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Sara Mason Mysteries #3
Dead To Life
Sara Mason and love interest, Huxley Keane, follow a trail of clues in an attempt to match a bullet-scarred key found in the Vietnam jungle. An apartment key was given to Rocky, Huxley's brother, by his fianc�e. If sweet Emma Ellis kept a matching key all these years, it would prove Rocky is not MIA, but deceased. Tracing Emma proves to be a perilous escapade; she doesn't wish to be found and attempts to stop Sara and Huxley, whose very lives are threatened. In separate incidences, both Sara and Huxley are left to die of their wounds. And when they finally catch her, horrifying truths about the woman send their sensibilities reeling. This is the large print edition of Dead To Life, with a larger font / typeface for easier reading.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 30, 2020
14 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Mary Deal
24 books152 followersMary Deal is an Amazon International bestselling, award-winning, multi-genre author of suspense/thrillers, romance, a short story collection, writers’ references, and self-help. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Artist and Photographer, and former newspaper columnist and magazine editor. After losing her beloved partner of 31 years, she is has written a memoir about surviving the grief period. That book is meant to help others and is due out in a few weeks.
She has traveled and has a lifetime of diverse experiences, all of which remain in memory as fodder for her fiction. A native of California’s Sacramento River Delta, where some of her stories are set, she has lived in England, the Caribbean, the Hawaiian Islands, and now resides in Garner, No. Carolina. Also, her paintings and photography are used to create gorgeous personal and household products.
Her Website:
http://www.marydeal.com
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal
She has traveled and has a lifetime of diverse experiences, all of which remain in memory as fodder for her fiction. A native of California’s Sacramento River Delta, where some of her stories are set, she has lived in England, the Caribbean, the Hawaiian Islands, and now resides in Garner, No. Carolina. Also, her paintings and photography are used to create gorgeous personal and household products.
Her Website:
http://www.marydeal.com
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 4, 2020
The third book in Mary Deal’s Sara Mason Mysteries, Dead to Life, is a perfect culmination for the trilogy. By combining themes, stories, and characters, we close the circle on several intermingling plots and receive a wonderful tribute to their lives.
Sara Mason is a lively, realistic, and memorable protagonist. I’d love to meet her in person. She’d save your bum and tell you how to be a nicer person — without it coming across as mothering or adversarial. The woman does so much for others, it hurts when I see her fall prey or become a victim. As expected, she rises from the turmoil and finds the true culprit, not something every person is capable of doing after living through a tragedy. Her relationship with Hux is one that clearly shows the lengths a person will go to for the partner they love.
I thought I’d figured out this mystery… and to a degree, I did predict some of the basics but not everything. The amazing twist near the end had me smacking myself for missing something essential the whole length of this intricate story. What a great way to tie everything together! As always, Deal’s plots are strong. Her characters methodically tackle all the key steps in their investigations, even if it means getting down into the nitty-gritty of all the minor clues. Some turn out to be nothing. Others lead them astray. It’s a nicely woven web that allows readers to feel part of the story, rather than just listening to someone’s view of which clues we should care about.
Deal’s visceral and intimate knowledge of all the picturesque settings is an added boost to an already well-crafted novel. During the course of the vibrant pages, the story spans from California to Hawaii and back again. We see what happened years ago and how it’s culminated into a bigger problem today than it once was. Clues are poignant and difficult to swallow, a little heavy for the heart to handle at times, but we trod along, hopeful there is something to change the course for Hux on his search to find his missing brother. We know in our hearts he died in Vietnam. We simply want confirmation of where and when, as all we have is the location of a special key… a key that might prove we know his last location. If only the woman he loved can confirm the details and provide the explanation they seek.
Deal is a talented writer who presents vivid imagery and delivers clever dialog. I highly recommend this series because it has a little bit of everything for every type of reader. I suggest starting with the first book and making your way to this third one; it’ll feel so much more like a beautiful and suspenseful saga… one you cannot put down.
Sara Mason is a lively, realistic, and memorable protagonist. I’d love to meet her in person. She’d save your bum and tell you how to be a nicer person — without it coming across as mothering or adversarial. The woman does so much for others, it hurts when I see her fall prey or become a victim. As expected, she rises from the turmoil and finds the true culprit, not something every person is capable of doing after living through a tragedy. Her relationship with Hux is one that clearly shows the lengths a person will go to for the partner they love.
