Dying to Kill

Angel Delaney Mysteries #2

by Patricia H. Rushford

Even though Angel Delaney is on leave from the police force, she finds herself playing detective in the middle of a multiple murder investigation. Shunning the advice of local law enforcement and her almost-boyfriend, Callen, Angel becomes a private eye and exposes secrets and suspects. As she tries to guess who the next victim might be, another man is killed, with all the evidence pointing to Angel's close friend. When both the new suspect and Callen disappear, Angel must find a way to solve this mystery before it's too late. "Dying to Kill" weaves a delicious web of suspense, thrill, and intrigue-a mystery that will leave readers coming back for more.

Genres: Mystery, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Mystery Thriller, Murder Mystery, Detective

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Patricia H. Rushford, an award winning author and speaker, has extensive experience in writing and has authored over sixty books, both fiction and non-fiction. In addition to having a nursing degree and masters in counseling, she is also an artist and quilter.

The Jennie McGrady Mysteries for young adults have sold well over 500,000 copies. Silent Witness won the Silver Angel Award for Excellence in Media and was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America. She also wrote the Max & Me Mysteries for middle grade.

The various mystery series for adults continue to receive great reviews. Her series include, The Helen Bradley Mysteries, The Angel Delaney Mysteries, The McAllister Files and her latest, the Artisan Mysteries.

Her newest releases are: Watercolor Dreams, Deadly Deception and The Quiltmaker's Daughter, both are romantic suspense novels featuring artists.
She has been awarded the Golden Quill Award by RWA- Desert Rose Chapter and earned honorable mention in the Silver Angel Awards.

Patricia is a member of ACFW and a number of other writing organizations. She has participated in such mystery events such as Bouchercon--the World Mystery Convention, Left Coast Crime, and other conventions for lovers of mystery and suspense. She manages a website and blog and has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads and Linked-in and also generates a newsletter. Called Mysterious Musings.

Additional info at www.patriciarushfordbooks.com

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

Another will written police family and friends relationships adventure thriller novel by Patricia H. Rushford (Angel Delaney Mysteries book 2 of 3).Angel 👼 Delaney is on leave from the police department do to death on the last case. There is a murder of a husband of the woman 🚺 friend of Angel's mother. This is the second husband to death of a husband. When the wife gets arrested Angel 👼 gets involved as a PI for the wife's attorney. Another husband goes missing, then Angel's boyfriend is missing. Angel 👼 solves the murders leading to the arrest of the killers. I would recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of mystery novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa read books 📚. 2023 👒😤😮🏡

I listened to book one in the series in 2019. Happy reading and have fun 🌙😀

[Kim Collins]

I thought I had it figured out…SO MANY times!! Such a good read, I did not want to put it down.

[SK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rate 4.4 - I was hooked on Angel Delaney Mystery Series after book 1, “Deadly Aim.” In book 2, Angel is still on leave from the police force and that delineated period gives her time to reflect, reengage, and reimage. Angel’s two weeks leave from the force, turns into weeks, but gives her time to reflect on family, relationships between God and man, career, and life. Angel has never been real connected to her mother, instead a real “Daddy’s girl,” but this time away from the job allows for reengagement with her mother and gives her a chance to work on some skill-sets she never processed. She is also trying to learn to relate to a father, who is now totally incapacitated, no longer the larger-than-life Frank/Cop/Dad. Her time away from the force allows her to dream or reimage what else she could do with her life. These life events weave in, around, and through this murder mystery, which yanks Angel into the murder vortex, continually knocking her life out of balance.
I appreciate that this book is a straight up mystery, but also that the people involved are human with real-life issues. There are multiple levels of deception and violence that are gripping, but still I was never overwhelmed. Angel experiences intense animosity from her former, fellow cops, when she agrees to act as a private detective for Rachel her friend (we met in book 1). You are kept guessing as to who killed who, up until the very end. The relationship with Callen is developed in a credible way with chilling connections to Angel’s investigations. Author Patricia Rushford is a master at connecting various threads in a story that seemed at first blush to be distinct and disconnected, which adds to the mystery and keeps hidden all the players. Looking forward to reading book three.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really have enjoyed this series and will be starting book 3 right away. Great characters and great storyline. Plenty of mysteries to solve with a little romance. The author had me guessing through the end. Definitely recommend!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story AGAIN!.

I enjoyed the second book in the Angel Delaney Mystery and I'm looking forward to the third installment. So many suspects and a mystery within the mystery. I love having a strong female lead who is smart and strong.

[Candee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally unimpressive

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first Angel Delaney book, Deadly Aim, in 2014. I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this one. And I certainly won't wait until 2028 to read the third.

[Natalie Minihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

She does it again 👏🏼 These mysteries are hard to put down. I’m excited to see how things with Angel wrap up in the final book. Again 5/5 would recommend to any mystery fan!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, kind of corny..
Angels the best she always knows what’s going to happen.
Just to predictable and boastful for me.
Appears to be no character development.

[StephanieD · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

It feels outdated (published early 2000s) but was enjoyable enough. A reminder that men are trash 😠

[Tamara Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished, AS GOOD AS DEAD, the third book in the Angel Delaney Mysteries by Patricia Rushford. What a great read! I thoroughly enjoyed all three books. The action, suspense, twists and turns, it had it all. Add that with a little romance and you have yourself a wonderful book filled with intriguing characters and fascinating plot lines.

Book one, DEADLY AIM, follows Angel Delaney as she struggles to deal with the death of a kid that she's shot in a gang related robbery, she begins to question why it is she is a cop. Is it what she wants to do or has she gotten involved in law enforcement to try and earn the love and respect of her father, a veteran cop himself?

In DYING TO KILL, Angel decides to step back from police work and try her hand at being a Private Investigator. When a string of murders happens, all link to her therapist, Angel gets involved. As her list of suspects grows, Angel herself is threatened. She now must figure out who the killer is before she is the next victim.

In AS GOOD AS DEAD, Angel deals with a loss that motivates her to find her brother who vanished several series ago. When Nick, a fellow cop and best friend to her brother Luke is shot and left for dead, she realizes Luke might not be that far away after all. Though she is ever convinced her brother is innocent of what he has been accused of, she realizes she will never know the truth until she can ask him herself.

Along with great plot lines, Patricia introduces a measure of romance in book one, in the form of Callen, the investigator assigned to her officer involved shooting. Though, he is struggling with the death of his wife, he is drawn to Angel. We get to watch there relationship grow and define itself throughout all three books.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Angel Delaney Mysteries. They were quick reads and kept you guessing until the end.

[Honeybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Angel Delaney series did not disappoint. Still on leave from the Sunset Cove Police Department after her involvement in the shooting death of a twelve-year-old boy, Angel is called to the scene of a murder by the wife of the victim. Local police arrest Candace, who cleaned up the crime scene after she found her husband's body. They consider it an open-and-shut case, but Angel is certain the woman is innocent.

Hired as a private investigator by Candace's lawyer, Rachel, Angel checks into an ever-growing list of suspects--including the victim's stepdaughter. So many people have motive, but few are without convincing alibis. After talking to members of Candice's abused women support group, Angel can't help but think that Candice's husband's death and that of another abusive husband are related and that one or more of the women are responsible.

Meanwhile, her detective friend, Callen (introduced in the previous novel), is working on a case with a missing teen who was abducted, sexually assaulted and killed. His suspect list and Angel's seem to have some common denominators. Are they related?

This novel kept me guessing until the very end. Not only that, but both Angel and Callen find themselves in deadly peril over their two cases. The theme of domestic abuse is sensitively handled, and the author does a good job of developing her characters, as well as the plot.

