For fans of complex mysteries

All That is Secret by Patricia Raybon gives readers a mystery to solve through the eyes of an amateur detective. Annalee Spain, a young Black theologian, decides that since no one is going to investigate her father’s suspicious death, she will. She heads back home to her small-town roots, but trouble follows the minute she steps foot on the train to Denver. She meets a lost boy searching for his father, and the two team up with a pastor to uncover clues.

I enjoyed this complicated mystery. Annalee makes an excellent amateur sleuth, fearless at times, like when she faces off with the KKK. At other times she’s a bit naïve, especially when it comes to manners of the heart and Pastor Jack, who captures her interest. I like the quirky characters and the many red herrings as everyone has something to hide. The story is set in the 1920’s, and the only thing I wished for was more of a historical context. It didn’t feel like the 1920’s and felt more modern than historical fiction with the way the characters talked and the setting. Nothing really stood out as being distinctly from this time period. But I like that this is the start of a series, because I would definitely want more stories of Annalee solving mysteries with her side-kick Eddie and her love-interest pastor.  This combination is clever and I definitely want more.

Overall Rating:
4 stars (I liked it a lot and would definitely recommend)

Suspense Rating:
4 stars (lots of action and suspense to keep me intrigued)

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

The post All That is Secret appeared first on Best In Suspense.

For fans of police detective novels and time travel

Cast the First Stone is a time-traveling adventure story. What would happen if you were able to go back in time and fix your mistakes? This is the question facing Rembrandt Stone. As an ex-police detective, he has a stack of cold cases haunting him. But the one case that has eaten away at his soul is a series of bombings at a café. Rembrandt receives the gift of a watch, and when the watch works, it ticks back time. He finds himself right back in the middle of the café bombing investigation. Of course, as any good time traveler fan know, if you change something in the past it sets the future into a different trajectory.

Cast the First Stone is a time-traveling adventure story. What would happen if you were able to go back in time and fix your mistakes? This is the question facing Rembrandt Stone. As an ex-police detective, he has a stack of cold cases haunting him. But the one case that has eaten away at his soul is a series of bombings at a café. Rembrandt receives the gift of a watch, and when the watch works, it ticks back time. He finds himself right back in the middle of the café bombing investigation. Of course, as any good time traveler fan know, if you change something in the past it sets the future into a different trajectory.

The post Cast the First Stone appeared first on Best In Suspense.

For fans of police procedurals and detective cases

Network of Deceit follows Amara Alvarez, homicide detective with the San Antonio police department, as she gets her first case. Readers could probably start with Network, but it helps to have read Collision of Lies just to get some of the character history.

Amara’s first case seems pretty cut and dry, but she begins to suspect that a death at a local water park might be foul play. I like the author’s style of writing. There’s not a lot of life-and-death action, but the story unfolds in such an intriguing way that it definitely kept my interest from start to finish (different that Collision which was on the intense side – be sure to check this one out. It’s fantastic!) Amara is relentless in her pursuit of suspects which adds to the tension, but this novel explores more of her personal life. She tries to balance her relationship with her mother, plus explore a romance with Starsky, her quirky but adorable co-worker. Of course, Larry the lizard makes an appearance or two!

I’ve been a fan of the series and hope to see other stories in the future. I highly recommend to readers who like detective-style mysteries.

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 Revell and NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The post Network of Deceit appeared first on Best In Suspense.