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Epiphany
“Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel It’s Christmas in St. Augustine, where Dan and Elaine Mahoney are taking an extended honeymoon. But not all is sunny in Florida when Dan’s company sends him to investigate the theft of 1.2 million dollars’ worth of religious relics from the famed Basilica. Immediately, he knows it won’t be easy to track down the missing items—far too many people had access to the safe where they were stored when not on display for the parishioners. And although the church and rectory were filled with people, when Dan questions them, it seems no one saw a thing. Adding another wrinkle to their newlywed life is the fact that Dan’s mother has moved to a small town up the road. Dragon’s Bend is known for the fact that everyone who lives there is involved in the spiritual realm—from seers to gurus. Most are sincere practitioners in their beliefs, but some … not so much. Is Maggie Mahoney’s new job giving tarot readings at the Center for Spiritual Learning a legit way for her to help those who want to find deeper meaning in their lives? Or is she becoming caught up in something far darker? A visit from Elaine’s son Jason brings the family together for a fun Mahoney Christmas, but not before there’s a murder in Dragon’s Bend. The clues finally come together and the scope of the crimes goes far beyond anything Dan could have imagined. Praise for Susan Slater’s Dan Mahoney “Dan Mahoney is an appealingly resilient character, a welcome addition to the roster of sleuths that make the Southwest a hotbed of current mystery fiction.” —Publishers Weekly “Flash Flood is just what it sounds like—a fresh, surprising, adrenaline-rush whitewater ride. It’s also funny. Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel “There’ll be much, much more, with whispers of everything before Slater closes out this lively, surprising case, first of a series.” – Kirkus Reviews
297 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 6, 2019
16 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Susan Slater
25 books37 followersSusan has lived in the Southwest for 32 years. The enchantment of New Mexico comes alive in her Ben Pecos series - The Pumpkin Seed Massacre, Yellow Lies, Thunderbird, and A Way to the Manger.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 5, 2020
“There’s A Murder In Dragon’s Bend…”
Oh Boy! Where do I begin to place this one on the scale of genres? – Yes, it is definitely a mystery! – but could I technically describe it either as a cozy mystery, or a murder/mystery of a much more sober and intense nature – I’m not sure, and therein lies my dilemma!
If I truly say that this book has a great storyline, which is well told through the voice of some excellent characters, with just the right amount of seriousness, but not written with too heavy a hand or tone of voice, then perhaps that will set the scene and the rest, well you can decide that for yourself!
Oh! and of course, it is fully deserving of its 4 star rating from me too!
Such was the personal and almost intimate nature of the narrative when I first read the premise for this book, I wondered whether I was going to be able to slot into this, the fourth book in the ‘Dan Mahoney Mysteries’ series, treating it as the stand alone story I hoped it might be. However I need not have worried. After the initial high impact opening pages set the scene of the investigation, enough of Dan’s past was woven into the early fabric of the story, that I was able to piece his life together more than comfortably enough to get a picture in my mind from quite early on in my reading, with the details then being fleshed out nicely as the story progressed, but without them taking over the narrative or dialogue of this storyline.
In fact, just about all of the profusion of characters were well drawn and defined, easy to relate to and connect with – even the ones I didn’t particularly like! The dynamics and interaction between the many unique personalities was excellent, making me feel as though I was right there in the space with them, eavesdropping on their conversations, although unable to change any of the outcomes. None of the characters were particularly complex, in fact several were rather unconventional, if engaging, with each having just enough depth for their dialogue exchanges to be compelling and their actions spontaneous and natural.
In fact this became quite a ‘family affair’ with Dan, Elaine, Dan’s mother, Elaine’s son, and Elaine’s son’s girlfriend, all becoming involved in the multi faceted investigation, but all coming at it from their own individual perspectives. There was plenty of potential for the whole narrative to become rather sloppy and messy, however Susan kept everything nicely under control.
There were so many individual elements and sub-plots going on in the story, that this almost felt like a trolley dash through the entire crime book and charge sheet of the local police department, where sorting out all the crimes was a major operation in itself, without the task of trying to deduce who all the guilty parties were! Yet everything was included in the narrative in such a way that the journey never felt rushed or contrived, with each story scene flowing freely into the next, in an engagingly fluid read. Susan slipped in a few choice ‘red herrings’ along the way, to put those of us, like myself, who consider themselves to be fairly competent amateur sleuths, off the scent – and they all slipped me up a treat!
Even though I had my suspicions about one of the eventual perpetrators, I still didn’t really work out all the intricacies of their part in the plot and just how deeply they were involved, if at all.
The lovely balance between the character and plot based elements of the story, were just about perfect, making this a great book to escape into, with the pages almost turning themselves!
Full review post with extracts...
https://www.fiction-books.biz/reviews...
Oh Boy! Where do I begin to place this one on the scale of genres? – Yes, it is definitely a mystery! – but could I technically describe it either as a cozy mystery, or a murder/mystery of a much more sober and intense nature – I’m not sure, and therein lies my dilemma!
