When Shadows Fall (Samantha Owens)

I tried to avoid,serial killer,cult, autopsy,missing little girls,bullets,selling babies,cops.etc.there is a lot in this book,I can't stop reading and was written this."there is evil in the world,evil that searches for the innocent to alter them.That is it's only purpose to convert good to evil." For me that is the truth.Thelma.

This third installment of the Dr. Samantha Owens story did not disappoint. As usual, J.T. Ellison provides a complex plot with great character development. Her writing is edgier and delves into somewhat darker themes than some romantic mysteries; however, the story is not unrealistic and unbelievable. While I know this book can be read as a stand-alone story, readers will get the greatest benefit of the overall tale and character traits by reading the series in order. Sam is one of the most interesting female characters I have encountered. . . and I have almost 400 books on my Kindle! And Xander. . . who wouldn't love to read more about him? I also liked how Dr. John Baldwin from the Taylor Jackson series had a prominent role in this book. I'm already looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

Too many unanswered questions.
How did Kaylie know where to find her daughter and why did Adrian kidnap her? Curtis Lott is discussed in chapter 31 before she is introduced to the cops about five paragraphs later. The Hoyles are mentioned as the keepers of the babies, by rights, they should have been in the will. Instead, we have a former Mafia bagman and only speculate as to why he is included in the whole mess.

What happened to Oscar Rivera? He's brought up several times but we never learn why.

Sam tells Kaylie she cannot stay with her, then she ends up allowing it. Why?

And all the chemical garbage at the beginning? Who engineered all that? Savage? If so, how could Kaylie have throttled him, if the cops had to wait for the chemicals to dissipate?

And why does a reader have to wonder all of this? It should be clear by the end of the novel.

Dr. Samantha Owens receives a letter one day that will seriously impact her life. It begins: “Dear Dr. Owens, If you are reading this letter, I am dead and I would be most grateful if you could solve my murder . . . “ The first complication appears to be that the man who apparently sent th letter is indeed dead, but his death had been ruled a suicide. The second complication arises from the will, of which she has a copy: It requests that she autopsy his body, the results of which differ strongly from the first one. Further, she must locate each of the several beneficiaries, a difficult task and one with many consequences.

Still recovering from traumatic events described in the preceding books in the series, Dr. Owe3ns (“Sam”) is about to begin an entirely new phase of her life as the head of the forensic pathology department at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C., quite a departure from her former position as Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Tennessee. She has chosen her new job despite being offered one as special consultant for the FBI, not without misgivings. The book is replete with fascinating and well-drawn characters in Sam’s life, both professional and personal.

About halfway through the book, things take a sudden turn, with things going off on an entirely different tangent, one which didn’t engage this reader quite much as what had preceded it, although there were certainly hints of what was to come, some of it still very unexpected. While the tale as a whole was an interesting one, with some very dark aspects, I must admit that I found the whole somewhat less satisfying than its parts.

Dr. Samantha Owens has traded her Medical Examiner’s office for one at Georgetown University. This monumental career change along with her new love Alexander (Xander) Whitfield is helping with her healing. But just days before her new job as Professor Owens begins her old life pays her a strange visit in the form of a cryptic letter asking her to solve the sender’s murder. She’s definitely interested especially when his “murder” is a case closed suicide, and hooked when something fishy’s discovered that involves an old FBI child kidnapping/murder case. And maybe sunk when the letter writer’s beneficiaries start dropping like flies and Sam’s on that list. Sam’s not going to take these threats sitting down so with Xander, her DC cop friend Fletcher and a FBI profiler friend from Tennessee they set out to solve this convoluted case and try to stay alive while doing it.

JT Ellison continues her climb to greatness and she’s bringing her star Samantha Owens with her. When Shadows Falls is a nail-biting edge of your seat thriller. It’s an amazing novel ripe with mystery, mayhem and murder, which will draw readers in by her no-nonsense and brilliant narrative as she takes us deep into her world of crime drama. Her characters all shine especially Sam who is ever evolving. We catch up on old friends, meet new ones and experience some of the most cold-blooded villains. Even though this is a series and not reading them in order you’ll miss some crucial character development, When Shadows Fall like the other volumes stands well alone.

After enduring a series of traumatic losses that could have left her emotionally crippled, Dr. Samantha Owens, former Chief Medial Examiner for the State of Tennessee, is making a valiant effort to get her life back on track. She has moved to the nation's capital, where she will be head of the forensic pathology department at Georgetown University Medical School. Sam's newfound contentment may also be traced to her relationship with ex-army ranger Xander Whitfield, whom she has grown to love deeply.