If you are looking for a good mystery/suspense novel that is clean but not sappy, then this is a good choice. Make sure you read the author's first book, Kill Shot, so you understand the most important characters. The end of Dying to Kill leads right into the next one, which I have already started reading.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book #2 in the Angel Delaney mystery series. I loved every book that I've ever read by Patricia Rushford and this series is no exception. I really like the main character, Angel, as she struggles with her decision to be a cop or not. In this book she's on leave from the force and after getting involved with a serial killer of abusive husbands she takes on the job as P.I. Of course this puts her right in the middle of all the danger. She also struggles with the approval of her father, a disabled cop who can no longer speak due to a stroke but she feels that he disapproves of her for leaving the force. I also really like her boyfriend, Callen, who is an Oregon State Policeman. Set on the Oregon coast, you can almost hear the waves splashing as you read. I'll be looking for book #3 pronto.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what to think about this book. I read it in two afternoons, and it was a nice, frivolous read. Despite it's page-turning qualities, it was riddled with blatant mistakes (not typos, I'm talking really poor editing...) and whole sequences that I found to be completely pointless. It was predictable, but I found the ending to be somewhat contrived and unbelievable. I could go on, but I would just be critisizing the poor book to death. It's just a fun read, nothing to be taken too seriously.

[Carol Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars for this murder mystery. A different kind of read for me, and I found it enjoyable, but a bit repetitive in parts as Angel Delaney, cop turned private investigator, kept speculating about the murderer, as the investigation proceeded. I thought too much information was offered to the reader, which may or may not have been guessed, but which was unnecessarily laid out numerous times. This is part of a series of mystery novels, and I can see that readers could become attached to Angel Delaney. She's a good character and the writing style is easy to follow.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was better than the first one. Ms. Rushford has done a better job of syncing her characters' spiritual life with the flow of the book. It feels less preachy and more natural. The story-line was well thought-out and made me care about the characters. I will read book 3 because I want to know what happens to the characters and because I am curious to see if the author continues to mature as a writer.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Angel series and it was just as enjoyable as the first book. Ms Rushford does an excellent job leaving hints, yet supplying a slight twist here and there. Though I guess who the killer was, there was enough plot twists through the book, including the resolution, to keep me from being bored by a formulatic approach. I will be looking for a copy of the third book to read.

[Ms M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too good to put down

A good rainy day, favorite quilt, hot tea, comfortable perch, kind of book. I read the first and loved it, was not disappointed with this, the second, and look forward to the third. Rushford treats strong characters gently without over the top quirkiness and their lives, families, and decimals with respect. The conflicts--mysteries--are based on real problems of communities big and small.

[Beauty Transforming · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a pretty good book. Wasn't a page turner like some, although is was not dull by any means. It really picked up abut half-way through. Ending was semi-predictable. WIll be reading lots more of her books. Overall I did enjoy it =)

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner from Patricia Rushford

I really love the suspense in this series. The characters the author has created are so likeable and real. I love the twisted ending. I thought I knew who done it, but I was surprised. On to book #3.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading 'the next chapter' in Angel's life, even though it came with its fair share of heartache. The mystery portion was well done, and I had no idea 'whodunit' until it was revealed at the end! Definitely looking forward to the next Angel Delaney mystery!

[Carolyn E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!! I could not put it down. I am looking forward to reading the third book in this series, As Good as Dead

[Clifford Blaze Sr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard to like the book,

But I DID. ONCE I got beyond the man and father hating it was an interesting and different mystery. Undecided as to the next one, given what I mentioned.

[LeReese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

Angel Delaney keeps the story suspenseful. This is not a predictable novel. Lots of twists and turns. Angel is intent on solving the case by any means necessary and contrary to popular demand.

[Karen Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, I am a big fan of this series. It is far better than her Helen Bradley mysteries. The whodunit is always a fun/thrilling guessing game.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rushford kept me on my toes! Good suspense, lot's of suspects and she surprised me. I like that!!

[Norisrivera4yahoo.com Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

was good

[Eydie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this character series, and I like the author, Patricia Rushford. Who-Done-It is not so easy to figure out (for a change). Good series and very good progression of the main character.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Good