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Reverend Lindsay Harding #2
A Death in Duck
With the new year approaching, hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding heads for a much-needed break in the peaceful resort town of Duck on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Her plan to attend the wedding of her friend Anna runs aground when a boatload of trouble washes ashore, and as the old year ticks down, the body count goes up. Thrust into the path of an increasingly desperate killer, Lindsay must uncover a sinister secret before she winds up swimming with the fishes.
Old family scandals, sunken World War II U-boats, obscene desserts, and a stolen Doberman all guarantee a far from restful break for the irreverent reverend, who makes her second appearance in this lively mystery.
Old family scandals, sunken World War II U-boats, obscene desserts, and a stolen Doberman all guarantee a far from restful break for the irreverent reverend, who makes her second appearance in this lively mystery.
9 pages, Audible Audio
Published December 22, 2015
64 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Mindy Quigley
19 books438 followersMindy Quigley is the author of two cozy mystery series: the Deep Dish Mysteries (St. Martin's Press) and the Mount Moriah Mysteries.
Her work has been featured in Parade and Woman's World. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling.
She lives in Virginia, with her Civil War history professor husband and their children.
Her work has been featured in Parade and Woman's World. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling.
She lives in Virginia, with her Civil War history professor husband and their children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 11, 2019
Audiobook. I had a break between books 1 and 2. I have to say I missed Lindsey’s quirks. A death in duck is yet again a murder wrapped around Lindsey but this time she’s on her own. The police aren’t as close to the truth as she is.
Lindsey is a helper of god. She offers support to families in time of need. After her aunt is found dead Lindsey needs to unravel her own mystery to find the truth. With a blooming wedding, an adopted dog and a deadly secret this is one crazy ride. These stories are well passed and the narrator reads beautifully. This book just like the first feels like Lindsey is trying to understand her heritage. The town and it’s people offer more than cups of tea.
I really like this series. I’ve been listening to it in the car which is perfect. A full stint of 45 minutes at a time works great. The book is written in a way that makes you care about the characters but don’t see the twists coming. Very enjoyable. 5 out 5. I liked this one slightly more than the first but I think it’s partly because I missed the story and I’ve grown attached to the characters.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Lindsey is a helper of god. She offers support to families in time of need. After her aunt is found dead Lindsey needs to unravel her own mystery to find the truth. With a blooming wedding, an adopted dog and a deadly secret this is one crazy ride. These stories are well passed and the narrator reads beautifully. This book just like the first feels like Lindsey is trying to understand her heritage. The town and it’s people offer more than cups of tea.
I really like this series. I’ve been listening to it in the car which is perfect. A full stint of 45 minutes at a time works great. The book is written in a way that makes you care about the characters but don’t see the twists coming. Very enjoyable. 5 out 5. I liked this one slightly more than the first but I think it’s partly because I missed the story and I’ve grown attached to the characters.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 26, 2014
I won this cozy mystery book in a Goodreads Giveaway. I found the characters pulled the book together. The MC Lindsay Harding an interesting person. She had so many personal problems that it was hard to read about them. How she remain upbeat was hard to understand. As Lindsay strives to understand why her Great Aunt Dorothy was shot and why her Mother was living with Great Aunt. Lindsay doesn't understand why her Aunt now has a Doberman Pincher.She on the Outer Bank of North Carolina for the wedding of a close friend and before the wedding Lindsay is accused of trying to seduce the groom. Things can not much worst for Lindsay. Will she find answers to these problems before her Mother's ex-boy finds her.
The story was fast moving and keep your interest up until the end. The supporting characters all had great personalities and will be nice addition to future stories. I will read her again.
The story was fast moving and keep your interest up until the end. The supporting characters all had great personalities and will be nice addition to future stories. I will read her again.
August 15, 2014
Because I appreciate when people save me some time when I check reviews, the short of it is this book made me swoon like a freshly opened bag of those chocolate sandwich cookies with the heaping glob of creme filling in the middle. A great follow-up to A Murder in Mount Moriah, it's full of humor, wit, sentiment and action. It kept me up until 1 a.m. because I knew I wouldn't sleep until I finished it. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll love this one. If you haven't read the first book, then go out right now and get it.