Dr. Owens still has occasional bouts of anxiety, but she believes that work and Xander's presence are the best medicine for what ails her. However, deep down, she misses law enforcement, and wonders if her new job will prove to be challenging and fulfilling enough to satisfy her. In J. T. Ellison's "When Shadows Fall," Sam is dragged back into the field when a man she has never met sends her a letter. In it, he tells her that he has been murdered and he wants her to find the perpetrator. Along with Special Agent John Baldwin from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, Detective Darren Fletcher, and others, Sam becomes embroiled in a labyrinthine case that will place all of their lives in danger.

Sam is the prototypical smart, beautiful, and spunky heroine who is never at a loss for male attention. This lively and suspenseful thriller ticks all the boxes: psychopathic serial killer; charismatic cult leader; abducted children; and seemingly upstanding citizens who are secretly engaged in nefarious acts. There are steamy encounters, brutal executions, and the usual twists and turns, some of which are genuinely surprising. Ellison's complex plot, well-staged confrontations, and sympathetic main character make "When Shadows Fall" gripping entertainment.

WHEN SHADOWS FALL, the third book in the Dr. Samantha Owens series, finds J.T. Ellison's protagonist placed in a very unsettling situation. Her husband and children were lost in a tragic flood in Tennessee, and the light was literally taken from her life.

Sam was a well-respected medical examiner, but her work in this field continually put her in harm’s way. One particular incident found herself the captive of a demented killer who injured her so severely that it became impossible for her to have children ever again. Devastated, she is trying to pick up the pieces of her life.

Sam’s path leads her to somewhat of a career shift into the world of academia when she takes a teaching position at Georgetown University. She is still called upon by members of the law enforcement field for her expertise --- but her personal preference would be to forget that part of her life and move on.

Sam's dreams of a new start are all but shattered when she receives an eerie and disturbing letter from a complete stranger named Timothy Savage. In it, Savage confesses to being murdered and implores Sam to investigate this further. There is also an odd connection made to the personal loss she suffered and how this makes her the only person who can bring about justice for him.

Savage left both a list of potential suspects and a will that contains some of the same names. Sam performs an autopsy confirming that Savage died due to foul play and strangulation. The initial report was that he had committed suicide by ingesting a chemical agent --- a deadly ploy referred to as “detergent suicide.” Sam doesn't believe it and neither does her current boyfriend, Xander Whitfield, or her old FBI colleague, John Baldwin.

It turns out that “Timothy Savage” was actually a pseudonym for an agent in deep cover. The investigation involved a cult known as Eden, fronted by a woman named Curtis Lott. Lott referred to herself as Mother Eden, and her followers, Edenites, have long been suspected in the kidnapping of young women for nefarious purposes.

As Sam and her colleagues dig deeper, they are able to tie the Eden cult into a cold case involving a missing young girl by the name of Kaylie Rousch. It had been concluded that Rousch was dead, and skeletal remains had even been found in the area of her abduction. It turns out that Savage's investigation might have found him uncovering Kaylie and putting himself in grave danger in the process.

As the plot unfolds, WHEN SHADOWS FALL becomes a tale of some damaged and broken individuals --- including Sam --- who have all suffered serious personal losses. Will some of these characters be able to save each other, or will Sam be the next victim of a deadly killer with a disturbing agenda? Ellison provides keen observations into the psyches of all these characters, making for a compelling and deeply personal novel.

I have greatly enjoyed Ellison's Taylor Jackson series. This is the third book in Ellison's spin-off series featuring Dr. Samantha Owens, this one is a fast-read! And I think it is actually the strongest book in the series. The book hooks the reader in right away when Sam receives a letter from beyond the grace, begging her to investigate the writer's own death. What initially starts off as a suicide, quickly becomes so much more. The complex plot moves in unpredictable ways and keeps the pages turning into the late-night hours. The colder case aspect of the book in no way detracts from the tension or the pacing.

The personal relationships in the series continue to develop and seem to continue well with the previous two novels in the series (although, to be fair it have been over a year since last reading the series, and I read the Taylor Jackson books first). I wouldn't recommend starting with this one, overall, but Ellison does a good job of inserting reminders into previous plots without giving too much away. It's an entertaining and exciting read! And though the conclusion is quite satisfying Ellison offers some hints about how the future of the series will go - I hope that the series continues on as strongly as this installment! It's definitely my favorite so far in the series!

