The Boyfriend Loophole by Danielle Stewart
Charlize has been called home as her mother begins to succumb to a long illness. Reluctantly taking a step back from her role in private security with the Kinross organization, Charlize resumes her role as a detective, armed with a badge and a determination to still make a difference in this world.
Amidst the challenges of settling into a small-town police precinct, she stumbles upon a mysterious case. A baffling disappearance that local authorities dismiss as attention-seeking antics. Charlize's instincts, however, tell her there's more to the story. Especially when digging she discovers multiple cases in the state with the same haunting details.
Amidst the challenges of settling into a small-town police precinct, she stumbles upon a mysterious case. A baffling disappearance that local authorities dismiss as attention-seeking antics. Charlize's instincts, however, tell her there's more to the story. Especially when digging she discovers multiple cases in the state with the same haunting details.
The relationship between Charlize and her dying mother was interesting to watch as they grew closer and had a better understanding of each other. Charlize is asked by her mothers caregiver to look into a case of a young female relative who was chloroformed and left on a dirt road. She finds five similar cases. I had never heard of the 'boyfriend loophole' which is pretty shocking.
In Their Likeness by Denise Yoko Bermdt
Three bodies found in Central London. All arranged in bizarre poses. The Metropolitan Police at a loss.
The senior investigating officer asks his former superior, retired DCI Amber Fearns, for help. Amber refuses, wants nothing to do anymore with violence and murder. But one glance at the crime scene photos and she's drawn in against her will... because she sees something none of the investigators could see.
As soon as she starts working the case, her instinct tells her the killer will strike again. It's just a matter of when.
Can Amber help stop him before he kills again?
The senior investigating officer asks his former superior, retired DCI Amber Fearns, for help. Amber refuses, wants nothing to do anymore with violence and murder. But one glance at the crime scene photos and she's drawn in against her will... because she sees something none of the investigators could see.
As soon as she starts working the case, her instinct tells her the killer will strike again. It's just a matter of when.
Can Amber help stop him before he kills again?
This was very bizarre but quiet interesting!
The Patient by Jane Shemilt
Rachel is a respected doctor who lives in a picturesque and affluent English village where her husband Nathan teaches at an elite private school. Competent, unflappable, and nearing 50, Rachel has everything in her life firmly in her control, even if some of its early luster has worn off. But one day a new patient arrives at her practice for emergency treatment. Luc is a French painter married to a wealthy American woman who’s just bought and restored a historic home on the edge of Rachel’s posh neighborhood. The couple has only recently arrived, but Luc is struggling with a mental disorder, and so he goes to the nearest clinic…to Rachel.
Their attraction is instant, and as Rachel’s sense of ethics wars with newly awakened passion, the affair blinds her to everything else happening around her. A longtime patient appears to be following her every movement, turning up unexpectedly wherever she goes. Her somewhat estranged adult daughter Lizzie is hiding a secret—or at least, hiding it from Rachel. Nathan has grown sour and cold as well—or is that merely Rachel’s guilty conscience weighing on her? But when one of her colleagues winds up murdered and Luc is arrested for the crime, everything Rachel didn’t know about her life explodes into the open—along with her affair with her patient—a disgrace and scandal that will have consequences no one could have predicted.
Their attraction is instant, and as Rachel’s sense of ethics wars with newly awakened passion, the affair blinds her to everything else happening around her. A longtime patient appears to be following her every movement, turning up unexpectedly wherever she goes. Her somewhat estranged adult daughter Lizzie is hiding a secret—or at least, hiding it from Rachel. Nathan has grown sour and cold as well—or is that merely Rachel’s guilty conscience weighing on her? But when one of her colleagues winds up murdered and Luc is arrested for the crime, everything Rachel didn’t know about her life explodes into the open—along with her affair with her patient—a disgrace and scandal that will have consequences no one could have predicted.
I didn't find Rachel a very likeable person. She didn't present very well as a doctor as she made so many reckless choices about a man that had very evident mental health issues. This did keep me guessing until pretty close to the end.
For You by Blake Pierce
A serial killer following the seven signs of the Messiah. An ex-con FBI agent seeking redemption. A riddle that must be cracked as a victim’s precious time runs out….
Superstar FBI Agent Morgan Cross was at the height of her career when she was framed, wrongly imprisoned, and sent to do 10 hard years in prison. Finally exonerated and set free, Morgan emerges from jail as a changed person—hardened, ruthless, closed off to the world, and unsure how to start again. When the FBI comes knocking, desperately needing Morgan to return and hunt down the one serial killer who got away 10 years ago, Morgan is torn. She is not the same person, no longer willing to play by the rules, and will stop at nothing this time. In a non-stop thriller, it will be a deadly cat and mouse chase between a diabolical killer and an ex-con FBI agent who has nothing left to lose—with a new victim’s fate riding on it all.
Superstar FBI Agent Morgan Cross was at the height of her career when she was framed, wrongly imprisoned, and sent to do 10 hard years in prison. Finally exonerated and set free, Morgan emerges from jail as a changed person—hardened, ruthless, closed off to the world, and unsure how to start again. When the FBI comes knocking, desperately needing Morgan to return and hunt down the one serial killer who got away 10 years ago, Morgan is torn. She is not the same person, no longer willing to play by the rules, and will stop at nothing this time. In a non-stop thriller, it will be a deadly cat and mouse chase between a diabolical killer and an ex-con FBI agent who has nothing left to lose—with a new victim’s fate riding on it all.
Lots of suspense and mystery and a page turner. Eventually the ending became predictable but I still think this was a good read.
Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
The town of Lunacy, Alaska, was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as chief of police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first few weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaskan sky lifts his spirits and convinces him to stay just a little longer.
Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the chief of police, she allows herself to give in to passion - while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart.
And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for himself.
Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the chief of police, she allows herself to give in to passion - while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart.
And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for himself.
I did enjoy this book. There were so many twists and turns in the story that it kept me reading to find out what happens next.
Lights Out Liverpool by Maureen Lee
As Britain stands alone against a monstrous enemy, the inhabitants of Pearl Street face hardship and heartbreak with courage and humour.
The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt and she goes to work in a munitions factory - and falls in love. And Jessica Fleming, down on her luck, is forced to return to the street she'd hoped never to see again.
The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt and she goes to work in a munitions factory - and falls in love. And Jessica Fleming, down on her luck, is forced to return to the street she'd hoped never to see again.
This story mainly centers around two sisters and all the people that live in pre-war Pearl Street in Bootle, a working class neighbourhood in Liverpool. All the trials and tribulations of families having very little money and husbands and sons joining up to fight in WW11 and the women having to go out to work and 'keep the home fires burning'. This book is part the first book in a trilogy so I will be looking for the other two.
Well, that's the final books read for 2024, a couple short of last year. Some good, some not so good, but fortunately the good outweighed the bad.