Read in 2024 - 16, 17, 18

Wait - have I forgotten about #15? No, I haven't. But that book deserves its own post, while it is no problem giving the following three reviews a little less room.

All three have in common that a) they are mysteries, b) they were free downloads from Amazon's Kindle shop and c) they were first in their respective series, designed to make the reader want to buy the following books. 

Only one of them was something I could imagine reading more of, but not to the point of buying the series.

Because I have such a back log of posts waiting to be written (among them, the review for #15), I opt for the quick and lazy way and copy the reviews you'll find on Amazon for each book, adding only a few comments of my own.

#16: One Left Alive (Detective Morgan Brookes Book 1)

Helen Phifer

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them [...] in the dark basement, [...] their bodies cold to the touch.

But [then] she realises that one of the girls is still breathing. As she holds Bronte’s fragile hand in hers, [...] she vows to find out who has done this.

Every day Morgan wakes at 4.25 a.m., her old insomnia now mixed with a new fixation on the case. But every clue about the murdered family leads to a dead end. Until, trawling through old files, she discovers a link to a cold case from years ago. Another family was found murdered [in a similar way].

When Morgan returns to the scene of the crime [...], she finds another body. With Bronte still unconscious in hospital, Morgan must act fast to solve this case before the killer returns for the girl left alive…

[End of Amazon's description]

The story WAS gripping, I must give it that. I just didn't really warm to any of the characters, at least not enough for wanting to read more and buy the series.

#17: Murder at the Mayfair Hotel (Cleopatra Fox Mysteries Book 1)

C.J. Archer

December 1899. After the death of her beloved grandmother, Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxury hotel owned by her estranged uncle in the hopes of putting hardship and loneliness behind her. But the poisoning of a guest on Christmas Eve throws her new life, and the hotel, into chaos.

Cleo quickly realizes no one can be trusted, not Scotland Yard and especially not the hotel’s charming assistant manager. With the New Year’s Eve ball approaching fast and the hotel’s reputation hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the ball, and the hotel itself, are ruined. But catching a murderer proves just as difficult as navigating the hotel’s hierarchy and the peculiarities of her family.

Can Cleo find the killer before the new century begins? Or will someone get away with murder?

[End of Amazon's description]

This is the one I could imagine reading more of. I liked the start of the series, the heroine and her way of interacting with the other characters. Not all was foreseeable, or at least it wasn't for me. The atmosphere at the hotel was well caught, I think.

#18: Shadow Falls (Detective Madison Harper Book 1)

Wendy Dranfield

Madison Harper’s heart shatters when she searches the bedroom of twelve-year-old Jenny Lucas, the sweet little girl last seen splashing in the lake at Shadow Falls [...] before she vanished. [...]

The girl’s parents are distraught, and the local police have no leads — they desperately need Madison’s help. She knows better than most what it’s like to lose a child, and she won’t let it happen again, even if that means pressing Jenny’s grieving family for answers.

Then [...] Madison discovers a disturbing portrait Jenny drew [...]. Was this girl more troubled than anybody knew? Was she in danger from those she trusted most? If Madison’s instincts are right, then the life of another innocent child could also be at risk — she must find Jenny fast…

[End of Amazon's description]

There is a whole lot more to the story than these few lines convey. For one thing, Madison is not acting alone. She teams up with a private investigator, and they both come with a LOT of personal baggage and issues. Every now and then, their past threatens to block out everything else, but in the end it makes them even more determined to solve the case. 

Add to that mix a stray police-trained dog who behaves very oddly around the missing girl's mother, and the stage is set for many more books in the series.

Gripping, but not a series I am going to actively look for.