Dr. Samantha Owens has arrived at Georgetown University to teach medical students about pathology/anatomy. As a former medical examiner in Nashville, Tennessee, Sam has wide experience in using the forensic findings to help solve murder cases and has consulted with the FBI and the TBI (Tennessee's state investigative force). However, since a Nashville flood took the lives of her husband and twin son and daughter and a serial killer took the life of her unborn child, she has suffered from panic attacks and nightmares for the last couple of years. Now having met Xander, a former ranger and loner, who she has brought out of his shell as he works to help her and love her, Sam is starting a new career -- she hopes!

She receives in the mail the Thursday before classes start the next week a letter from someone she doesn't know telling her he will be dead and that it will look like suicide but it is not.

As Sam, Xander and a local cop she knows named Fletcher begin to investigate, they uncover a huge plot and, of course, more dead bodies.

How Sam survives and handles all this with her panic attacks and more and helps the FBI solve the case is an excellent story.

The flaw for me was that having read about her in a previous novel, I found her a lot more weak this time and Xander also not as strong a character. The book was more about Fletcher and other secondary characters and therefore lacked a little punch!

I started with this - the third installment of the adventures of Samantha as I was in a local store and it seemed interesting. One reviewer complained about: 'too many plots, too many voices, too many rabbits pulled out of hats'. These were all the Great things abut this book! I was really impressed that there could be so many different yet crossing storylines done so well. I am totally invested in the characters and will be reading all the books about Dr. Owens. My one small aside is that I was never felt that there was a final explanation as to why the agent never came in, but maybe I missed it. I couldn't put it down, and I highly recommend it.

And a terrific Forensic procedural, well written and entertaining (more please!). A fun read especially if you like more than average romance in your mystery/thrillers. Action packed romantic thriller, 3rd in a series, truly a page turner where the reader is given pieces of information until the case is solved. Dr. Samantha Owens is department head and professor of Georgetown University's forensic pathology department. A respected medical examiner, but her position put her life in danger when she became the captive of a killer so sick that he harmed so severely that it is physically impossible for her to be pregnant. The back story the author is giving us in in-depth, for example: Xander parents, Sunshine and Roth, were hippies who lived off the land in Colorado & named him Moonbeam, LOL!

BOOK ONE: A DEEPER DARKNESS (2012) ; As Tennessee's head medical examiner, Samantha Owens knows her job is to make a certain sense of death with crisp methodology and precision instruments. But the day the Tennessee floods took her husband and children, the light vanished from Sam's life. She has been pulled into a suffocating grief no amount of workaholic ardor can penetrate--until she receives a peculiar call from Washington, D.C. On the other end of the line is an old boyfriend's mother, asking Sam to do a second autopsy on her son. Eddie Donovan is officially the victim of a vicious carjacking, but under Sam's sharp eye the forensics tell a darker story. The ex-Ranger was murdered, though not for his car. Forced to confront the burning memories and feelings about yet another loved one killed brutally, Sam loses herself in the mystery contained within Donovan's old notes. It leads her to the untouchable Xander Whitfield, a former army ranger off-grid since his return from Afghanistan, and then to a series of brutal crimes stretching from that harsh mountainous war zone to this nation's capital. The tale told between the lines makes it clear that nobody's hands are clean, and that making sense of murder sometimes means putting yourself in the crosshairs of death.

BOOK TWO: EDGE OF BLACK (2013): Dr. Samantha Owens is starting over: new city, new job, new man, new life. She's trying to put some distance between herself and the devastating loss of her husband and children--but old hurts leave scars. Before she's even unpacked her office at Georgetown University's forensic pathology department, she's called to consult on a case that's rocked the capital and the country. An unknown pathogen released into the Washington Metro has caused nationwide panic. Three people died--just three. A miracle and a puzzle... Amid the media frenzy and Homeland Security alarm bells, Sam painstakingly dissects the lives of those three victims and makes an unsettling conclusion. This is no textbook terrorist causing mayhem with broad strokes, but an artist wielding a much finer, more pointed instrument of destruction. An assassin, whose motive is deeply personal and far from understandable. Xander Whitfield, a former army ranger and Sam's new boyfriend, knows about seeing the world in shades of gray. About feeling compelled to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. Only his disturbing kinship with a killer can lead Sam to the truth...and once more into the line of fire.