I thought I’d figured out this mystery… and to a degree, I did predict some of the basics but not everything. The amazing twist near the end had me smacking myself for missing something essential the whole length of this intricate story. What a great way to tie everything together! As always, Deal’s plots are strong. Her characters methodically tackle all the key steps in their investigations, even if it means getting down into the nitty-gritty of all the minor clues. Some turn out to be nothing. Others lead them astray. It’s a nicely woven web that allows readers to feel part of the story, rather than just listening to someone’s view of which clues we should care about.
Deal’s visceral and intimate knowledge of all the picturesque settings is an added boost to an already well-crafted novel. During the course of the vibrant pages, the story spans from California to Hawaii and back again. We see what happened years ago and how it’s culminated into a bigger problem today than it once was. Clues are poignant and difficult to swallow, a little heavy for the heart to handle at times, but we trod along, hopeful there is something to change the course for Hux on his search to find his missing brother. We know in our hearts he died in Vietnam. We simply want confirmation of where and when, as all we have is the location of a special key… a key that might prove we know his last location. If only the woman he loved can confirm the details and provide the explanation they seek.
Deal is a talented writer who presents vivid imagery and delivers clever dialog. I highly recommend this series because it has a little bit of everything for every type of reader. I suggest starting with the first book and making your way to this third one; it’ll feel so much more like a beautiful and suspenseful saga… one you cannot put down.
August 30, 2020
Burns slow but so hot:
I loved books 1 and 2 of the Sara Mason mysteries and book 3, Dead to Life, was everything I expected; blissful reading.
This is a slow burner, but as the reader is drawn into a mystery that becomes deeper, darker and more dangerous, the mystery engages and, I was totally hooked. The pace is consummately adapted to the twists and turns in this multiplicity tale of complex entanglements.
Sara is committed to help her man, Huxley, discover the remains of his older brother, Rocky, MIA in Vietnam; a theme that is taken on from book 2 and, in my view, an intriguing background story.
A key is found in search site in Vietnam. Could this indicate the whereabouts of Rocky’s remains? Rocky had been given a key by Emma, his fiancé and, he never allowed it off his person. So, the task was to check if this was ‘the key’, which could indicate the whereabouts of Rocky's remains.
There is a box of letters and personal items, returned by the army to Huxley’s family. Reading the letters provides suggestions of clues to track down the fiancé and hopefully match the key.
The quest commences in San Francisco and the complexities of the mystery develops. The apartment building where the fiancé lived, was burned to the ground many years ago and Emma is no longer living in the area. As the trail leads Sara and Huxley to Hawaii so a picture of the personality of the ‘widowed’ fiancé is seen as surprisingly and worryingly murky; Emma may not be the picture of ‘loveliness’ she was portrayed to be and, it gets steadily worse - did the demise of Rocky disturb her mentally?
No more plot spoilers as the story and the mystery takes over and, as a reader, I was compelled to stay and finish the book – I am a slow reader but Deal’s books defy putting down. Dead to Life is enticingly engrossing as Sara and Huxley soon realise they have stirred a hornet’s nest for the fiancé and, the Hawaii police force.
Yes, this is a slow burner, but it smoulders white hot and never cools right through to the very end that I did not see coming – I loved it and would not hesitate to recommend it.
I loved books 1 and 2 of the Sara Mason mysteries and book 3, Dead to Life, was everything I expected; blissful reading.
This is a slow burner, but as the reader is drawn into a mystery that becomes deeper, darker and more dangerous, the mystery engages and, I was totally hooked. The pace is consummately adapted to the twists and turns in this multiplicity tale of complex entanglements.
Sara is committed to help her man, Huxley, discover the remains of his older brother, Rocky, MIA in Vietnam; a theme that is taken on from book 2 and, in my view, an intriguing background story.
A key is found in search site in Vietnam. Could this indicate the whereabouts of Rocky’s remains? Rocky had been given a key by Emma, his fiancé and, he never allowed it off his person. So, the task was to check if this was ‘the key’, which could indicate the whereabouts of Rocky's remains.
There is a box of letters and personal items, returned by the army to Huxley’s family. Reading the letters provides suggestions of clues to track down the fiancé and hopefully match the key.
The quest commences in San Francisco and the complexities of the mystery develops. The apartment building where the fiancé lived, was burned to the ground many years ago and Emma is no longer living in the area. As the trail leads Sara and Huxley to Hawaii so a picture of the personality of the ‘widowed’ fiancé is seen as surprisingly and worryingly murky; Emma may not be the picture of ‘loveliness’ she was portrayed to be and, it gets steadily worse - did the demise of Rocky disturb her mentally?
