Kendra Elliot’s second book in the Mercy Kilpatrick series,
A Merciful Truth,
combines a crime novel, a police procedural, and some romantic suspense into a novel full of action and moments that tug on the heartstrings. Mercy is an FBI special agent and has recently transferred from Portland to the Bend, Oregon office. She was raised across the Cascade Mountains in Eagle’s Nest. Her family lived off the land and prepared for a catastrophe where they would have food, water, guns, medical supplies, and more. However, her family was torn apart when she was eighteen causing her to leave her town, home, and family for fifteen years.
Mercy doesn’t get a welcoming reception from all members of her family, but that’s not the only conflict in the Central Oregon area. A series of fires were thought to be that of teenage pranks until the murder of two Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies. Now Mercy, her colleague Eddie Peterson, and Eagle’s Nest Police Chief Truman Daly must find the killer.
Mercy is always prepared with food, water, and necessities. She’s dedicated to her job, self-reliant, hardworking, driven, and intelligent. She loves assembling the puzzle pieces of a case and is slightly unsocial. Truman is direct, serious, a good listener, observant, and cares about the people in his town. He uses humor as a coping tool, is claustrophobic, and has survivor’s guilt from an incident when he was a police officer in California.
This second book starts soon after the end of the first book in the series, but provides somewhat of a recap in case readers missed reading the first one. As usual, this author grabbed my attention with the first chapter and kept me engaged to the last page. While the story is largely from Mercy’s point of view, there are also scenes from other characters’ points of view as well.
Those who enjoy crime mysteries and detective stories with a little romance in it will likely enjoy this novel with a small town and rural settings and an intriguing plot that has a relatively fast pace. This author employs vivid imagery; making it easy to visualize the people and the setting. She also knows how to tug on the reader’s emotions as the scenes unfold with an insightful and moving narrative. The characterization is also well-done by mixing both the personal and professional lives of the characters into the storyline. I loved the tension and the intensity of the story.
Once again, the author balances deep family drama, police murder investigations, and a bit of romance with shocking revelations and events. It’s a story with plenty of layers and some of those are dark at times. There is a twist near the end that caught me by surprise. While the final action scenes were somewhat over-the-top, there was a satisfactory conclusion. Themes include arson, murder, abduction, survivalists, secrets, family relationships, and much more.
Overall, this was a tense, gripping, and suspenseful novel with dynamic characters that should continue to grow in depth as the series progresses. I am looking forward to finding out what happens in the next book.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book was originally published on June 06, 2017.
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My 4.23 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.