If you like intense interwoven plots, this is definitely for you. The book has a very complex plot. It has murders, child kidnappings over a period of years, an undercover cop, a really sick cult, all entangled.

Dr Samantha Owens, forensic pathologist, has received a letter from Timothy Savage saying that he's going to be murdered and would like her to find the murderer. She doesn't know him and thinks it might be a sick joke. Zander Whitfield, her lover, checks it out, and a Tim Savage has been murdered. ..

That evening a lawyer came to talk to her, He told her that Mr Savage had declared her the executor of the trust for his estate. That he asked her to do an autopsy. (He presumably had been gassed, but the autopsy proved not.) News that the lawyer was killed was next. The people whose names were included in the will are being killed.

The cult had young women who believed in the leader. She had convinced them that they should produce 'pods', (children), who were immediately taken from them and given for adoption for a great deal of money, unknown by the mothers. The father was a killer who had been strangling people because he got a high doing it. The leader persuaded him that he shouldn't do that, but should come with her. It is also connected with the kidnappings.

Sam gets involved with all this a few weeks before school begins. (She is teaching a class in forensic autopsy work.)

This book has a lot of interaction, excitement, tragedy. The characters are well built, bad or good! The interest in what's happening is intense. I read the book in one day because I couldn't wait to see what happened next, and it's 405 pages long!

I recommend it highly.

This is 3rd in a series featuring Dr. Samantha Owens, a forensic medical examiner. Sam is a woman who has lost her husband and twin babies in a flood and is now trying to re- start her life. She's moved from Nashville to Washington DC. She is now teaching instead of doing. Her new love is Xander, former Special Ops, who also has some issues to overcome. Her best friend is Darren "Fletch" Fletcher, a homicide cop who would like more than friendship, but it is not to be.

A letter is delivered to Sam which starts with ... If you are reading this, then I am dead. And ends with ... I was murdered and I would like you to do my autopsy.

The next day a lawyer turns up representing the man's estate and hands her a copy of the will.
When the lawyer is murdered, then another name listed in the will, Sam decides she will honor the man's wishes.
From there, everything explodes.

A 13-year missing teenager's tears are found on a recent body. More children have disappeared over the years and another one has been taken. Sam, the cops, and FBI are all aboard.

Lots of mystery as not everyone is who they say they are. Toss in a secret cult, an illegal baby adoption service and the roller coaster ride goes on and on.

This has been a great series ..... each book is better than the last. The characters are extremely well written. I think I have a crush on Fletch. :-)

I would highly recommend this book, this series. You get started and just don't want to put it down. Happy Reading!

Dr. Samantha Owens is trying to settle into her new life as a college professor when she receives a disturbing letter that begins with "If you are reading this letter, I am dead and I would be most grateful if you could solve my murder." However, Dr. Owens is not interested in getting involved in another murder case, particularly from a letter writer she doesn't even know. Settling into her new relationship and career, Dr. Owens is appalled to discover that the writer is indeed dead, albeit a suicide, and that he has asked Samantha to be executor of his will.

As the mystery deepens, and more murders occur (because, of course, the letter writer was really murdered), Samantha finds herself drawn into the case. Current events and the past become tangled, sending the police and Samantha in several directions only to end in nicely done, shocking conclusion. When Shadows Fall is fast paced, with an interesting although slightly contrived plot line, and a book that you will want to keep reading until you finally understand the end.

JT Ellison writes characters that surprise, evolve, and never bore the reader, and this new chapter in Dr. Samantha Owens' life proves the point. As a forensic pathologist, she's experienced her share of "bad actors" and willingly turns her back on the excitement--and drama--of working with law enforcement. After all, in previous books she's paid dearly, having lost loved ones and suffered near-death injuries herself. Samantha's ready for a quiet life. But when she receives a dead man's letter begging her to solve his murder, the old urge to discover hidden secrets proves too much to resist.

Complicated by her partnership with two attractive investigators each vying for her affections, still fighting the guilt over the loss of her husband and twins, and too trusting of a victim who hedges the truth, Samantha ultimately turns a corner in this latest thriller and recognizes she can't turn off who and what she is. WHEN SHADOWS FALL is Ellison at her best. I can't wait to read what happens next!

