Veiled

Bone Secrets #3.5

by Kendra Elliot

When a dead body turns up in the hot tub at a high-end resort on the rugged Oregon Coast, forensic investigator Lacey Campbell and her fiancé, Jack Harper, realize their vacation is over.

Tragically, the dead woman is dressed in a wedding gown, even more disturbing for Lacey since she’s about to become a bride. When the victim turns out to be a popular bartender with a bad-news ex-husband, it looks like a domestic quarrel turned deadly. But could there be something more sinister going on in this tight-knit community? Swept into the investigation, Lacey uncovers a killer with a morbid perspective on marriage.

From master of romantic suspense Kendra Elliot comes a fast-paced tale of obsession and murder.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook, Novella

79 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 4, 2013

About the author

An Amazon #1 selling author, Kendra Elliot has sold over 14 Million books and been on the WSJ best seller more than a dozen times.

She grew up in the lush Pacific Northwest and still lives, but spends most of the time in the high desert in flip flops.

Reviews

[Selene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singular POV, third-person, likable characters. The writing style was simple and the mystery aspect intriguing, but this story was just OK. Nothing really stood out for me.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While searching for a wedding venue, Lacey Campbell and Jack Harper are visiting a high-end resort on the Oregon Coast when they discover a body in the hot tub. The victim is Patty Marino, a local woman who tends bar in town. Her body was found dressed in a wedding dress and floating facedown in the hot tub. The local police chief is a friend of Jack. Since he only has officers on his staff, he asks Jack and Lacey to help him with the investigation.

Jack and Lacey were the hero and heroine from Kendra Elliot's first book, Hidden. In this short story, they help the police investigate a murder. It's an enjoyable but short mystery. My rating: 3.5 Stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid novella. Decent plot development for a short work and no sex which was appreciated. I liked the two MCs more in this one than in their main book. Lol.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the previous books but "Veiled" just didn't do it for me. The plot and characters were fine, I just felt that it lacked the spark that the previous books had. I don't think it was the novella format, generally I love the fast and furious pace of a novella. There wasn't much to choose from for the baddie and the motive was not well presented. It was a fun way to spend the day, but nothing special, like the full length books are. It did accomplish the purpose of getting my mind off the last terrible book I read. For that it gets an extra star.

Lacy Campbell and Jack Harper are scouting possible wedding venues are are at an exclusive spa/resort on the scenic Oregon Coast with a view to die for, literally. Lacy wakes up takes her coffee outside to see the stunning view and finds a body floating in the resort hot tub. Way to make an impression.

The new police chief turns out to be an old friend of Jack's and they are drawn into the investigation in this small town that hasn't had a murder in forever. The victim was found in a wedding dress, but she was the divorced local bartender. Way to make a statement at this recently renovated venue. The first suspect, the ex, well let's just say he was indisposed. It seems that small towns have a lot of secrets and someone is holding a grudge.

[Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay if you're into this series. Otherwise, meh.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veiled was an excellent addition to the Bone Secrets series following the couple from Hidden where they find a body while on vacation.

Lacey Campbell and her fiancé, Jack Harper, are staying at a high-end resort on the Oregon coast while searching for a potential wedding venue when they find a woman's body in the hot tub. Dressed in a wedding gown, it would appear a bride died tragically but then the woman turns out to be a local bartender who isn't getting married. Swept into the investigation, Lacey and Jack find themselves on the trail of a killer with a morbid obsession with marriage.

I really enjoyed Lacey and Jack's romance in Hidden so I was excited to get a little more of their story in this novella. Their romance continues to be amazing and I liked getting to see them just enjoying being together. With how short Veiled is, the story is very fast-paced and immediately kicks off with Lacey and Jack finding the woman's body. Lacey and Jack end up fairly involved in the investigation as the town's sheriff is a friend of Jack's. The case went in several directions I wasn't expecting and I was ultimately surprised by who the killer ended up being. The ending is very well done with the perfect amount of tension to keep you glued to the story.

Overall Veiled was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it for fans of the series.

[Rellim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible. Also available to borrow ebook/audio in KU. Honestly, I don't think I'd recommend purchasing the audio, even for die-hard fans of the series. While the book itself was good, especially for such a short novella ~ the narration left a lot to be desired.