A Death in Duck is Book 2 of the Reverend Lindsay Harding mysteries. Lindsay thinks she's going to enjoy a relaxing Christmas holiday week on North Carolina's Outer Banks to celebrate her friend's wedding but fate laughs in her face (and stomps on her foot for good measure.)
The first adjective I can throw out to describe this book is "action packed." There's no sitting around on the beach sipping mai-tais for Lindsay on her beach holiday. Between her maid of honor duties for BFF and bridezilla Anna, supporting BFF Rob during a visit from his Taiwanese mother, the disappointment of being ditched to work on a murder case by boyfriend Warren, Lindsay also has to deal with the reappearance of her mother, Sarabelle. And just when she thinks things can't get any worse, she finds her aunt in a shack with a gunshot wound. And that's just the beginning!
There are a bunch things going on at the same time, but everything is skillfully deployed and integrated while avoiding becoming convoluted or bogged down. The pace on this book is a little faster than the last, but no less enjoyable.
I liked that there was a little more back story to the characters, a little more rounding out. You learn a little more about Warren and his family, more about Anna and her past, and a whole a lot more about Lindsay's gnarled family tree. A few newcomers round out the story, I thought the addition of Owen and Mike made a great angle and I look forward to seeing that play out in future books.
A great read, and this series is definitely on my fave list. I will never look at Pomeranians as anything but crazy-eyed mental patients ever again.
A Death in Duck is Book 2 of the Reverend Lindsay Harding mysteries. Lindsay thinks she's going to enjoy a relaxing Christmas holiday week on North Carolina's Outer Banks to celebrate her friend's wedding but fate laughs in her face (and stomps on her foot for good measure.)
The first adjective I can throw out to describe this book is "action packed." There's no sitting around on the beach sipping mai-tais for Lindsay on her beach holiday. Between her maid of honor duties for BFF and bridezilla Anna, supporting BFF Rob during a visit from his Taiwanese mother, the disappointment of being ditched to work on a murder case by boyfriend Warren, Lindsay also has to deal with the reappearance of her mother, Sarabelle. And just when she thinks things can't get any worse, she finds her aunt in a shack with a gunshot wound. And that's just the beginning!
There are a bunch things going on at the same time, but everything is skillfully deployed and integrated while avoiding becoming convoluted or bogged down. The pace on this book is a little faster than the last, but no less enjoyable.
I liked that there was a little more back story to the characters, a little more rounding out. You learn a little more about Warren and his family, more about Anna and her past, and a whole a lot more about Lindsay's gnarled family tree. A few newcomers round out the story, I thought the addition of Owen and Mike made a great angle and I look forward to seeing that play out in future books.
A great read, and this series is definitely on my fave list. I will never look at Pomeranians as anything but crazy-eyed mental patients ever again.
July 15, 2019
life has become a little more . . .
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 4 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
Small-town Duck, NC finds that with the winding down of the year there's a steep increase in dead bodies. Good for them that Chaplin Lindsay Harding's in town for a wedding, but that was not the celebration it should have been. There were so many things going on this time around with the second installment in this cozy mystery series. A visit to Duck was a bit more than Lindsay was looking for during this holiday vacation. Action. Drama. Humor. Family. Friends. Accusations.
The Pacing of this book was fast and full speed ahead. There are lots of things to take up every challenge placed down. There were answers. You get more information. The characters are still good with more depth in to them. Their past. There relationships. The connections. A few new faces.
I very much enjoyed the second installment. The series is gaining with intensity, humor, wit, charm, Lindsay.
Holly Adams does a really good job. I applaud her and her action with pacing, tone, diction, and just the way she handles the story and puts voice to it.
*****
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Mindy Quigley. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 4 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
Small-town Duck, NC finds that with the winding down of the year there's a steep increase in dead bodies. Good for them that Chaplin Lindsay Harding's in town for a wedding, but that was not the celebration it should have been. There were so many things going on this time around with the second installment in this cozy mystery series. A visit to Duck was a bit more than Lindsay was looking for during this holiday vacation. Action. Drama. Humor. Family. Friends. Accusations.