No more plot spoilers as the story and the mystery takes over and, as a reader, I was compelled to stay and finish the book – I am a slow reader but Deal’s books defy putting down. Dead to Life is enticingly engrossing as Sara and Huxley soon realise they have stirred a hornet’s nest for the fiancé and, the Hawaii police force.
Yes, this is a slow burner, but it smoulders white hot and never cools right through to the very end that I did not see coming – I loved it and would not hesitate to recommend it.
December 23, 2021
From the get go, Deal pulls the reader into the setting of the Sacramento River Delta in a hot and sticky July, the area filled with crop pickers and holidaymakers. Private detective Sara Mason is home alone in her great big Victorian house when her partner and Veteran Huxley Keane arrives back from Oregon. He’s arrived with a box of letters from his mum which he hopes will reveal insights into the whereabouts of his brother Rocky who went missing during the Vietnam War. And they decide to track down his fiancée Emma, who gave Rocky a key which was later found in the Vietnam jungle. The plot is driven by this twin quest.
As this is the third in the trilogy, there’s some catching up to be done, and the reader would be advised to start with Book One, although I did find this book functions well as a standalone. Deal makes deft references to the previous books in this series without dragging heavily on the narrative. The story unfolds quickly once the stage is set, and is written with much sensitivity and care, along with plenty of twists and turns along the way. About a third in Deal takes her readers to Hawaii, where Sara and Huxley continue their quest to track down Emma. It’s a setting the author portrays vividly and unflinchingly.
This is a thoroughly entertaining and at times poignant story that deals with the difficulties those left behind face when missing loved ones and lacking answers. I found Dead to Life a highly absorbing read.
As this is the third in the trilogy, there’s some catching up to be done, and the reader would be advised to start with Book One, although I did find this book functions well as a standalone. Deal makes deft references to the previous books in this series without dragging heavily on the narrative. The story unfolds quickly once the stage is set, and is written with much sensitivity and care, along with plenty of twists and turns along the way. About a third in Deal takes her readers to Hawaii, where Sara and Huxley continue their quest to track down Emma. It’s a setting the author portrays vividly and unflinchingly.
This is a thoroughly entertaining and at times poignant story that deals with the difficulties those left behind face when missing loved ones and lacking answers. I found Dead to Life a highly absorbing read.
August 27, 2020
The key to learning of the mystery laid out in this story is to listen very carefully to the masterfully drawn dialogue between the characters. This is a character driven story in which Huxley Jackson and Sara Mason seek to find his brother's romantic interest. The story spins its way through San Francisco and an interesting visit with Brian Porter and his spouse, then to Honolulu, and finally back to San Francisco for its conclusion. Along the way these wonderfully fleshed out characters present you with a lot of information which will lead you to what you may think the end of the mystery will be. But you might not be correct? Well enough said. You'll have to read this book to find out what happens. It is masterfully done and easily merits a five star rating.
December 19, 2020
MIA, A Missing Key, and Mayhem
A key and a bunch of letters. That is all that Sara Mason and Huxley Keane possess to help them in their search for Huxley’s MIA brother Rocky. The key was found in Vietnam, but Rocky’s fiancée Emma Ellis has a matching key. During their search for Emma, they find out that her sister Evelyn committed suicide. The search takes Sara and Huxley from California to Hawaii and back in a perilous escapade that threatens their lives.
Ms Deal writes an efficient mystery with local colours and intriguing questions. Her dialogues are lifelike and her characters believable – whether agreeable or the contrary. There are many twists and turns before Sara and her friend find the truth.
Four and a half stars. . .
A key and a bunch of letters. That is all that Sara Mason and Huxley Keane possess to help them in their search for Huxley’s MIA brother Rocky. The key was found in Vietnam, but Rocky’s fiancée Emma Ellis has a matching key. During their search for Emma, they find out that her sister Evelyn committed suicide. The search takes Sara and Huxley from California to Hawaii and back in a perilous escapade that threatens their lives.
Ms Deal writes an efficient mystery with local colours and intriguing questions. Her dialogues are lifelike and her characters believable – whether agreeable or the contrary. There are many twists and turns before Sara and her friend find the truth.
Four and a half stars. . .
March 22, 2021
Mary Deal did a fantastic job building suspense in this murder mystery. The heart of the story began when they received a box full of letters from Huxley's mom. They hoped the letters would give them leads and it did. It led them to a key found in the Vietnam jungle. It belonged to Rocky. This is where the story takes off in an exciting adventure of intrigue, danger, and mystery. A well-written mystery that you won't want to put down. I loved it.
