Stevie‘s review of Close to the Bone (Widow’s Island Novella, Book 1) by Kendra Elliot
Contemporary Romantic Suspense published by Montlake Romance 23 Oct 18
Continuing my fascination with shared universes, I decided to investigate a new series by a pair of new-to-me authors, overcoming my general wariness around romantic suspense. This first book follows an FBI agent returning to her childhood home, staying with the grandmother who raised her while on medical leave, although she soon finds herself embroiled in a pair of murder mysteries, one considerably older than the other, and helped by one of the two best friends from her youth.
Special Agent Cate Wilde and Deputy Tessa Black, who returned to the islands some months before Cate, made up a trio with their other best friend, Samantha Bishop, until she vanished at age fourteen. When the skeleton of a young girl is unearthed on one of the islands, both women fear the remains are those of their friend, although the more likely theory is that the bones are of a girl who disappeared two years before, the daughter of a reclusive writer. Due to her personal connection with the case, and the increased isolation of the islands while the one ferry to the mainland is out of commission, Cate agrees to help Tessa’s investigation into the identity of the skeleton and the mystery of how she came to be buried where she was found. As a further incentive, the islands’ new doctor and coroner, Henry Powers, seems as interested in Cate as she finds she is in him.
As the investigation gets underway, Cate remembers more and more about the events leading up to Samantha’s disappearance, including some out-of-character behaviour and sneaking around, which the other two girls had not joined in at the time, and which now seems to point to Samantha having been involved with someone local, who then did away with her. Although the body turns out not to be Samantha, new clues are uncovered, while Cate grows closer to Henry. Meanwhile, we get to meet a variety of other local characters, including Cate’s grandmother, Jane, who is involved with a variety of local projects, and is a mine of information, as well as being the driving force behind a range of local activist activities.
I really like the world this novella introduces us to; however, it seemed that an awful lot was packed into the short format, meaning that the main mystery felt a little flat to me. I’m intrigued as to what more there is to learn about Samantha, though, as well as by the prospect of seeing how a different author is going to tackle the same setting and characters.
Grade: C
Summary:
FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde is back home on a remote Pacific Northwest island when she gets the call: a teenager’s skeletal remains have been found on a nearby island.
Together with Tessa Black, a childhood friend turned local deputy, Cate confronts dreary weather and bleak leads to make sense of the death. The complications pile up as Cate is distracted by the coroner on the case—and by nagging memories that draw her twenty years into the past. The remains suggest eerie similarities between this victim, and Cate and Tessa’s friend Samantha, who disappeared when she was fourteen.
Cate finds herself up against closemouthed locals, buried town secrets, and even her own heart. As the case unravels, will she be able to cut through the fog and find justice for the missing and the dead?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
