Book Review: Secret Remains: A Coroner's Daughter Mystery by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

Title: Secret Remains: A Coroner's Daughter Mystery 

Author: Jennifer Graeser Dornbush 

Stars: 3 1\2

Review:
I am not sure what I was hoping for maybe a mix of the TV show Bones and something new? The story is predicable as well as the romance. Readers will pick up on the killer right away and feel as if they are being drag alone a mystery but the characters are still working on.
The author has the ability to bring readers into her locations as if the town its self is a characters in the book.  
The romance works with the story but at times isn't convincing.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the advance copy of Jennifer Graeser Dornbush Secret Remains

Synopsis:
It's been 12 years since Sandi Parkman went missing after being dropped off at home by her schoolmate, Nick Larson, now the Sheriff of Freeport, Michigan. When a construction crew unearths Sandi's bones--along with Nick's letterman jacket and one of his hairs--Nick becomes suspect number one in the murder.

Dr. Emily Hartford, the daughter of Freeport's medical examiner, is called in to investigate, but the case is about to get personal. Nick was Emily's high school love, and now she has to either clear his name--or contend that he's the killer. As she delves into the case, a host of other suspects emerge: a coterie of Nick's jock friends from high school; Sandi's sister, Tiffany, now a dancer at a local strip club; and James VanDerMuellen, a trust funder who's recently returned to Freeport.

As the autumn skies darken over Freeport and the holiday season looms, Emily must sift through more than Sandi's brittle bones to solve the case. Can she exonerate Nick--and rekindle their long-smoldering romance? The race is on to find the truth.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: January 7th 2020 by Crooked Lane Books

About The Author:
The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush actually lived it. As a daughter of a medical examiner, whose office was in her home, she investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Since that first case she has had decades of on-sight experience in death investigation and 360 hours of forensic training through the Forensic Science Academy.

Today, Jennifer is a screenwriter, author, speaker and forensic science specialist. Her mystery novel, The Coroner, was released in 2018, with the sequel, Secret Remains, coming in early 2020.

Her feature film, God Bless the Broken Road had a wide release in theaters in 2018. She also penned the novel adaptation for Howard Books/Simon & Schuster (released 2017).

Book Review: A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) by Darynda Jones

Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) 

Author: Darynda Jones 

Stars: 4 1\2 

Review:
A very interesting story about a newly elected Sheriff of a small town in New Mexico. Sunshine, her nickname, is a single mother with one teeage daughter. She has returned to her home town and has a secret that she keeps from her daughter and friends. The tale is told primarily by these two individuals as multiple events occur and the plot thickens. As the action occurs will secrets be revealed and justice served or will there be a subsequent novel to wrap up any loose ends? I know I am looking forward to another novel but I am rather the curious sort who hates to leave anything unsolved. So readers I will leave it up to you to reach your own conclusion as to whether the story has concluded or not? The overall story line was excellent with a few red herrings thrown in to keep the amateur detectives on their toes.

I have rated this book 4.5 stars and look forward to what I hope will be another story about Sunshine and her daughter.

Thank you Frank

Synopsis:
Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff--an election her adorably meddlesome parents entered her in--and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it's reminding Sunny why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and Sunshine has her hands full.

Enter sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshall, both elevens on a scale of one to blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And they said coming home would be drama-free.

Hardcover, 400 pages

Expected publication: April 7th 2020 by St. Martin's Press

About The Author:

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.

Book Review: Why She Ran (Detective Iris Locke #2) by Geraldine Hogan

Title: Why She Ran (Detective Iris Locke #2)

Author: Geraldine Hogan

Stars: 3 1/2

Review:
The Synposis will have reader picking up the book the story will not hold readers attention.  Why She Ran is slow paced mystery that lacks focus, the story has many plot holes and readers are left wondering if this was the same book their had wanted to read.  
It is a stand a lone novel yet this readers is wondering if the information lacking in book two is found in book 1.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Geraldine Hogan Why She Ran.

Synopsis:
Twenty-year-old Rachel McDermott was your typical girl-next-door. She loved her job as a nurse, was close to her family in the small Irish town of Corbally and seemed to have no enemies. So when she is brutally murdered, the local community reels in horror and Detective Iris Locke is put on the case.

The main suspect is her close friend, sixteen-year-old Eleanor Marshall, a tearaway teenager with addiction problems whose parents have long since turned their backs on her. Eleanor was last seen fleeing the scene where Rachel’s body was found and is now missing in the woods near the Comeragh mountains.

Eleanor’s sister Karena insists Eleanor wouldn’t have hurt her best friend, but a day later, when Karena is found dead in the area Eleanor is hiding, Iris knows things don’t look good for the runaway teen. She doesn’t want to believe that Eleanor is her sister’s killer, but all the evidence seems to point that way.