The Pacing of this book was fast and full speed ahead. There are lots of things to take up every challenge placed down. There were answers. You get more information. The characters are still good with more depth in to them. Their past. There relationships. The connections. A few new faces.
I very much enjoyed the second installment. The series is gaining with intensity, humor, wit, charm, Lindsay.
Holly Adams does a really good job. I applaud her and her action with pacing, tone, diction, and just the way she handles the story and puts voice to it.
*****
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Mindy Quigley. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
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June 12, 2022This book was amazing. The Outer Banks is full of history, and this book did an amazing job bringing back that history with a modern story. The book is filled with humor, mystery, and intriguing details that you can't wait to turn to the next page. The pages are filled with ambition and gives you a shot of adrenaline quite often, and I love the thrill of it. The Graveyard of the Atlantic is an amazing place to be and read about especially with the creativity in this one. Not only the plot but the silly and goofy characters that are always there for some comic relief in really rising of tensions moments in the book , and it did an incredible job of balancing it out.
September 3, 2014
I was really glad to hear that the sequel to “A Murder in Mount Moriah” was finally published. Now that I have joined the 21st century and actually own a Kindle, I conveniently downloaded the novel and finished in just a couple of days. It doesn’t disappoint. All of the characters that I loved so much in the first book are back for some more witty banter and another compelling plotline.
Reverend Lindsay Harding has a wedding to attend, a crotchety aunt to visit, and her policeman boyfriend’s family to meet. It’s Christmastime in North Carolina, but the festive mood is about to be disturbed. Lindsay never seems to be far from the action in this fast-paced murder mystery - southern-styled.
In this book we learn a bit more about Lindsay’s unusual upbringing; and get a bit of a history lesson in the process. The bonds of love are sorely tested this time around, but “little Lindsay” just keeps up the fight.
As I said in my review of the first book, people that enjoy the Stephanie Plum novels will also appreciate the spirited and sharp prose of the Lindsay Harding series. Even fans of Charlaine Harris or Sophie Kinsella may find that they’re up for a little southern escapism. I cannot wait to read of Lindsay’s further adventures. It’s a guaranteed audience pleaser!
Reverend Lindsay Harding has a wedding to attend, a crotchety aunt to visit, and her policeman boyfriend’s family to meet. It’s Christmastime in North Carolina, but the festive mood is about to be disturbed. Lindsay never seems to be far from the action in this fast-paced murder mystery - southern-styled.
In this book we learn a bit more about Lindsay’s unusual upbringing; and get a bit of a history lesson in the process. The bonds of love are sorely tested this time around, but “little Lindsay” just keeps up the fight.
As I said in my review of the first book, people that enjoy the Stephanie Plum novels will also appreciate the spirited and sharp prose of the Lindsay Harding series. Even fans of Charlaine Harris or Sophie Kinsella may find that they’re up for a little southern escapism. I cannot wait to read of Lindsay’s further adventures. It’s a guaranteed audience pleaser!
January 16, 2016
I received a free paperback copy of A Death in Duck: Lindsay Harding Cozy Mystery Series (Reverend Lindsay Harding Mystery Book 2) by Mindy Quigley in a goodreads giveaway. I am grateful to the publisher, Little Spot for Stories, the author & goodreads for this book. It did not influence my opinion.
I have not read the first book about Lindsay Harding, A Murder in Mount Moriah but I will put it on my wishlist. A Death in Duck is filled with quirky characters. Some of their antics made me laugh out loud. While this book is the second in a series, it is a stand alone story.
This cozy mystery is action-packed. It made my head whirl with all the activities going on. Yet it was funny & kept my attention. For those reasons I gave it five stars.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Reverend-Lindsa...
I have not read the first book about Lindsay Harding, A Murder in Mount Moriah but I will put it on my wishlist. A Death in Duck is filled with quirky characters. Some of their antics made me laugh out loud. While this book is the second in a series, it is a stand alone story.
