistant public defender Sally Castle is facing her own career change. When she accepts a position with an old law school friend, her first case seems to be one that is exactly what she wants to do. Then she learns the greyhound adoption group her client may have embezzled from has ties to the shooting victim. What else is her client hiding?

Jim and Sally work their respective investigations, which may or may not be related. Along the way, they learn important lessons about themselves, those they work with, and the people they protect. But can they complete their tasks without falling prey to a killer?

His Review:

Sally Castle has decided enough is enough. She is tired of putting the poorest citizens behind bars while those who can afford adequate representation skate. She decides to strike out on her own and work in a two-woman office and make her own hours and bill accordingly. Problem is; she also wants to help the poor get adequate representation.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Duncan steps out of uniform after 14 years to join the Criminal Investigation Department as a rookie. Sally and Jim join forces to assist those less able to pay to make proper defenses against crimes they did not commit!

The crime scene is well documented. The victim has three well-placed bullets in his chest. There is no gun at the scene but spent cartridges and slugs still inside the victim give adequate evidence of the cause of death. The victim is not an outstanding citizen, but no one deserves to die like this and be left in a warm house for three days. Decomposition in the residence requires Vicks VapoRub under the nose and a repressed gag reflex! Jim as the rookie is given the repulsive task of checking the body and trying to identify the victim without disturbing the crime scene.

Found in the backyard of the home of the victim is a retired greyhound that is very emaciated and needs food and a vet. Both Jim and Sally are dog lovers and cannot believe anyone would treat such a magnificent animal so poorly.

This novel delves into the questionable world of greyhound racing and the folks involved in the enterprise. Many of them are unscrupulous and are known to dope the dogs and give them performance-enhancing drugs. The people who love these magnificent animals cannot believe the lengths owners will go to for a win. Reading the book made me more aware of the practice and sympathetic to the animals.

These characters are well developed and the inter-action between them is a fresh approach to a crime novel. Particularly, reading how Sally tries to make Jim’s job as a rookie is fun. Both of them work well together and have an off-the-books relationship that is couched in disguise during working hours. A very intriguing approach to a relationship. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0B23XTV42
Print Length: 340 pages
Publication Date: August 9, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Lie Down with Dogs [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Same crimes, different times.

Liz Milliron is the author of the Laurel Highlands mystery series, featuring a Pennsylvania State Trooper and a Fayette County public defender in the scenic Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, and The Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo in the early 1940s and following Betty Ahern, a Rosie the Riveter with dreams of being Sam Spade. Liz’s short fiction includes stories in Lucky Charms: 12 Crime Tales and The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Fifth Course of Chaos, as well as stories in Mystery Most Historical, Fish Out of Water, and the Anthony-winning Blood on the Bayou. She is a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime, as well as a member of International Thriller Writers and Pennwriters. Liz and her husband live outside Pittsburgh with a very spoiled retired-racer greyhound.

https://www.lizmilliron.com
https://www.facebook.com/LizMilliron/
https://www.instagram.com/lizmilliron/