Entirely from Lacy's POV ~ this is a quick little update on Jack & Lacy from Hidden (Book 1 of the Bone Secrets series) as well as tossing in a little mystery/suspense. It's a fun addition but the narrator detracts quite a bit. I'm not sure why they opted for Amy Rubinate this time around instead of Kate Rudd. Yes, this is all from a female POV but nearly ALL the other characters are male and Rubinate made them all sound exactly the same. It was impossible to tell who was talking and made following the conversations difficult.

As a KU borrow this is nice, but I'd either read it or skip. It's not pivotal to the series.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I don't like novellas, this one was well worth the read. From a picturesque view of the Pacific from the coast of Oregon, to the wooded outlying area to the east. Action from the very start and a well written murder mystery. I didn't guess who the villain was so that was a nice surprise for me. No serial killer this time, but it wasn't needed to make this a good read.

2 thumbs up and 4.5 stars (it's a novella is why I can't give it 5 stars)

[Delta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several glaring inconsistencies should have been caught by beta readers of Veiled, which would hopefully include some with law enforcement and medical experience due to the nature of the series.

#1 - The lividity on the bride/victim was fixed on the posterior side of the body, showing that she had been on her back for hours before she was placed face down in the hot tub. Later, the ME said that the hot tub had skewed the time frame for the lividity being fixed. Had that been the case, the lividity would have been on the anterior side of the body because she was face down in the hot tub.

#2 - Everyone who has taken basic first aid knows that CPR administered just minutes too late can result in resuscitating a person to a vegetative state due to irreversible brain damage from lack of oxygen. The idea that a trained former law enforcement officer would note rigor mortis in the victim and then proceed to administer chest compressions is reprehensible. That is nothing short of abuse of a corpse.

#3 - The most basic law enforcement academy training (that I went through over 35 years ago) includes death scene investigation training including attending an autopsy and discussions about rigor mortis, lividity, and stages of decomposition (including insect activity being an indicator of timeline). For Lacey, with her experience working hand-in-hand with Dr. Peres on death investigations NOT to recognize that Will’s body was in a more advanced stage of decomposition with the gaseous swelling of the body, the extreme and unmistakable odor, and clouds of black flies, is ridiculous. The hot weather was noted, but that is the norm for that part of the country, so she would presumably have had experience observing the difference between hours-old and days-old corpses in hot weather. I live in hot-and-humid Florida, and I can tell you that the differences are very obvious.

So one other minor detail that has bugged me throughout Ms. Elliott’s books (when overall I have found the stories entertaining) is the law enforcement officers referring to their hats as “cowboy hats.” I find it difficult to believe that they would, particularly in the western U.S. In the southeastern U.S., those hats are generically referred to as “Stetsons” (a brand name) by the personnel who wear them. If anyone with law enforcement connections in the northwestern U.S. would care to comment, I would like to know what the uniform Stetson-style hats are called by those who wear them.

Overall, I have found the Bone Secrets series to be worth reading if you enjoy murder-mysteries, but I found Elliott’s Mercy Kilpatrick series to be far better and also better written.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lately, I seem to have got back onto a mystery kick, and I love it. It's funny as it's not till you start reading a particular genre that you haven't in a while that you discover how much you love it. I was in the mood for a Kendra Elliot, so picked one of her short stories which I have had sitting on my Kindle for again years. The other thing that I love about this book is the cover. All of Kendra Elliot's Bone Secrets have similar covers which appeal to me. In Veiled, Jack and Lacey are ready to tie the knot finally and are currently scoping out potential marriage/honeymoon spots. The pair also finally have vacation time and head to a current popular spot. While there, though, a dead body turns up in the outside hot-tub and she's wearing a wedding dress. One thing leads to another and due to Jack and Lacey's expertise and the fact that this small town doesn't usually get a lot of dead bodies and now they are piling up will add their skills to the mix. What will happen though when the pair start to get close to the killer and the killer panics? Lacey who has had so many brushes with death, is she on her last leg as the killer needs another victim and it seems Lacey is his perfect victim?
Find out in this quick murder mystery read by Kendra Elliot. One that will have you hooked from the first page and if you have not yet discovered this author and love your crime novels, then after reading Veiled, it will make you go and purchase her backlist.

[Pennie Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was short and sweet, well with a dead body or two not so sweet, but with Jack and Lacey at a resort contemplating a destination wedding it was intriguing. A body is discovered in a hot tub with a wedding veil and that sets it all off. Lacey cannot leave it alone and, of course, Jack knows everyone involved. Twists and turns and Lacey is briefly kidnapped and I really enjoyed this one!