This cozy mystery is action-packed. It made my head whirl with all the activities going on. Yet it was funny & kept my attention. For those reasons I gave it five stars.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Reverend-Lindsa...
August 2, 2014
The best part about Quigley’s books are the characters. They are quirky and fun and rarely take themselves too seriously. My personal favorite was groom-to-be, who in my mind was very Chris Traeger from Parks and Rec, but alas Mindy reports that she’s never seen Parks and Rec.
Who would like this book? If you like a good lighthearted mystery a la Janet Evanovich (review) or Lisa Lutz (review), then I’d say Quigley’s books are a good fit for you. They are cozy mysteries, without much blood and guts. They are funny and a good book to read to take you away for a couple of hours. Both Murder on Mount Moriah and A Death in Duck are set in North Carolina and give a really strong sense of place. I learned so much about the Outer Banks, where Duck is located, in A Death in Duck and it sounds like a neat place to visit.
Who would like this book? If you like a good lighthearted mystery a la Janet Evanovich (review) or Lisa Lutz (review), then I’d say Quigley’s books are a good fit for you. They are cozy mysteries, without much blood and guts. They are funny and a good book to read to take you away for a couple of hours. Both Murder on Mount Moriah and A Death in Duck are set in North Carolina and give a really strong sense of place. I learned so much about the Outer Banks, where Duck is located, in A Death in Duck and it sounds like a neat place to visit.
January 13, 2015
I confess that I read this second installment in the series before reading the first, which is not something I like to do. Quigley did a fine job of explaining the characters back stories, but only a few pages in the plot and resolution to the first book was revealed. This made me unhappy.
Aside from this one quibble, I enjoyed the characters, atmosphere, and mystery and will go back and read the first book and subsequent installments should they become available.
Aside from this one quibble, I enjoyed the characters, atmosphere, and mystery and will go back and read the first book and subsequent installments should they become available.
August 22, 2015
As I feared after reading the first book, this book puts Lindsey in peril. It is part of the formula. Some interesting relationships develop as Rob tries to hide his homosexuality from his mother and Lindsey finds her great-grandmother, Anne wants to marry, but not have a wedding, Warren realizes how his career puts his lovelife into jeapardy...yes, another comfortable cozy mystery...formula and all. North Carolina and Lindsey Harding, I shall be back.
June 11, 2015
Couldn't put it down
Really great mystery. This one had so many things going on I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Love the fact they it is clean, no sex or filthy language. Ready to start on the next one.
Really great mystery. This one had so many things going on I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Love the fact they it is clean, no sex or filthy language. Ready to start on the next one.
October 11, 2014
Good story line, and suspense. Keeps you hanging on!
September 29, 2014
A brilliant follow-up and a definite page turner. With Lindsay's own family skeletons tying in with the mystery in a pretty major way, what's not to like?
September 21, 2014
Really good
I really enjoyed the story. lots of drama, sins of the past coming back, a murder, possible reconciliation, a wedding, what else does a book need
I really enjoyed the story. lots of drama, sins of the past coming back, a murder, possible reconciliation, a wedding, what else does a book need
February 12, 2015
Love it just as much as the first. can't wait til book 3!
October 15, 2017
Lindsay is a chaplain at a hospital in the coastal area of North Carolina.
Her best friend, Anna , is about to marry and Lindsay is a maid of honor. They will have a quiet and joyful wedding on the Outer Banks. At the same time, Lindsay will be able to spend Christmas with the aunt who took her in when her parents went to prison.
Lindsay had an interesting life as a child and since then too.
Life is filled with plans that never work out as expected.
Anna's wedding is high jacked by her mother and it ruins everything for everyone. Rob has lied to his Taiwanese mother and now Lindsay and he must pretend to be husband and wife. Lindsay's criminal mother shows up in a most unexpected time and place and she may have brought a murderer with her. Lindsay has broken up with Warren, the love of her life. As bad as her childhood was for Lindsay, she is finding family secrets that knock her for a loop. How could the past being so many questions to today?