But Iris can’t let go of the elements of the case she doesn’t have answers for. The fact that Rachel’s father died in suspicious circumstances. The strange company that Rachel was keeping the night before she died. Was it guilt or fear that made Eleanor run? And can Iris find her before it is too late?

Kindle Edition, 295 pages

Expected publication: December 19th 2019 by Bookouture

About The Author:
Geraldine Hogan is an Irish award-winning and bestselling author of four novels. Her books have featured as Book Club Favorites, Net Galley Hot Reads and Summer Must Reads. She writes grown up women's fiction which is unashamedly uplifting, feel good and inspiring.

Geraldine Hogan was born in Ireland. She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.

She is the author of several well received women's fiction novels under the author name, Faith Hogan.

Book Review M-9 (Chelmin & Spaulding CID Mysteries Book 1) by Marvin Wolf

Title: M-9 (Chelmin & Spaulding CID Mysteries Book 1)

Author: Marvin Wolf

Stars: 5 1\2 

Review:

This is the first, in a new series, and the first time for my reading of a book by this author. I was more than pleased with the characters and story line. He was able to get my attention in the first few pages of the book and retain it until the last page. There is action from the beginnings to the last page. I felt there was literary license taken in some parts but it did not detract from the overall story or prevent me from enjoying the story immensely. I read the teaser for the second book, in the series, and look forward to reading it when it comes out. If you are a fan of action adventures stories you will not want to pass this one by.

I am a retired military Special Agent and I would purchase this book for myself and friends. I have rated this book 4.5 stars.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

Thank You Frank

Synopsis:

Who killed Kendra Farrell and left her bound, dehydrated body on a boxcar loaded with Army boots?

Army CID agents Rudy Chelmin and his rookie partner, Will Spaulding, trace the train’s route back to Barstow, CA, and the Marine Corps Supply Depot. Before they can begin a joint-service investigation, they come under attack by a determined and heavily armed international gang. As they try to unwrap the mystery of Kendra’s death they must take out a sniper, escape from an RPG attack that levels a city block, and dodge a car bomb—and that’s just the first few days.

To find Kendra’s killer they must learn why she was killed. As they unravel a mind-twisting snarl of nefarious, intertwined networks, they must also battle the bureaucracy—The FBI, Homeland Security, and the Barstow police want their share of the case.

Then Chelmin vanishes and Spaulding has only three days to learn if his partner will suffer Kendra’s agonizing fate.

Kindle Edition, 425 pages

Published August 20th 2019 by Rambam Press

About The Author:

I began my media career in the media as a U.S. Army combat photographer in Vietnam. Assigned to a public information section, it took a week escorting Nobel laureate John Steinbeck before I realized that writing was an important adjunct to my photo work. In Vietnam I had the great good fortune to meet and become friends with some of the world's greatest reporters and photographers, including Nobel laureate author John Steinbeck, Jonathan Fenby, Peter Arnett, Horst Faas, and many others. These men were generous with their time and wisdom and helped put me on the path to becoming a writer.

As I made the transition from magazine writing to longer forms, I was encouraged to specialize but found that I was interested in so many things that I found it impossible to choose only one. Instead I became a frequent collaborator, helping such notables as Native American leader Russell Means and former South Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky with their autobiographies. I also developed an appreciation for suspense and intrigue that inevitably led me to write about crime. About 2001 I took a segue into film, and had a short but interesting career writing for television. That helped me to create a character that I've put into the Rabbi Ben Mysteries. The first of these books, "For Whom The Shofar Blows," debuted on Amazon.com in November 2011.

My second series is "Chelmen and Spaulding CID Mysteries." Chelmin is loosely based on A CID agent whom I knew while serving as a US Army company commander in South Korea. He is conservative in dress, content to eat that which he has always eaten rather than try new things, and in general a guy who resists change. All that goes out the window when he meets Chelmin, a civilian police detective before he enliste. Together as a team, they are constantly challenging and changing each other.

My book M-9 chronicles their first adventure as a team--and how they barely survive it.
Book two, Papa Two-Niner, will be published in 2020. Look for it in late winter.

Book Review: Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

Title:  Good Girls Lie 

Author:  J.T. Ellison

Stars: 3

Review:
The story starts off with the mystery right away but slowly turns into endless inner dialogue with to much telling read what is happening and not enough showing them what is happening.  The story drags on in certain area.  This book was a struggle as the thriller seemed to lack any sort of point and left readers scratching there heads wondering what is the purpose of the story?
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of J.T. Ellison Good Girls Lie.

Synopsis:
erched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.

But look closely…because there are truths and

Kindle Edition, 384 pages

Expected publication: December 31st 2019 by MIRA

About The Author:
J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages