What We Found

by Kris Bock

A summer afternoon.
A stranger’s body.
A life changed forever.
And above, a hunter watches....

When Audra stumbles on a murdered woman in the woods, more than one person isn't happy about her bringing the crime to light. She’ll have to stand up for herself in order to stand up for the murder victim. It’s a risk, and so is reaching out to the mysterious young man who works with deadly birds of prey. But with danger all around, some risks are worth taking.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Romantic Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks, Suspense

ebook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Be sure to follow Kris on BookBub for the latest releases and sales: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kris-...

Kris Bock writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance, many with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. This humorous series starts with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven. Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for her newsletter: https://sendfox.com/KrisBock

Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Get a free 10,000-word story set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter: https://sendfox.com/lp/1g5nx3 You’ll also get a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels.

Kris Bock also writes novels of suspense and romance with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town.

“Smart romance with an 'Indiana Jones' feel,”

Kris's Southwest Treasure Hunters novels each stand alone and are complete, with no cliffhangers. This series mixes action and adventure with romance. The stories explore the Southwest, especially New Mexico. Desert Gold follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. In Valley of Gems, estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure by following a series of complex clues. In Silver Canyon, sparks fly when reader favorites Camie and Tiger help a mysterious man track down his missing uncle.

Fans of Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Terry Odell will want to check out Kris Bock’s romantic adventures. “Counterfeits is the kind of romantic suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary Stewart’s Moonspinners.” 5 Stars – Roberta at Sensuous Reviews blog

Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page at https://www.amazon.com/author/krisbock

Ms. Bock also writes for young people under the name Chris Eboch. The Eyes of Pharaoh is an action-packed mystery set in ancient Egypt. In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone challenging his power. The Haunted series follows a brother and sister who travel with their parents’ ghost hunter TV show and try to help the ghosts while keeping their activities secret from meddling grownups. It begins with The Ghost on the Stairs.

Read excerpts at www.chriseboch.com.

Reviews

[Carl Brookins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel rich in details. So rich in fact, the plot is occasionally bogged down and the pace becomes glacial. On another level, the location of the story, the town, the state, the unique characteristics of the locale are often ignored. Too bad, because there’s an enriching mother lode of detail available.

The story line is not particularly unusual, but it has potent possibilities. A young woman, Audra, returns to her small hometown to a good job after college. She’s there for altruistic reasons, to protect her younger brother, a bright boy of twelve, from her man-hating dominating mother. The mother is an interesting character, as is the boy, Ricky. Hardly settled into her job at a fashionable resort, Audra goes for a walk in the woods and discovers a body. It turns out that Audra is herself a bundle of nerves and contradictions packaged in a fairly attractive body.

Unfortunately Audra whines and seems to collapse at the least opportunity. That’s unfortunate and detracts from a really good idea whose full potential is never quite reached. The story and setting are well-done and rich in useful detail. I just wanted to like the central character a lot more.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part murder mystery, part romance, part coming-of-age, WHAT WE FOUND had the potential to derail itself with too many moving parts. But it held together until the very end. The mystery had a "Nancy Drew Grows Up" sort of vibe, and I mean in that in a really good way. Audra is like Nancy, intrigued by a mystery that she can't ignore, even though it could be dangerous to pursue the truth, even though the police consider her a suspect when she finds more clues than they do. Like Nancy, Audra isn't deterred. She questions her own choices, wonders at the wisdom of what she's doing, puts people she loves in jeopardy, but ultimately has to do what she thinks is right, all hallmarks of the hero's journey and coming of age. Add in a dose of steamy romance, and WHAT WE FOUND strikes the right balance.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fresh out of college, 22-year-old Audra lands her first job at a resort in New Mexico. When she finds a dead body while on a walk with the boss's son, it could be a career-ending move if she reports it. Audra does report the murder, and her brother talks her into trying to solve the mystery with him. But Audra finds herself with more mysteries than she bargained for. Not only is she threatened by her boss and his son, but she falls for a mystery man, who also has a secret. In this mystery murder Romance, WHAT WE FOUND, Audra struggles with who to trust. Will the mysteries be her undoing? Kris Bock writes a suspenseful murder mystery romance that will leave you guessing until the last page.

What I like about this book is that the Romance is light, yet realistic.

[Nick Wilford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining read with a great sense of menace. The narrator has recently returned to her home town to work and already feels like an outsider; her problems just get worse when she discovers a body in the woods. The author has done a great job of taking us inside this gutsy protagonist's thought process at every step of the way, and she ultimately emerges as a sensible heroine who wants to do the right thing in spite of adversity. Recommended if you like tense mysteries with a touch of romance!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't what I expected good story line and characters who aren't one dimensional.

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

If someone had said to me, "You should read this book -- it's a great romantic suspense novel," I would have shook my head and tried to be polite as I explained I just don't read romance novels. But I was sold when I read a post the author wrote on the Motive Means Opportunity blog about how she was led to write this book by a personal experience: she'd discovered a body while hiking.