If I truly say that this book has a great storyline, which is well told through the voice of some excellent characters, with just the right amount of seriousness, but not written with too heavy a hand or tone of voice, then perhaps that will set the scene and the rest, well you can decide that for yourself!
Oh! and of course, it is fully deserving of its 4 star rating from me too!
Such was the personal and almost intimate nature of the narrative when I first read the premise for this book, I wondered whether I was going to be able to slot into this, the fourth book in the ‘Dan Mahoney Mysteries’ series, treating it as the stand alone story I hoped it might be. However I need not have worried. After the initial high impact opening pages set the scene of the investigation, enough of Dan’s past was woven into the early fabric of the story, that I was able to piece his life together more than comfortably enough to get a picture in my mind from quite early on in my reading, with the details then being fleshed out nicely as the story progressed, but without them taking over the narrative or dialogue of this storyline.
In fact, just about all of the profusion of characters were well drawn and defined, easy to relate to and connect with – even the ones I didn’t particularly like! The dynamics and interaction between the many unique personalities was excellent, making me feel as though I was right there in the space with them, eavesdropping on their conversations, although unable to change any of the outcomes. None of the characters were particularly complex, in fact several were rather unconventional, if engaging, with each having just enough depth for their dialogue exchanges to be compelling and their actions spontaneous and natural.
In fact this became quite a ‘family affair’ with Dan, Elaine, Dan’s mother, Elaine’s son, and Elaine’s son’s girlfriend, all becoming involved in the multi faceted investigation, but all coming at it from their own individual perspectives. There was plenty of potential for the whole narrative to become rather sloppy and messy, however Susan kept everything nicely under control.
There were so many individual elements and sub-plots going on in the story, that this almost felt like a trolley dash through the entire crime book and charge sheet of the local police department, where sorting out all the crimes was a major operation in itself, without the task of trying to deduce who all the guilty parties were! Yet everything was included in the narrative in such a way that the journey never felt rushed or contrived, with each story scene flowing freely into the next, in an engagingly fluid read. Susan slipped in a few choice ‘red herrings’ along the way, to put those of us, like myself, who consider themselves to be fairly competent amateur sleuths, off the scent – and they all slipped me up a treat!
Even though I had my suspicions about one of the eventual perpetrators, I still didn’t really work out all the intricacies of their part in the plot and just how deeply they were involved, if at all.
The lovely balance between the character and plot based elements of the story, were just about perfect, making this a great book to escape into, with the pages almost turning themselves!
Full review post with extracts...
https://www.fiction-books.biz/reviews...
December 18, 2019
An entertaining mystery with engaging characters. There were times, however, when I got just a tad confused about who was speaking/acting/whatever. I kept reading and the confusion was quickly resolved.
September 21, 2022
I have come to expect certain standards from specific authors and this is one of those authors. I expect excellence in the writing, the development of characters and storylines. This author doesn’t ever fail me, every book is excellent!! I find her work to be thought-provoking and I want to have a discussion. The storyline is so twisted and pulls from the headlines of things that are relevant today, happening today, that should not be happening!!! So sit back and enjoy this roller coaster ride!!
Read
February 10, 2024Another great mystery by Susan Slater. Always holds my interest to the end, keeps you guessing. Can’t wait to read another by her.
January 27, 2020
Insurance investigator San Mahoney is already in St. Augustine, FL, with his wife, Elaine, when his company assigns him to look into a very large theft from the local Basilica but, tangentially, one of the nuns has been murdered. Sister Leah was involved in a very nasty side business but is that why she was killed? Dan needs to work with and around the police and, meanwhile, he and Elaine are concerned that his mom, Maggie, may have gotten herself involved in a sketchy situation in her new town, Dragon's Bend, especially when a dead body pops up there, too. Elaine's twenty-year-old son comes to visit and a family Christmas is in the making but Dan really has his work cut out for him this time what with the missing relics, bodies and hints of a really distressing criminal activity.
As a resident of St. Augustine, I was captivated by the author's careful and quite accurate use of this beautiful, historic city as the setting for Dan's latest investigation and enjoyed recognizing different locations. Ms. Slater has also crafted an intriguing tangle of crimes and puzzling it out kept me swiping pages on my Nook to see what would happen next.
As a resident of St. Augustine, I was captivated by the author's careful and quite accurate use of this beautiful, historic city as the setting for Dan's latest investigation and enjoyed recognizing different locations. Ms. Slater has also crafted an intriguing tangle of crimes and puzzling it out kept me swiping pages on my Nook to see what would happen next.
September 21, 2022
I have come to expect certain standards from specific authors and this is one of those authors. I expect excellence in the writing, the development of characters and storylines. This author doesn’t ever fail me, every book is excellent!! I find her work to be thought-provoking and I want to have a discussion. The storyline is so twisted and pulls from the headlines of things that are relevant today, happening today, that should not be happening!!! So sit back and enjoy this roller coaster ride!!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews