Shadows In Deerview

by Victor Dain

A body in the café…
An unexpected tie to a hidden past…
Jack Dawson’s quiet life is shattered as secrets claw their way into the light.

Retired detective Jack Dawson thought farming in Deerview was the escape. The café’s owner, Nora Parker, stumbles upon a corpse, and mystery calls him back. The victim, a relative linked to Jack’s past, hides a family secret. Abductions rattle the town, with a tangled web of old friends and new faces holding the threads. Nora, with her curious charm, dives headfirst into danger, pulling Jack along. Together, they unravel lies and track a shadowy figure orchestrating chaos to conceal their tracks. Unseen hands manipulate, but each clue pulls Jack deeper, unearthing ties to a criminal cartel masked in his family’s history.

With a daring plan, they race against time, drawn into a sinister showdown. Secrets teeter on the edge of revelation in an abandoned barn. Jack’s detective instincts clash against the mastermind’s ploys, Nora's resourcefulness lighting the path. Will they untangle the web before another life is stolen? In a narrative where the truth is elusive, every page turn beckons with the lure of discovery. Deerview’s peace hangs by a slender thread as the past's shadows threaten the present.

51 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2024

About the author

Victor Dain writes charming, twist-filled cozy mysteries packed with small-town secrets, witty sleuths, and mischievous pets. If you love heartwarming whodunits with plenty of intrigue, you’re in the right place!

Reviews

[Cornel Diaconu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but full of action, and some turns and twists

[Carrie O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy read. Murder mystery. Novella.

A new author to me, I found Victor Dain's Shadows In Deerview an engaging tale. Fast paced. Intrigue galore. This makes me think of dime-store novels. It had an older feel to the entire way the story is told. Quite marvelous in its own way.

Not too long, and just short enough. "The network runs deeper than you'll ever know," feels like shades of "Hail Hydra." You think you've destroyed the enemy... and yet... but Jack & Nora could pull me into reading a sequel or two, or six.

[Pierrebleu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly tense short story.

However, the story loses its own thread and becomes disjointed toward the end with different narratives for exactly the same event but without explanation.

Earlier in the story Nora started discussing facts about a person she’d never met.

A sinister character arrives the day after getting told about him by someone else but they didn’t put two and two together to identify him as the same person.

Quite poorly written.

[karin whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this short story from ARC. This is my review. A modern-day cowboy story. Jack and Nora are in the crosshairs of some really bad men. Only 52 pages pack a punch! A well-developed plot without a bunch of descriptions, kept me busy trying to figure who did what, A good, surprising little gem!

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely engaging.

Jack is a retired detective drawn into the investigation of a murder at a local cafe - that sounds reasonable. One problem is that the victim is a criminal cousin of Jack and the cousin has under ground connections.

It's short but fun.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Did not care for writing style. Seems like a novice was writing this story!

[Teresa Tavener · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this was supposed to be a novella but it was too rushed. Not enjoyable at all.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Dain is a new author to me. I found his book to be compelling. The mystery well written and the action fast paced. I liked both MC's. I hope this will be a new series. Recommend reading.

[Megan Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice mystery.