July 7, 2022
Well written clean story
Loved this book. The characters were well developed and likeable. Even though it was obvious from the beginning which sister actually survived, the plot has many twists and turns. This is not a cliffhanger, which I appreciated. I also appreciated that there was no foul language or explicit sex scenes. Always a big plus for me.
Loved this book. The characters were well developed and likeable. Even though it was obvious from the beginning which sister actually survived, the plot has many twists and turns. This is not a cliffhanger, which I appreciated. I also appreciated that there was no foul language or explicit sex scenes. Always a big plus for me.
October 10, 2023
I loved this book. The 3rd in a fantastic series. Wonderful, likable characters, great twists and turns with mystery, and beautifully described settings. As in the first two stories in this series, I was right there with Sara as she solved this intriguing mystery - no spoilers here. Author Mary Deal is amazing.
August 17, 2020
It's all about the key - an intriguing mystery
Sara Mason returns in this latest tale from Mary Real. Teamed with her partner Huxley Keane, this begins simply enough with Huxley seeking proof of what happened to his brother Rocky, reported Missing in Action during the Vietnam War many years ago. The case is not so simple however, as Sara and Huxley find themselves being drawn into a complex mystery revolving around two sisters, one 9f whom was engaged to Rocky, and who gave him a key which he carried close to his heart at all times. When the key is found in a small village in Vietnam and finds its way into Huxley"s hands the scene is set for an investigation that will threaten both of their lives and lead them from San Francisco to the exotic Hawaiian Islands in search of the truth.
Aided in their quest by an English couple who knew the sisters, Sara begins to piece the history of the sisters together. Problems mount when Sara realised that nothing adds up as it should do and suddenly, drug dealing and human trafficking make their way into the web of possibilities attached to Ricky's fiancee after the death of her sister.
Mary Deal has cleverly crafted a fast moving page turner that will keep you guessing right to the end, and even when you're getting to grips with the ingenious twist in the tale, she rocks you back on your heels with another final twist. A superb 5 star Read, thoroughly enjoyed it. 9
Sara Mason returns in this latest tale from Mary Real. Teamed with her partner Huxley Keane, this begins simply enough with Huxley seeking proof of what happened to his brother Rocky, reported Missing in Action during the Vietnam War many years ago. The case is not so simple however, as Sara and Huxley find themselves being drawn into a complex mystery revolving around two sisters, one 9f whom was engaged to Rocky, and who gave him a key which he carried close to his heart at all times. When the key is found in a small village in Vietnam and finds its way into Huxley"s hands the scene is set for an investigation that will threaten both of their lives and lead them from San Francisco to the exotic Hawaiian Islands in search of the truth.
Aided in their quest by an English couple who knew the sisters, Sara begins to piece the history of the sisters together. Problems mount when Sara realised that nothing adds up as it should do and suddenly, drug dealing and human trafficking make their way into the web of possibilities attached to Ricky's fiancee after the death of her sister.
Mary Deal has cleverly crafted a fast moving page turner that will keep you guessing right to the end, and even when you're getting to grips with the ingenious twist in the tale, she rocks you back on your heels with another final twist. A superb 5 star Read, thoroughly enjoyed it. 9
October 29, 2020
Sara Mason and Huxley Keane are still on the hunt for proof that his brother Rocky, who turned up as a MIA during the Vietnam War, was indeed dead. After receiving a box full of letters from Huxley's mom, the two sit down to read the letters in hopes that the information would provide some of the most defining clues leading to verifying that the key that was found in the Vietnam jungle did belong to Rocky. The key was one given to Rocky by his fiancee, Emma Ellis. It was to the apartment she shared with her sister Evelyn in San Francisco and would give him access to a place to stay if he were to return unexpectedly. But shortly after Rocky became MIA, Emma's sister Evelyn took her own life and Emma may have moved to Hawaii. With this piece of information, Sara and Huxley begin their search in San Francisco in search of information that will lead them to Emma in Hawaii and the possibility that she will have the matching key that will confirm the one found in Vietnam was indeed Rocky's.
As always, Author Mary Deal takes you through page turning tunnels as you join Sara and Huxley in their search for Emma and the key. You'll see the life changing events that put Emma into an investigation by not only the Hawaiian police but also the San Francisco Police. You'll find yourself trying to understand how and why such a level headed person could turn into what Emma turned into.
As always, Author Mary Deal takes you through page turning tunnels as you join Sara and Huxley in their search for Emma and the key. You'll see the life changing events that put Emma into an investigation by not only the Hawaiian police but also the San Francisco Police. You'll find yourself trying to understand how and why such a level headed person could turn into what Emma turned into.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews