A Dangerous Past

by Susan Gee Heino

Tracking down a killer…

and healing old wounds.

When police officer and chaplain Gabe Elliot hears a disturbing deathbed confession, he turns to the one person who can help—the fiancée he left behind ten years ago. As the small town’s archivist, Brinna Jenson has the skills to investigate the fifty-year-old murder. And she’s determined to find out whether her best friend’s dying grandfather is responsible for covering up a heinous crime. But between break-ins and threats, a shadowy figure pursues them. If Brinna and Gabe want to claim their second chance at love, they’ll have to survive…

Genres: Romantic Suspense

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 25, 2025

About the author

Susan Gee Heino began her writing career in the theatre. After several years of poverty and obscurity, her love of the English Regency time period led her to writing historical romance. In 2008 she won Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award (R) for Best Regency Historical and has become a national bestseller. Today she resides in rural Ohio with a menagerie of pets, her minister husband, and two frighteningly creative children. She loves to hear from readers!

Reviews

[Sheila]

This book was ok. I could tell what happened pretty early on in the book.

[Ethelann]

First time reading this author. The story line was pretty good. Just a little slow to me.

[Julie]

Great book! Easy read and kept me wanting to know more . A real who done it.

[Jeff Reynolds]

Should Gabe Elliot respond like the hospital chaplain he is and keep a 50 year old secret shared by a patient? Or should he as the police officer he is investigate this possible murder in spite of the ghosts and skeletons he'll dig up? And should Brinna Jenson trust the man who promised to marry her but didn't to keep from stirring up accusations against her grandfather that were currently in the distant past?

"A Dangerous Past" is the first story I've had the honor of reading by Susan Gee Heino, and I have no intention of it being the last. She did an excellent job developing Gabe and Brinna, and the plot kept me guessing how it would turn out.

Would you permit me to pretend to be a literary critic here? Having read 85 Love Inspired Suspense prior to this, I'm used to having a car chase, an attempted abduction, or someone taking target practice at one of the main characters before the first chapter's halfway done. With those earned expectations, "A Dangerous Past" might seem slow-moving. My opinion? This book has more of a mystery story arc than a suspense one. If you seem to think this book might be dragging - as I did early on - don't give up on it! It is an inspiring read, and as I implied above, it's a first class mystery, with plenty of suspects and surprises.

[Paige Lynn]

The plot moved a little slow for me. However, I'm a fan of the hero in this one. He owned his mistakes and was just an all-around good guy despite not being perfect. The mystery was also good. I didn't guess it, but I did guess the reporters true identity correctly. I wasn't a fan of the heroine. I also wished the theme of giving your all to a man over God was leaned into a little more. Otherwise, everyone showed true character and earnestness.

[Karen Torrance]

I was intrigued from the very first page. Because I never try to figure out the ending, I was reading the last chapters before I figured it out. The twists and turns were very interesting. Really a great book.