And then there is a murder.
This is the first book I have read by this author. She writes with humor and humanity.
It is funny and fast moving and kept me interested from beginning to end. There are mysteries and danger and of course character development.
Lindsay and all her friends are very entertaining. Even people she has known forever can be surprising. Underneath it all, Lindsay is trying to do the right thing for everyone. She even ends up living with Kipper ( or is it Paul), a Doberman with an attitude.
If you enjoy a mystery with humor, this is a book you will like.
Her best friend, Anna , is about to marry and Lindsay is a maid of honor. They will have a quiet and joyful wedding on the Outer Banks. At the same time, Lindsay will be able to spend Christmas with the aunt who took her in when her parents went to prison.
Lindsay had an interesting life as a child and since then too.
Life is filled with plans that never work out as expected.
Anna's wedding is high jacked by her mother and it ruins everything for everyone. Rob has lied to his Taiwanese mother and now Lindsay and he must pretend to be husband and wife. Lindsay's criminal mother shows up in a most unexpected time and place and she may have brought a murderer with her. Lindsay has broken up with Warren, the love of her life. As bad as her childhood was for Lindsay, she is finding family secrets that knock her for a loop. How could the past being so many questions to today?
And then there is a murder.
This is the first book I have read by this author. She writes with humor and humanity.
It is funny and fast moving and kept me interested from beginning to end. There are mysteries and danger and of course character development.
Lindsay and all her friends are very entertaining. Even people she has known forever can be surprising. Underneath it all, Lindsay is trying to do the right thing for everyone. She even ends up living with Kipper ( or is it Paul), a Doberman with an attitude.
If you enjoy a mystery with humor, this is a book you will like.
October 13, 2018
In A Death in Duck by Mindy Quigley, hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding is getting ready for the Christmas holidays. She is going be maid of honor for Anna, her doctor friend, who plans to get married on New Year’s Eve at the beach resort town of Duck, North Carolina. Thus, Lindsay intends to spend Christmas with her Aunt Patricia Harding, with whom she lived as a child during her parents’ incarceration and who lives near Duck. However, when Lindsay arrives at her aunt’s house, she gets a most unwelcome surprise: Her mother, who is wanted by police in connection to a recent local murder, has been living with Aunt Harding for the past two or three months. Then the next morning Kipper, her mother’s doberman, leads Lindsay to a shed where she finds the body of her aunt shot dead. In a panic, her mother, Sarah Bell, takes off, leaving Lindsay to deal with the police alone.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
July 15, 2019
Another entertaining read that didn't disappoint. Book 2 in the Lindsay Harding mystery series was just as good the first one. There's a lot of moving parts to this book, but at the core is the bizarre death of Lindsay's aunt Patty in the city of Duck. Great storytelling. Narrator Holly Adams delivers another spectacular performance and is just as good as any narrator I've heard. The various accents are truly remarkable. Lindsay's best friend Ron speaks English with an Asian accent. Her best friend Anna and her mother have a distinguished southern accent. Family friend Simmy has an unusual accent from North Carolina which I've never even heard of, and villain Leeland has distinct voice of his own. Keeping all these straight, switching back and forth between characters and narrator voice is magical. I'm still not sure how the good narrators are able to pull this off. Amazing!
July 18, 2019
This is the second book in A Lindsay Harding Mystery Series. You can listen to it as a standalone, but you don't want to miss the first book in the Series. Lindsay is a great character, strong and aventurous. There is a lot going on in this story. This clean and complex cozy mystery is enteraining, filled with twists and turns, and with a lot of drama, and funny scenes. Holly Adams did a great job with the narration. I would love to listen to The Burnt Island Burial Ground, the third book in the Series. I was given a free review copy of the audiobook — at my request — and have voluntarily left this review.
January 1, 2020
Mixed feelings on this one. Some of the locale information seemed to be tweaked and since I know a little about the area, I kept feeling like I was getting "tripped up" as I was reading. The same can be said for typos and formatting errors. Plot was interesting and character development was decent. Having not read the first book in the series, perhaps I am missing somethings that would have made the reading experience better. This book was purchased this summer (2019) at Duke's Cottage!
