Fallout by Carrie Stuart Parks is a complex mystery with plenty of twists and turns to keep readers intrigued. Samantha Willis finds herself smack dab in the middle of a mystery with ties to her past. A car crashes into her classroom full of students. Her life pretty much falls apart, and she has no money, ID or place to stay after the crash. She meets a few strangers, including Mary Thompson who is looking for her wayward husband, and Dutch Van Setter, an anthropologist working for Clan Firinn. Sam has to figure out who she can trust and who might be trying to kill her.

I love Carrie Stuart Parks for her quirky characters! You’ll never have boring run-of-the-mill characters in one of her novels. Sam is definitely the quirkiest, and it makes her all the more likable. I like that Clan Firinn comes into this story (I think it was first mentioned in Woman In Shadow) because it’s an interesting concept – it’s a retreat/rehab center that works with former military/law enforcement who suffer PTDS among other things.

The mystery is complex and filled with danger. The only thing I did struggle with was that the pacing was a bit slow. It was hard to connect everything together until about part way through the story. However, the author takes seemingly random events and weaves it into a fabulous tale with creative characters and an intriguing mystery. Just a warning for fans of romantic suspense, there wasn’t much in the way of romance…fine by me, but I know some readers may look for this. All in all, if you are a fan of complex mysteries with even more complex characters, definitely check out Fallout when it releases 9/13/22.

I received an ebook review copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Woman in Shadow by Carrie Stuart Parks is a fantastic mystery story and has the suspense level of a thriller. It has the feel of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None – the kind of story where a murderer is on the loose and you as the reader have no idea who it is. No one is safe. Everyone is trapped in one place.  

Darby Graham is visiting the Mule Shoe ranch under false pretenses. She’s there to find out what’s going on at the ranch. Strange things are happening, driving the tourists away and wreaking havoc on the ranch. But the situation turns dangerous as Darby and police officer Bram White realize the sabotages are turning deadly.

The thing I love about Carrie Stuart Parks’ novels is her quirky and intense characters. Darby’s complicated past plus her unusual profession as a forensic linguist makes her intriguing. She’s the underdog, and her determination will make readers fall in love with her. Same for Bram – his struggles make him that much more likeable.

The suspense in this story is over-the-top. I love action, and this book brought the intensity. At some point readers will suspect every single character as the culprit.  I had no idea which characters would be alive in the end, let alone who the villain was.

Overall a fantastic and enjoyable story.

Overall Rating:
5 stars (I loved it, couldn’t put it down)

Suspense Rating:
5 stars (Non-stop edge-of-your-seat suspense from start to finish)

 I received an ebook review copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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For fans of complex mysteries, quirky characters and small town settings

Relative Silence by Carrie Stuart Parks gives readers quite the experience. The story centers around the Boone family and their lives on the private and exclusive Curlew Island. The location is mysterious, but the skeletons in the family’s closet make this story a page-turner. Piper still reals from her own tragedy as she lost her child fifteen years prior. But the Curlew Curse strikes again as Piper is the target of an attack. She decides to rehash the past as things don’t add up. A missing sister, the robbery that lead to her child drowning, and her neighbor’s strange disappearance all lead Piper on a dangerous quest for the truth. Even if the truth means that someone in her family is a murder.

This story is full of complex plot twists and the off-beat characters enhance the overall drama. Quirky isn’t even the best adjective to describe some of the characters. Piper has so many internal issues stemming from her overbearing family. Tucker Landry saves Piper’s life, but he has so many struggles from his past that he can barely function.  Mandy is with the Coast Guard and her southern accent gives off a weird vibe as it mixes with her Asian roots. Piper’s family lives super elitist lives, but their shallowness can barely mask their eccentric ways. The characters are broken and hidden secrets can’t be contained any longer. Plus, a hurricane is bearing down on the island, threatening to decimate the family estate. So much is going on in this story, but it all adds to the mystery and suspense that kept me flipping pages. Towards the end, some of the action seemed a little unbelievable, but I was so sucked into the story and characters that it didn’t seem to matter. I kept thinking, what else could happen? and then the next page would throw out yet another over the top twist. I couldn’t even guess the culprit – everyone was a suspect with the amount of baggage all of the characters carried.

I recommend suspense fans checking out this novel. It gives readers a fast-paced novel full of plot twists and outlandish characters. This kind of reminds me of some of the Agatha Christie novels like And Then There were None, where you have a cast of characters all in one place and any of them can be a suspect in the murder. This story definitely has an old-school mystery vibe to it.

Overall: 5 stars (I loved it, couldn’t put it down
Suspense: 5 stars (Non-stop edge-of-your-seat suspense from start to finish)

I received an ebook review copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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