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's crazy how this weekend away ended for Lacey and Jack. In a way it was good they were there to help, but it sucked that they had to go through that.

[Soo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes:

Short story format is not a strong point.

[Jenny - Book Sojourner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in this series I've read. I read it for a reading challenge. But I liked the two MCs and am now curious about the rest of the series. Quick read, basic murder mystery.

[Jaci Kunz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best book I’ve ever read, but it was awesome for a short story!

[ShoSho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good

Surprisingly good for a short novella. A good mystery with enough background info and characters to make it intresting and unpredictable.

[Lise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great short story,,love the ending, couldnt figure out who did it until revealed, nice to revisit characters we saw before,

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it happy never after for Jack & Lacey?
The Bone Secrets books have started to grow on me and having finished the third book in the series, Buried, I was quite excited to get stuck into Kendra Elliot's short story, Veiled. It features Jack and Lacey who we met in the first book, Hidden. The love birds are spending the weekend at a hotel in Seaport that specialises in boutique weddings. Whilst contemplating the merit of the hotel as a wedding venue they discover a floating bride in the resort pool. The police are called and Jack is reunited with an old colleague and friend, Terry, who recently joined the police force as their Chief of Police. Before long, another body is found and Lacey is once again kidnapped and faces certain death.
Although the book was a quick read, I found it a mere straw man of Elliot's other books. It lacked a lot of meat and personality and those typical Elliot characteristics (violence, gore and twisting plots) to make it a thrilling read. I don't believe the book has added anything to the series and I could have even skipped this short story. Having said that, I'm really looking forward to Alone, the fourth book which is due for release in January 2014.

[Liljerk22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! This is a novella, book 3.5 in the Bone Secrets Novel series. This is the second book I've read from Author Kendra Elliot. Once again I was wowed by her writing. Even though it is book 3.5, I read it second, after Hidden (first in the series). There are no spoilers to books 2 and 3 in the series. We find Lacey Campbell and Jack Harper, (from Hidden), on a mini vacation on the Coast of Oregon. And it's just their luck that the first murder to happen in twenty years ends up right outside their hotel room. And it just so happens, Terry Schoenfeld, a cop from their hometown is now the police chief in the small ocean front town they're vacationing in. Terry has only been on the job for two weeks, only has two officers working that weekend, so he enlists in the help of Lacey and Jack to help solve this crime. A series of clues lead them all to an unexpected find, which leads to a shocking twist. Will they be able to find the muderer, and can they stay safe in the process? I knew after I read Hidden, I was hooked on Kendra Elliot. This quick novella only proved it. I absolutely can't wait to read the second book in the series, Chilled. I'll leave you with one of my favorite chilling lines: “I’ve got nothing to lose tonight, and you’ve got everything.”

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack and Lacey are back. We met these two in Kendra’s first book Hidden. They are at a resort scoping it out as a possible wedding venue when they find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation when a woman in a wedding dress is found floating in the resorts hot tub.

Even though this was a novella sized book we still got a good murder mystery to follow from all aspects – the interrogations to the autopsies. One thing Jack and Lacey can’t do is walk away from a murder and when they find out Jack’s old partner is the Chief of Police in the small town they decide to hang around and help solve the murder. Jack and Lacey work well together and are even closer after everything they went through in Hidden. It was great to get to revisit them again and follow them along on the investigation that has a few surprises along the way.

[Liz (Bugetta) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5* This started off well. I liked the set-up for the murder mystery and getting to see Lacey and Jack again but then I remembered that Lacey and Jack were my least favorite couple from this series (and why). And trying to pack a mystery into a 69 page novella is hard to do well, so ultimately, it had some entertaining moments (I liked Terry, the sheriff of the coastal town where the murder occurs) but the whole thing wrapped up way too quickly (my most frequent complaint about novellas) and I didn't feel like it really added anything to my enjoyment of the series. I guess this is a common problem with novellas as part of a series -- I've just had good luck with the ones I've read so far - until now.

[⚜️XAR the Bookwyrm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprising short story! I was shocked at the culprit in the story, totally had no clue about it. I didn't like how pushy the sister came across in this, even though the readers get no interaction with her! I found it interesting to see the continuation of Lacey's story, though and will recommend it to other readers of the series!

[Marleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very first read by Kendra Elliot. To be honest, whether it would be this short story or a full novel, I don’t think this is an author or a series I want to pursue. I thought it was very cliché. It all sounded like deja-vu. Maybe for a tiny minute I had hoped for something original and unprecedented, but unfortunately it all felt rather uninspired.