September 10, 2020
I recently vacationed in the OBX, and picked up a few books recommended by a local bookstore. This was one of them!
I didn’t realize it was the second installment until after I purchased it. So maybe I missed something by not reading the first book. Lots of family drama, friend drama, life drama....maybe a little too much drama for me. Was a pretty decent beach read, although the typos and grammatical errors became very annoying after a while.
I didn’t realize it was the second installment until after I purchased it. So maybe I missed something by not reading the first book. Lots of family drama, friend drama, life drama....maybe a little too much drama for me. Was a pretty decent beach read, although the typos and grammatical errors became very annoying after a while.
November 15, 2017
I must admit that I never had the experiences that Lindsay did, but I felt as if I was Lindsay as I read this book. It is not too often that I get this immersed in a story. As usual, Lindsay is having family problems, boyfriend problems, and in the midst of all this people are being killed. I enjoyed this story and highly recommend it.
July 7, 2017
Decent but not as much investigation/clues/puzzle as I like. Solid 3
September 6, 2017
Love this series, living in North Carolina I can just picture the area and smell the salt air.
March 13, 2018
Likable characters in a reasonable setting - enjoyable if a bit predictable.
Will pick up the others in the series.
Will pick up the others in the series.
January 6, 2019
Closer to a thriller than a cozy, this book will suck you in
Good story line with a lot of turns to the twist
Good story line with a lot of turns to the twist
May 7, 2020
Loved Lindsay Harding!
I can't wait for the next book. Rev. Lindsay's my new hero. This is a book for mystery lovers and people of faith to enjoy.
I can't wait for the next book. Rev. Lindsay's my new hero. This is a book for mystery lovers and people of faith to enjoy.
June 19, 2020
Bored with the book half way through and skipped to the last two chapters... HO-HUM!"
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August 2, 2023Really fun Beach read, especially if you are familiar with or spending time in OBX!
April 10, 2016
A Death in Duck by Mindy Quigley Note: Even though this is Book 2 in the series, it works mostly fine as a stand alone novel.
Hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding is hoping to have a fun get away for her friend Anna’s wedding in the quiet town of Duck in North Carolina. However, tensions soon rise as the mother of the bride takes over and makes a simple pleasant wedding into a giant, stress-filled production. Then a body washes up on shore just to add to the festivities. Lindsay is also drawn into some family conundrums she wasn’t expecting as her mother unexpectedly shows up. Plus her aunt is having some argument with her oldest friend. I thought this book would be a bit fluffy, a light read and I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for that. I wanted a murder mystery I could sink my teeth into and that is what the author delivered with this book. True, there are several moments of comic relieve, but they are well balanced with death and loss. Lindsay has a lot piled onto her throughout this story and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her rise to the various challenges.
So let’s start with my one caution. I jumped into Book 2 of this series because that is the book I won from the narrator. It works mostly well as a stand alone novel except for all the family entanglements that Lindsay has concerning her mother and her aunt. Lindsay’s mother’s ex-boyfriend is a violent repeat offender and apparently he did some damage in the past, which I think was covered in Book 1. So, there’s tons references to those events and how they relate to some of the stuff that happens in this book. I would have enjoyed this book a little more if I had read Book 1 first because of these references to past bad deeds.
Alright, now that that is out of the way, I can continue to tell you how much fun this mystery was. Lindsay is a very human character. She is flawed, she makes mistakes, she has emotions. I like that life is messy for her. All sorts of misunderstandings happen throughout this book, usually with Lindsay inadvertently at the center of them.
Then there is the lost Doberman. He’s adopted by Lindsay’s aunt and later by her and also her boyfriend. The dog is a stalwart companion and also provides a little doggy relief from a few tense scenes. Lindsay’s love life is a mess and the dog knows it. He’s a bit f a comfort to her at times.
