Series:
ConardCounty (Book 74)
As a storm rages,
can he unmask the murderer in their midst?
When a killer strikes twice in the same day, former
soldier turned stockade owner Josh Healey steps in to protect the locals who've
taken refuge across the creek. But it's writer Krystal Metcalfe who penetrates
his hardened exterior. Then, just as the investigation is truly getting
underway, a savage rainstorm cuts them off from the outside world. Now Josh and
Krystal must trust each other with their secrets to stop a chilling
vendetta...and survive.
Good book that kept me interested from start to finish. It
is fast-paced, as the story takes place over a few days. Krystal and her mother
own a writer's retreat in the Cash Creek area of Conard County. Krystal loves
the peace and quiet of the forest retreat and is disturbed when the long-absent
property owner across the creek moves in and starts building a fort. Her
initial encounters with him don't go well.
Josh is a veteran turned psychologist who builds a
retreat for fellow veterans who have PTSD. He is very protective of his
soldiers and worries about the attitudes of outsiders toward them. They pretty
much keep to themselves.
As the story starts, a group of writers is at the
retreat. Some are introverted and keep to themselves as they do their writing.
Others are friendlier and like to socialize. Then there is one who is highly
extroverted and constantly makes himself the center of attention. Krystal
doesn't like him, but he brings business to the retreat. Mason is bloviating
one day when Josh bursts into the lodge, fuming mad. Someone cruelly injured a
dog and left it outside the stockade. He all but accuses one of them of being
the culprit.
Tension increased as people on both sides of the creek
worried about what might happen next. There is a worrisome visit with the dog's
owner and an interview with the sheriff, who came to investigate the shooting. The
injured dog, Reject, adopted Krystal and went home with her. The day went on
with a storm building, and Reject showed up at the stockade. When Josh returns
him to Krystal, he senses trouble. Things get freaky when Reject intermittently
howls and stares out the window. Josh trusts that the dog senses something and
decides to stick around.
Things go from bad to worse when Mason and another writer
are found dead. Is the killer out there somewhere, waiting to kill again? Or is
it one of them, huddled in the lodge, wondering what is happening? Josh's
protective instincts are aroused, and he recruits some of his soldiers to help
protect the writers. The suspense is intense as Josh and Krystal attempt to
keep everyone safe and figure out who is behind the murders. In an unusual
step, the author reveals the killer to the reader early. I wasn't surprised by
the identity, but the accomplice was a surprise. The final confrontation was a
nail-biter, with a resolution that wasn't what I expected.
The relationship between Josh and Krystal happened
quickly. It was a rough start, with Krystal being suspicious and Josh being
uncommunicative. But under the antagonism were sparks of attraction that
neither could ignore. When the trouble started, Josh couldn't fight his
protectiveness. Krystal was smart enough to accept his help. Spending that much
time together allowed them to get to know each other a little. It takes Krystal
a while to understand Josh's prickliness about his vets, but I liked that she
tried. I loved that they acknowledged their feelings but knew they needed to
get to know each other better.
I liked seeing some Conard County regulars like Gage Dalton
and Connie Parrish.
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