This book by award winning author J.T, Ellison is action packed to the end. The plot seems to encompass everything from murder, unethical lawyers, under the table adoptions, kidnapping and slavery, rape, living off the grid, cults, abusive parenting, PTSD and flashbacks, the inability of police officers to maintain a relationship, etc. The action is there, the plot twists are there; this book will definitely keep you turning the pages right up to the end. A couple of quirks: like the man whose first name is June and the woman whose first name is Curtis. Odd.

The latest version of this series was a first for me...Wow! I really enjoyed it and wish I had time to go back and catch up--I still might! Everything forensics is fun for me... Mostly because they are very detail-oriented and includes consideration of all things affecting a crime. This makes for a very complex mystery and suspenseful time for readers, wading through what is happening and trying to, maybe, solve the mystery in advance. Obviously I have to recommend this one!

Samantha Owens has been through some major personal issues, which is all I'll say because I haven't read those books... however, it has led to her accepting a teaching job to get away from the daily nightmarish environment of a forensic pathologist. Her husband and twins had been killed and she was still recovering, although she had met someone who had been able to push through to her emotions. Xander had a background that had also left him with issues, so that he lived in a cabin, along with his friend, Thor, away from it all, but he, too, fought being pulled back into dangerous situations...

She was already to go up until right before school would be starting... And she received this “Dear Dr. Owens, If you are reading this letter, I am dead. I would be most grateful if you would solve my murder. I know how determined you are, and talented. If anyone can figure out this mess, it’s you..."

Her first reaction was to ignore it; she could not get back into that work. But then a lawyer came to visit her and explained Savage had appointed her as executor as well as a request that she conduct an autopsy to prove he was murdered!

But before that lawyer left town, he had been killed!

Sam at least had to get the police involved, so she did talk with Fletcher, with whom she had worked in the past. Little by little she was drawn in and finally knew she had to help solve this case! At least to do the autopsy...

But while they began, a kidnapping of a young girl occurred and Fletcher was hooked up with an FBI agent for the kidnapping case, while Sam amd Xander who had tried to stay undercover started working with the local police!

And then a series of murders started to occur...and they realized that those being killed had been listed in the will of Jack Savage!
But as these dual investigations continued, they began to intersect and two main issues became clear. There was a serial killed involved! And the cult that seemed to be right in the middle was also involved in criminal activities...Now everybody was moving forward, searching for Eden... wherever the cult group was now located...

The complexity of this story is unbelievable, yet Ellison has put it together so that readers can get totally involved, at least up until the last few actions! It didn't surprise me, but I didn't have a clue what was going to climatically close out this one. Lots of great investigators in local and federal levels has been created so that relationships are easily developed and expansive to a series that could go on for quite some time without getting old.

There were many different aspects to what was happening with Sam, so that I wasn't quite sure that, after everything settled, she would continue with the plans included... My guess is that ultimately she'll go back to full-time forensics work... What do you think? Do you agree? The author has given us a main character to whom we immediately are drawn and interested in her personal life. Xander is a perfect companion, lover, and hopefully more in the future. Exciting, to say the least, sensational overall...a great whodunit, especially since I missed the closing! I love being surprised with the ending. Given my reading of this one book, I can feel comfortable recommending the entire series to forensics crime mysteries and thrillers!

GABixlerReviews

When Shadows Fall is another riveting novel in J.T. Ellison’s spectacular series starring forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Owens. Unable to resist a dead man’s request to investigate his murder, Sam uncovers perplexing information that leads back to a long closed kidnapping case. The subsequent investigation takes many startling twists and turns and exposes a shocking secret that someone will go to any lengths to keep hidden.

When Shadows Fall opens with Sam happily settled into her new life with ex-Army Ranger Zander Whitfield and her new career as head of the Forensic Pathology department at Georgetown University. With her classes due to begin in a few days, Sam is beginning to have a few reservations about giving up law enforcement and a surprising offer to become an FBI consultant is weighing heavily on her mind. The arrival of the letter from Timothy Savage is an unwelcome reminder of what Sam has left behind and at first she refuses to become involved with his case. But the murder of Savage’s attorney piques her curiosity, and with the help of Xander and DC Detective (and close friend) Darren “Fletch” Fletcher, Sam delves a little deeper into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The trio have barely begun looking into Savage’s death when a young girl is kidnapped and Fletch is a paired up with FBI agent Jordan Blake to find the missing girl. Evidence from the Savage death leads back to a similar kidnapping years earlier and it soon becomes clear that present day events are somehow linked to this previously solved kidnapping. The trail takes them back to this long ago investigation and with a young girl’s life hanging in the balance, Sam, Xander and Fletch are frantically trying to fit the puzzling clues together.

When Shadows Fall is a fascinating and action filled thriller that is quite compelling. Intriguing chapters from an unknown person’s point of view add a sense of urgency to an already suspense laden storyline. Flashbacks offer chilling insight into a seemingly unrelated series of murders and the divergent story arcs begin to converge into a plausible scenario that is quite chilling.

Once again, J.T. Ellison provides readers a fresh and unique mystery that is infinitely fascinating but impossible to solve. Although it can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend all of the novels in this incredible series.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Ellison is an excellent writer and in Dr. Owens she has created one of my favorite characters.
Smart, skilled, compelled to find the truth, one who I am very rarely forced to yell at when she does something stupid. I must say, that is very important to me and all to rare with some writers!
And the plot..well, you will not be disappointed. Other reviews will give you are idea of the storyline so I will not repeat the. Lets just say just when Dr. Owens is trying to settle down, take a nice calm teaching job, spend more time with her hunky, ex-seal boyfriend and his wonder dog, life throws in a wrench.There are more twists and turns than one book can almost contain. And just as things start to wrap up, Ellison throws in a couple of surprises to knock us for a loop.
We knew Owens was not going to happy just teaching those medical students, weren't we? Lucky for us!

This is my second Dr.Samantha Owens forensic pathologist book. It really sparked my interest from page one. How many times does a murder victim write a letter requesting a pathologist to solve their own murder? How did he know he was to be murdered? Why would he pick a virtual stranger to autopsy his body and to solve his murder, especially since his death was ruled a suicide? These were only a few of the bizarre happenings in this story.

Sam has had more than her fair share of tragedies in her own life. She's decided to pull away from solving mysteries to become a teacher at Georgetown University. She's finally found someone who loves and understands her, but this new "request" just peaks her curiosity to investigate "just one more time". Soon she finds herself in the middle of an FBI investigation of missing girls that has been going on for more than twenty years.

This was a fast passed and curious type mystery. Kidnapping, murder, a cult-like religious group, serial murders and more, kept me reading just one more page before I could put the book down. The characters were compelling and kept me vacillating from sympathy to rage. Will be interesting to see what Dr. Samantha Owens gets herself into in her next book!

When Shadows Fall is the better books I have read in the Samantha Owens Series so far. Ms. Ellison is an exceptionally good writer with a knack for keeping you in the dark until the last dozen or so chapters, which is when everything comes together. I like her style of writing and how the words just flow along and before you know it's 3 am. I have read all her books and have never found one I did not like. If you have never read Ms. Ellison give her a try, you won't regret it.

Wow! My advice: Don't start this book right before bedtime or you will be turning pages like a madman; and a few hours later you'll get that spouse-rustle over-the-shoulder-death-stare because you are *still* up reading and they are trying to sleep!! I plowed through this book in the course of 24 hours, it was so fast-paced I had trouble breaking away from it--I had to see what happened next.

The characters are believable and interesting, the forensic details fascinating (and not too gory for the faint of heart), and the whole story beginning to end was quite a ride!! I like when stories all come together, all the balls in the air keep moving, but it was not so overwhelming either. Great crime-forensic-thriller, must-read, page-turner kinda story. I will definitely start looking up J.T. Ellison's other books and add them to my queue! Highly recommend!

hate to say it but getting formulaic....a sprinkle of this and a spoonful of that stir up the plot and you've got another JT Elliison romantic mystery thriller....not too hot, not too cold, but just right for those who adore her

Both the mystery and the romantic subplot were readable, but nothing special. The mystery was easily resolved and not horribly suspenseful. The romantic subplot doesn't work well for me, not enough emotional "spark" or connection.

Wonderful story. I've read the other two books and couldn't wait to read this one. Each story has gotten better than those last. Thanks for a great story that I couldn't wait to finish and didn't want to beat the end of it either.

This is a fast moving thriller that keeps you wondering what's happening next and who the guilty parties are. Often times you will be wrong in this book. You do need to pay attention to keep the characters straight, but it's worth the effort.

This book was thrilling from the first page to the last---and the end will leave you wondering.... The characters are well developed and interesting, the plot is riveting, and you will not want to put it down! A perfect read!!