[Subhajit Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am simply speechless after finishing this jaw dropping read. If I say that it is a romantic crime mystery thriller, then it will be injustice to this book. I was hooked with it since the very beginning of the book. The catchy cover and the justifying title made the clearly to the curiosity of the reader. It was the capturing blurb that made me turn the pages of the book, and then I failed to even take a break to breathe properly. The gripping pace and nail biting plot grasped me completely. Story starts when two lovely couple named Lacey Campbell (a forensic odontologist) and his fiancé Jack Harper (ex detective) discovered a dead body with a Wedding gown and a veil into a hot tub. Well, they were not into that luxurious hotel for this purpose actually, but their mood of romance and relaxation came to an end after eyeing this. They couldn’t help themselves but getting involved into finding out the killer. With clues hipping by, they were inching closer to the killer, but….that was not so easy it seemed.
The killer played a cross game and Lacey was abducted suddenly. Jack didn’t have much time to rescue and save the love of his life. Will he be able to? Who was the killer and what was the reason behind that heinous crime? Is this the end of Lacey? Or…something will happen to turn the side of the chess?
Reveal the entire story by yourself. One thing is definitely to be sure- this super suspense murder mystery crime thriller will keep any reader at the edge of their seat. The twist and turns and the revelations in exact time left me in the state of shock. I completely enjoyed this highly fast paced gripping read. Would definitely like to recommend this book to every thriller lovers and mystery enthusiasts.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story that takes us back to Lacey and Jack involving dead bodies (when DON'T they stumble over dead things, though) and a small town. I have to say I like those two. After everything they went through, they're tighter than ever. A little nervous when the other is out of their sight, but that's to be expected when the person you love is nearly killed by a serial killer, I think.

Anywho. Lacey and Jack. Unexpected dead bodies. A couple of untried policemen and a police chief still getting used to the rhythms of his town. Which makes things a little...I don't know, dicey, maybe. The investigation isn't as streamlined as Lacey and jack are used to, but they help things along as best they can.

I'm digging this series and I always like revisiting old characters to see where they're at after the smoke has died down.

In other words, I liked this little nugget. A lot.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Gemini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unnecessary

This short story revisited Jack and Lacey from the first book in the series. They were on a cute lil baecation and stumbled upon a crime scene at the resort. That led to them solving two murders instead of them just being tourists. The mystery of who did it was interesting. The actual resolution and motive was just okay. Considering that the other books in the series have been full length stories with tons of layers, I didn’t understand the reason for this quick installment. I think it would’ve been better as part of a full length story drafted in the usual twisty ways that Kendra Elliot does so well.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

First let me start off by saying I don't normally read story stories. Now let me tell you about this one. I read this one because I have fallen in love with this series and this short story was part of it so I read it. Once again Kendra Elliot delivers a truly wonderful book. Even though this story isn't very long she is still able to hook you from the beginning and keep you until the end. The storyline is amazing and her way of keeping you in suspense until the end is why I love reading her and think you will too.

[Kat W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice quick listen that takes us back to couple one in this series. Lacey and Jack are on their holibobs and are suddenly drawn into an investigation to work out who k!lled the bride.

This had all the elements of Kendra’s other books in the series, a little mystery, a little suspense, a little romance (definitely not the focus of this book), and some action.

I really enjoyed Amy’s performance. She voiced the multi-POV narration really well and definitely made this an enjoyable listen.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness. These characters can’t catch a break ... even on vacation (while scoping out wedding venues)!

Thanks, Ms. Elliot, for another thriller to pad my reading stats. 😆

At the risk of spoiling the story, what was veiled was the culprit’s obsession: both for romance and revenge (against what wronged his mom). I did NOT see that end coming!

My heart goes out to audiobook narrators who have to enunciate “Jack asked” so it doesn’t end up sounding like “jack@$$ed” to juvenile ears like mine. 😂

[Anne Farrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was short and while intriguing, it did not create the level of suspense or mystery that the previous books from the Bone Secrets series did. In this book, Jake Harper and Lacey Campbell are searching for a wedding venue and when they go out on the balcony in the morning - they see a dead body floating in the pool. The new chief of police for the town is a friend of Jack's, who asks Jack and Lacey to assist with the investigation. It's pretty cut and dry and lacking the depth of the other stories. It's still a decent read - but I would stick to the rest of the Bone Secrets books.