Always Look Twice (Uncommon Justice, Book Two)

ELIZABETH GODDARD

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2019.

How acquired: Via the Revell Reads Blogger Program

First line: Harper Reynolds inched forward, hoping she hadn't made a mistake in coming there.

My thoughts: I loved the first book in this series, so much, that I was excited to see this book on offer from Revell, and thrilled to learn I was getting a copy. And the book did not disappoint!

Once again most of the action takes place in Grayback, Wyoming, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Harper is a crime scene photographer who has taken a sabbatical from photographing crime scenes to photograph nature instead. But while photographing a bear, she inadvertently witnessed a murder – a man shooting a woman. That first chapter brought the action on quick, and the pace continued throughout the book. When the shooter turns his sights on Harper, Heath McKade comes to the rescue. Harper and Heath were best friends as kids, but haven't seen each other since Harper's father was murdered and her mother moved her and her sister, Emily, away.

We met Heath in the first book, which was about his brother, Austin. Austin ticked a lot of boxes for me – former FBI agent, cowboy, a secretive tortured hero – and Heath ticked those same boxes, except instead of former FBI agent he's a part-time deputy, which works just as well. He's also a cowboy, running a guest ranch, and while not particularly secretive he's still a tortured hero, with emotional wounds that run deep.

Ms. Goddard is very good at keeping tensions high! There is a harrowing ride in a camper, and every time Harper was out anywhere I was constantly on edge waiting for a rifle shot to occur. As in the first book, the characterizations are very well done, as is the narrative descriptions. Not to mention the descriptions of Harper taking photos and some of the process she uses for documenting crime scenes. We also meet Liam, another brother, partway through the book, and I'm very excited to know that his book is coming next.

I know it sounds cliché to say, but this book is truly a thrill ride from beginning to satisfying end.

Goodreads synopsis: While photographing the Grand Tetons, Harper Reynolds unwittingly captures a murder on film. But when she loses the camera fleeing the scene, can she and rancher Heath McKade find the camera and solve the murder before the killer makes her his next victim? 

It's Always the Husband

MICHELE CAMPBELL

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, St. Martin's Press, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: She stumbled through the dark woods, the trees dripping raindrops onto her hair and her party dress.

My thoughts: Despite the fact that there is murder involved and “whodunit” and some twists at the end, this book didn't really feel like a suspense/mystery. While the narrative occasionally goes back and forth between past and present, the first half of the book is more focused on past, where the three girls meet when they are assigned as college roommates their freshman year. From there it's more of a character study about the three girls, and I really enjoyed getting to know them. They are all so very different from each other, and yet they become fast friends.

Then the second half is focused on the present, where the girls are still friends but have drifted apart a bit. More time is spent with Jenny and Aubrey than with Kate, and frankly, I didn't really care for the grownup adult versions of Jenny and Kate. Neither girl is particularly likable, especially Jenny who is now the controlling, power hungry mayor of their small town. I did like Owen, the new chief of police investigating the present time murder, but towards the end of the book Jenny is determined to get rid of him because he won't answer to her, and then suddenly he's just gone with no explanation and not heard from again, which really disappointed me.

As far as whodunit, I was kept guessing, thinking I knew and then being proven wrong. Although the method used to get the victim to the spot where the death occurred seemed very contrived and unrealistic.

Regardless, the book definitely kept my interest and overall I enjoyed it. 

Goodreads synopsis: Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump.

How did things come to this?

As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband? 

Christmas Cow Bells (Buttermilk Creek Mystery, Book 1)

MOLLIE COX BRYAN

Stats for my copy: Paperback, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 9/24/19.

How acquired: Cozy Mystery Review Crew

First line: Sometimes a place reaches deep inside of you, flows through you with light and warmth, and fills you with a sense of belonging, a sense of home.

My thoughts: This was a slow read for me, though it shouldn't have been. I think I might have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been entirely told from Brynn's point of view. She's likable enough, but I never really connected with her, and didn't really get to know any of the other characters. I had trouble sometimes just keeping up with the other characters. Brynn's friends, Willow and Schuyler, seemed quite similar and I mixed them up several times, and I did the same with the police chief and the fire chief. Brynn's investigation into the fire that killed her neighbor was a bit perfunctory. She spent more time thinking and agonizing over it than actually doing anything. I was actually more interested in the cows and the cheese-making process, which I knew nothing about. And the dog of course! Although it was annoying that Freckles was alternately referred to as “he” and “she”. Overall, the story was a pleasant enough way to while away some time, if not especially memorable.

Goodreads synopsis: Christmas is a time for new beginnings, so after her big breakup, Brynn MacAlister takes the gouda with the bad. With her three Red Devon cows, she settles in bucolic Shenandoah Springs, eager for a new life as an organic micro-dairy farmer and cheese-maker. Then her dear cow Petunia's bellows set the whole town on edge. But it isn't until Brynn's neighbor, Nancy, dies in a mysterious fire that her feelings about small town life begin to curdle . . .

It seems some folks were not happy with Nancy's plan to renovate the Old Glebe Church. But is a fear of change a motivation for murder? As a newcomer, Brynn can't ignore the strange events happening just on the other side of her frosty pasture--and soon on her very own farm. Suddenly Christmas doesn't feel so festive as everyone demands she muzzle sweet Petunia, and Brynn is wondering if someone wants to silence her--for good . . . 

One More River to Cross

JANE KIRKPATRICK

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 9/3/19.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blog Tour Program.

First line: Mary Sullivan stood outside the circle of men, watched through the triangle of elbows as they nodded and commented about the markings the Paiute drew in the dirt.

My thoughts: There are many, many characters in this story, but with one exception the focus is on the women, with the narrative constantly shifting from the point of view of one character to another. Unfortunately I struggled to keep track of the characters, men and women alike. There were a few who stood out, such as Maolisa and Moses, a young man who was the exception I mentioned above. I particularly enjoyed his sections of the book. I would say the main characters are Ellen, Beth, Mary and Sarah. Beth stood out, and I never confused her with someone else. But the other three I was constantly getting mixed up.

The plot meanders and is slow paced, not that I was bothered by that, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape and the hardships. I can't imagine making the journey these characters undertook, and I seriously don't know that I would have survived! For the young ladies, life is frustrating when you're constantly overlooked or left behind, or your opinion is unimportant because of your gender, and there was a lot of internal dialoguing from the girls mentioned above about the unfairness of that.

It was what women did. Waited for the right husband. Waited to begin a family. Waited for a life to begin.

Boy, if that doesn't sum up why it's so great to live in the time we live in!

The book read more like a young adult book than I was expecting, and I think I would've liked it much more if that weren't the case. But overall it was a good read and aside from having to pause occasionally to sort out the characters I stayed pretty invested in their story.

Goodreads synopsis: In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land and enjoyed a safe journey--until October, when a heavy snowstorm forced difficult decisions. The first of many for young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, the widow Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa.

When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons--and the rest of the party, including eight women and seventeen children, huddle in a makeshift cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River waiting for rescue . . . or their deaths.

Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick plunges you deep into a landscape of challenge where fear and courage go hand in hand for a story of friendship, family, and hope that will remind you of what truly matters in times of trial.