My husband and I hike a lot. In many places. In many remote places. We've never found a body, but we sometimes speculate: "Do you think a body is under that tattered piece of cloth over there?" I couldn't imagine that actually happening.

So I couldn't resist getting a copy. And after I did, I couldn't stop reading.

First, I love the main character's name: Audra. I'd met an Audra once, and she was a lovely, gifted (though troubled) teenager. I even named a character in a short story after her.

Audra is faced with a real-life dilemma: do you do the right thing, or do you do the easy thing? When you "meet" her mother, you understand why doing the easy thing was Audra's first choice. Mother is not easy to please.

Audra's desire to keep a low profile while doing a good job at her new position goes out the window. Her fellow staffers at the resort in her old hometown find out she'd not only discovered a body but might have something to do with it. She gives in to her younger brother's plea to investigate not only to keep him safe, but to clear her name.

Along the way she meets a fascinating falconer, struggles to confront her overbearing mother and protect her brother, all while dodging false accusations and wayward golf balls.

I honestly couldn't put this down. Kudos to Kris Bock for giving us a memorable heroine in an engaging plot.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given a copy of the ebook in exchanged for my honest opinion.

In this book, you have
-Mystery
-Murder
-A little Romance
-Harassment

Audra is a college graduate. She went back home to take a job at the Mountain Inn and Resort. What would you do if you found a died body in the woods? Run? Scream? Would go call the police? Would you do nothing?

I feel bad for Audra because of the harassment from her boss and his son. I think the son is hiding something. I am not going to say what I think he is up to.

Audra's mother has a point of view on men that is something else. I feel bad for her brother. Audra is a good big sister, who wants to protect her brother from the verbal abuse from their mother.

This book had me so curious. You will see I say that a lot about a book with so much mystery in it. Who killed the person? I don't want to give away too many details. It is better to read them yourself. This book definitely had me wondering a lot of questions:
-Who?
-Where? (this has to be explained in details, but I won't get into it)
-Why? (I think this is the big question to know)
-What?

☆☆☆☆☆
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Would I recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Would I read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

[Julianne Redmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading What We Found.

It's mystery, romance, and coming-of-age story all wrapped into one. I enjoyed the plot line and the fact that it wrapped up nicely in the end without going off on some weird twist. The points of the "investigation" were easy to follow one by one and there were even little clues as to the true identity from soon after the body was found. If you go back through the book after you are finished you will have several "a-ha!" moments.

I truly liked the characters as well. All of them are multi-faceted and complicated but genuinely good people (well...except for the killer LOL). It seems like the story is going off in a lot of different directions, but when does real life ever just have you dealing with one thing at a time? The story and characters seemed more real to me because of the fact that they were trying to handle multiple happenings at once.

I absolutely love the rich detail in the settings. Like the trouble that Audra had walking in the field (not really a spoiler)...I could feel how uncomfortable she must of been trying to traverse the uneven, rocky terrain in her work shoes. Little things like that really help me to get immersed in a story and forget the rest of the world.

A fun read for lovers of mystery and romance.

[Niki Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good murder/mystery with some romance on the side. A well thought out story line keeps you trying to figure out who did the dead, while we watch Audra and Ricky play The hardy boys finding clues to help lead the way. There were a lot of players all used to misdirect the reader and enhance the plot. The relationship that develops between Audra and Kyle is very sweet and touching,delivering a message about the struggles our returning military face when they return home to civilian life. I am usually really good at finding the bad guy when I read these type of books and I have to say I was not sure until right up to the point they revealed themselves. I found the character interactions realistic and even though I thought Audra needed to get some back bone it was a very entertaining read. I was surprised to find out that people do not report crimes like dead bodies and it is in fact quite common. I would think that would be the one thing everyone reported. A great reading experience and I look forward to checking out other books by this author.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What We Found was a well written and realistic book. I would call it less mystery and more suspense, to me the story was more about the events leading up to the conclusion than a who-done-it story. At points Audra drove me a little nuts, she was very insecure and weak, but as the story progressed, her character grew, which I enjoyed. I loved Kyle and Ricky, they both were well developed and Ricky's character really instigated Audra and helped her to grow. I think this was a great story including a sweet romance that didn't steal the focus off the action.

[MARILYN HOLLINGSWORTH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak heroine

The heroine is so weak and whiney, I disliked her at once. And she has the coordination of a newborn chick; she can barely walk across the room without falling on her a$$. A stronger character is needed.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. The main character was a little too weak/whiny for my taste. There wasn't much mystery to it, but it made it a little more realistic to not have a crazy twist ending.

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot makes this novel a decent read, but, unfortunately, the main character doesn't fit the role she plays. She comes across as insipid and awkward. What We Found could have been a 4 or 5 star had Audra been more convincing as someone who protects her younger brother, stands up to her mother, and helps solve a murder, among other things. As it is, Audra's lack of strength detracts from the positive aspects of the book, the rich details, the setting, and the sweet romance that develops between Kyle and Audra.