Book ~ "Ashes and Bone" (2014) Stacy Green

From Goodreads ~ Just when Jaymee Ballard’s life seems to be on track, a massive derecho attacks the Delta Crossroads sowing destruction in its path. Her boyfriend, investigative journalist Nick Samuels, comes up missing and she fears the worst.

Nick’s abandoned car contains evidence of his involvement uncovering a controversial case mired in political power and greed. While her friend and local detective, Cage Foster, heads up the inquiry into Nick’s kidnapping, Jaymee finds it impossible to sit back and do nothing. 

Enlisting the help of her best friend, Dani Evans, Jaymee discovers a trail leading to the dangerous and secretive Dixie Mafia. Facing a fraudulent Confederate artifact scheme, dark local history, and a powerful enemy lurking in the shadows, the two friends find themselves holding the key to not only Nick’s disappearance, but a shameful town secret someone will kill to protect.

Jaymee and Nick are dating and see each other on weekends.  Jaymee has a historical house and Nick is a reporter.  He is on his way to see her but disappears during a storm.  His car is discovered by the side of the road but there is no sign of Nick.  Cage, Nick's friend and ex-brother-in-law is a police officer, leads the investigation.  In the meantime, Jaymee is almost killed when a house she is in burns to the ground, which causes the surrounding area to catch on fire and spread.  Is it a coincidence or does it have something to do with Nick's disappearance?

It seems that Nick was investigating Confederate artifacts that may be frauds.  With not a lot to go on, Cage, Jaymee and Dani (Cage's girlfriend) poke around to find out what's going, who is involved and find Nick before it's too late.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author and the third (and last) book in the Delta Crossroads series.  We met Jaymee, Nick and Cage in Tin God and Dani in Skeleton' Key.  Though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone ... there are enough references to the past so you know what's going on but not enough to give away the other books if you haven't read them but want to.

It is written from a couple perspectives ... first person when the focus is on Nick and third person with the perspective switching from Jaymee, Cage and Dani.  The language for the most part is for a mature reader as the author uses the word "sh$t" fairly often (I didn't have a problem with it).  There are lots of characters in this book so you don't know whodunnit until the end and why.

You'll enjoy this book if you like suspense with a touch of romance ... and especially if you are into the history of the south.

I received a copy of this ebook from the author at no charge in exchange for my honest review. 

Book ~ "Skeleton's Key" (2013) Stacy Green

From Goodreads ~ Cage Foster can’t catch a break. The discovery of a dusty skeleton in the antebellum home he’s caring for is bad enough. But the unearthing of two fresh bodies, buried during his tenure at Ironwood Plantation, may land Cage on Mississippi’s death row. Even worse, the one person certain of his innocence is a pushy Yankee newcomer, a woman who talks too fast and still believes in the romance of the Old South.

 A specialist in historical renovation, Dani Evans intends to restore Ironwood to its former glory while she rebuilds her life after the death of her mother. Death, hidden treasure and falling in love with a murder suspect were not part of the plan. The lure of the infamous Ironwood treasure cache convinces Dani the skeleton is the key to unraveling the legend, and that the treasure itself is the motive for the murders.

Cage is certain an old grudge is setting him up for murder but the evidence against him is mounting and time is running out. Dani believes she can find the truth before Cage is arrested but her search for answers will uncover a descent into madness that should have stayed buried.

After the death of her mother, Dani pursues their dream of buying and restoring a plantation and moves from Indianapolis to Mississippi when she purchases Ironwood Plantation.  As a specialist in historical renovation, she luckily lands a job nearby.  Cage is a local cop who had been hired to be the caretaker of the plantation ... he gets his back up when a Yankee has bought his beloved plantation.

A skeleton is discovered in the basement and days later, two fresh corpses are found nearby.  Cage, as the caretaker, is a suspect.  Dani gets to know Cage, believes in his innocence and works with him and his friends to prove it.  Does it have something to do with the rumoured hidden room which may still have treasures from the owners during the Civil War?  Or does it have something to do with the big bad developers who wanted to buy Ironwood and demolish it so they can build a resort?

This is the third book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style and thought it flowed well.  The language isn't offensive (just a couple "sh!ts").  The ending had an interesting twist and I was satisfied with it.

I liked the characters.  It was fun to read the contrasts between Dani (a "Yankee") and Cage (a "Southern gentleman").  When the story begins, Cage is still heartbroken that Jaymee chose Nick (Cage's dead sister's widower) over him so that causes some initial conflict.  Of course, Dani doesn't know the history between them and they don't want to talk about.  There are lots of supporting characters who are involved in what's going on ... you don't know who is innocent 'til the end.

Though it is the sequel to Tin God, it also works well as a stand alone.  There are references to the happenings in the Tin God but doesn't give them away.  Characters brought back from Tin God are Cage, Jaymee and Nick.  There will be a final sequel ... it will be interesting to see who is in it and I look forward to reading it.

I received a copy of this ebook from the author at no charge in exchange for my honest review. 