The bodies continue to pile up and one of them really hits home for Lindsay. She sees red over it and wants the killer caught or dead. To figure out who the killer is, Lindsay must interact with her family, which is not something she wants to do. A lot of intense moments come with these interactions as family secrets are revealed. Her mother is quite an interesting character because of how various people choose to treat her. She’s very self-centered and something of a manipulator. She’s not above pulling on family heart strings to get what she thinks she needs.
The murder mystery had me guessing for most of the book on both motive and on who did it. We have a few suspects from the beginning and Lindsay has to figure it out before she herself becomes the next body to wash up on the beach. Once it became apparent who was behind it, then it became a cat and mouse game to see who would come out on top, rolling that murder mystery tension up into a thrilling catch the killer or escape from the killer tension. All in all, it was a fun and sometimes intense murder mystery.
I won a copy of this book from the narrator with no expectations attached.
The Narration: Holly Adams did a superb job with this story. She had various regional accents for the characters (as sometimes described in the story) and I can only imagine the research she had to do to pull this performance off. Her male voices were believable and each character was kept distinct. There are several emotional points throughout the book and the narrator did a good job of imbuing those scenes with the proper emotions.
Hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding is hoping to have a fun get away for her friend Anna’s wedding in the quiet town of Duck in North Carolina. However, tensions soon rise as the mother of the bride takes over and makes a simple pleasant wedding into a giant, stress-filled production. Then a body washes up on shore just to add to the festivities. Lindsay is also drawn into some family conundrums she wasn’t expecting as her mother unexpectedly shows up. Plus her aunt is having some argument with her oldest friend. I thought this book would be a bit fluffy, a light read and I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for that. I wanted a murder mystery I could sink my teeth into and that is what the author delivered with this book. True, there are several moments of comic relieve, but they are well balanced with death and loss. Lindsay has a lot piled onto her throughout this story and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her rise to the various challenges.
So let’s start with my one caution. I jumped into Book 2 of this series because that is the book I won from the narrator. It works mostly well as a stand alone novel except for all the family entanglements that Lindsay has concerning her mother and her aunt. Lindsay’s mother’s ex-boyfriend is a violent repeat offender and apparently he did some damage in the past, which I think was covered in Book 1. So, there’s tons references to those events and how they relate to some of the stuff that happens in this book. I would have enjoyed this book a little more if I had read Book 1 first because of these references to past bad deeds.
Alright, now that that is out of the way, I can continue to tell you how much fun this mystery was. Lindsay is a very human character. She is flawed, she makes mistakes, she has emotions. I like that life is messy for her. All sorts of misunderstandings happen throughout this book, usually with Lindsay inadvertently at the center of them.
Then there is the lost Doberman. He’s adopted by Lindsay’s aunt and later by her and also her boyfriend. The dog is a stalwart companion and also provides a little doggy relief from a few tense scenes. Lindsay’s love life is a mess and the dog knows it. He’s a bit f a comfort to her at times.
The bodies continue to pile up and one of them really hits home for Lindsay. She sees red over it and wants the killer caught or dead. To figure out who the killer is, Lindsay must interact with her family, which is not something she wants to do. A lot of intense moments come with these interactions as family secrets are revealed. Her mother is quite an interesting character because of how various people choose to treat her. She’s very self-centered and something of a manipulator. She’s not above pulling on family heart strings to get what she thinks she needs.
The murder mystery had me guessing for most of the book on both motive and on who did it. We have a few suspects from the beginning and Lindsay has to figure it out before she herself becomes the next body to wash up on the beach. Once it became apparent who was behind it, then it became a cat and mouse game to see who would come out on top, rolling that murder mystery tension up into a thrilling catch the killer or escape from the killer tension. All in all, it was a fun and sometimes intense murder mystery.
I won a copy of this book from the narrator with no expectations attached.
The Narration: Holly Adams did a superb job with this story. She had various regional accents for the characters (as sometimes described in the story) and I can only imagine the research she had to do to pull this performance off. Her male voices were believable and each character was kept distinct. There are several emotional points throughout the book and the narrator did a good job of imbuing those scenes with the proper emotions.
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