Book ~ "Tin God" (2013) Stacy Green

From Goodreads ~ Getting pregnant as a teenager and being coerced into giving her baby up for adoption left a festering scar on Jaymee Ballard’s life. Trapped by poverty and without many allies, Jaymee nearly gives up hope of getting her daughter back after her best friend is murdered. Now, four years later, a wealthy woman with legal connections hires her as a housekeeper and Jaymee gathers the courage to seek her help. But Jaymee’s last chance ends up in a puddle of blood in one of the historic antebellum mansions in Roselea, Mississippi.

I just murdered your wife … again.

An unsigned letter consisting of six horrifying words turns Nick Samuels' stagnant life upside down. Stuck in emotional purgatory since his wife’s unsolved murder four years ago, Nick is about to self-destruct. The arrival of the letter claiming credit for his wife’s murder and boasting of a new kill sends Nick to Roselea, where he and Jaymee’s worlds collide.

Jaymee and Nick realize exposing the truth about her daughter’s adoption is the only way to solve the murders. Up against years of deception, they rush to identify the killer before the evidence - and Jaymee’s daughter - are lost.

But the truth doesn’t always set the guilt-ridden free. Sometimes, it destroys them.

Jaymee lives in a rundown trailer park in Roselea.  She works in a diner full-time and cleans Rebecca's historic mansion once a week.  She's saving all her money to hire a lawyer so she can find the daughter she was forced to put up for adoption seven years ago when she was a teenager.  Paul, her abusive father, feels she is shaming their family name and beats his wife if Jaymee makes contact.

Nick is a reporter in Jackson whose wife, Lana, was murdered four years ago and the killer was never found.  To avoid his grief, he works all the time.

When Rebecca is found murdered similar to Lana (who was Jaymee's best friend), Nick receives a letter that says his wife has been murdered again.  He rushes to her hometown in hopes of finding out what happened.

Cage is a cop and Lana's brother.  He is Jaymee's good friend but he has deeper feelings for her than she has for him.  Jaymee and Nick are drawn together which doesn't make Cage very happy.

The story follows Jaymee, Nick and Cage as they seek to solve the murders which seem to be tied together.

The term "tin god" refers to Holden Wilcher, who is a TV evangelist from Roselea now living in Jackson.  

"Idol worshippers in Biblical times often prayed to idols made of metal.  Christians (worshippers of the one true God) believed these to be false gods.  A tin god is a false god, an idol who's worshipped by those too ignorant to understand his treachery.

Holden is best friends with Jaymee's father and could be into something shifty.

I liked the writing style.  I found it started out a bit slow but picked up about a quarter of the way in.  The characters were well-developed. I found Paul a bit extreme, though.  He was always raging about something and everyone put up with it.  If he was that big of an A-hole and a bully, why didn't anyone ever attack him (wearing a mask perhaps?) and give him a taste of what he dished out?!

This book had lots of twists and turns and I didn't know who the murderer(s) was/were until it was revealed towards the end.  I wasn't expecting it but I bought it.  The ending was wrapped up very quickly.
 
I received a copy of this ebook from the author at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Book ~ "Into the Dark" (2012) Stacy Green

From Goodreads ~ It's the moments from our past that bind us.

Branch Manager Emilie Davis is having a day like any other – until two masked men storm into WestOne Bank demanding cash. Her hopes of a quick end to her terror are dashed when she realizes one of the men has no interest in the bank’s money. Emilie is his prize and he’s come to claim her.

When hostage negotiator Nathan Madigan and Las Vegas SWAT enter the bank on a rescue mission, Emilie’s captor makes a shocking escape into the abyss that lies beneath the city: the Las Vegas storm drains, a refuge for the downtrodden and the desperate.

How will it end?

Who is the man the media has dubbed the “Taker?” Why is he after Emilie and what is the connection he’s convinced they share?

Emilie can’t run from the Taker and she can’t escape her own past. As her life closes in on her, she has nowhere to turn but to Nathan. The lines of professionalism blur as Nathan becomes determined to save Emilie. Together they venture into the depths beneath Las Vegas and discover a shocking piece of the puzzle.

But the Taker remains one step ahead. Desperate for the threat to emerge from the shadows, Emilie makes a bold move to reclaim her life, and it may cost her everything.

There is an attempted robbery at the bank and Joe, one of the robbers, is the mouthpiece.  Emilie, the bank manager, is kept separate from the others by who will later be dubbed "the Taker".  Nathan is the hostage negotiator.  The Taker eventually escapes into the tunnels that were built under the bank years ago and continues to stalk Emilie.

Emilie doesn't feel safe and she doesn't have a lot of confidence that the police will be able to catch the Taker.  She has not family for support and Nathan are drawn to each other.  Besides Nathan, she doesn't know who to trust.  Are there insiders in the bank?  Will the police find the Taker or will Emilie have to take matters into her own hands and find him herself?

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style.  It was well-paced and interesting ... I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next.

I liked that there were different elements in the story in addition to the kidnapping including Emilie's lack of relationship with her mother (and why) and Nathan's guilt over the death of his uncle many years ago (and that his dad blamed him) so we get to know more about them.

We know who the kidnapper is from the beginning but it's not 'til the end that it's confirmed why.

I'd like to read others by this author.