Deadly Echoes

Book Review: Deadly Echoes
Author: Nancy Mehl

Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Romance

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: February 3, 2015

Rating: Five stars (near perfect)

Pros: Well written plot, story moved quickly without slowing down, good mystery, likable characters, and a sweet, realistic romance

Cons: None

            When the sister Sarah hasn’t seen in years reappears, it stirs up hard memories of the past and their parents’ murder. Even so, Sarah’s joy at being reunited with Hannah and meeting the niece she didn’t know she had is too soon interrupted when Deputy Sheriff Paul Gleason informs Sarah her sister has been killed. As Sarah learns more about Hannah’s death, the circumstances seem eerily similar to her parents’ death. She enlists Paul’s help in digging deeper into these murders the police are dismissing as burglaries gone wrong. Paul’s concern encourages Sarah’s growing feelings for him, but as their investigation peels back the layers of lies almost twenty years old, they get close to uncovering the truth one man will do anything to hide—even if he must do away with the last remaining members of the Miller family.

            Deadly Echoes is the second installment of Nancy Mehl’s Finding Sanctuary series. I have never read the first book, but after reading Deadly Echoes, I am looking forward to reading Gathering Shadows. The author did a great job of keeping me informed on the events of her past book without overdoing it or causing more confusion. I was hooked on this book from the beginning. The opening scene really draws the reader in, creating a suspense that never dies down. Nothing about the plot was slow. Everything moved right along without any pauses or hesitations. My first reaction to the ending was that it moved a bit too fast, and the mystery could have been solved a little less abruptly. I don’t feel that it hurt the book, however. I was surprised by the ending when I discovered who the “bad guy” was. I was expecting a slightly different outcome, but it created just the right amount of tension in the story.

            This novel is written in first person, which is not the most common-found point of view for novels I have found. Normally I wouldn’t prefer it, but I liked it in this story because it helped me get to know the character of Sarah Miller a better without wordy descriptions. She speaks directly to the reader. Her character was well developed, with her experiencing a change when she realizes that she has always lived in her sister’s shadow. When she begins to understand that she is “fearfully and wonderfully made”, her character develops into a deeper version of herself, and the reader can see Sarah Miller for who she really is. The romance between Sarah and Paul was perfect. Their romance was very realistic and in the background, as it really wasn’t the focus. The story concentrated on the mystery, weaving in between perfectly subtle notes of a romance between the two. I felt there was a good amount of conflict in the story that really kept the story from going stale. When Hannah dies, Sarah becomes guardian to her niece, Cicely, who brings about her own share of conflicts to the story. A cop and a retired cop turned PI both working on the case bring mystery to Sarah and Paul. When told by both men not to trust the other, they realize again how complicated this case is. Sarah seeks the Lord for guidance with the mystery, as well as with problems between her and her newfound niece, Cicely. The reader can clearly see Sarah’s relationship with God, and how she grows throughout the book.

            This was a well-written suspense novel that I will definitely be buying for my own bookshelf. A quick read even at 300-some pages, I couldn’t put it down. I read most of the book in one afternoon. There was no “fluff” to this book, making the story flow freely without boring the reader. Five stars!


I received a complimentary copy of Deadly Echoes from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The opinions stated are my own.

This review also appears on The Christian Manifesto. http://thechristianmanifesto.com/fiction/deadly-echoes/

Steadfast Heart

Book Review: Steadfast Heart

Author: Tracie Peterson

Genre: Christian, Romance

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Publication Date: January 6, 2015

Rating: 2 (below average)

Pros: Sweet story, Abrianna’s entertaining character

Cons: Slow plot, boring, unrealistic romance

                Lenore Fulcher isn’t pretentious despite her spoiled upbringing. Her deepest desire at the age of twenty is to find true love. However, her father believes she’s wasted enough time searching for a suitable husband, and he wants to marry her off to one of his business partners—thirty-seven-year-old James Rybus. But the idea of marriage to a man so much older is out of the question for Lenore. Kolbein Booth, a lawyer from Chicago, arrives in Seattle looking for his headstrong sister who he believes may have answered an advertisement for mail-order brides. Sick with worry, he storms the Madison Bridal School, demanding to see his sister, only to learn she isn’t there. But Lenore Fulcher is, and something about her catches his attention. Is this the man Lenore has been searching for? She may not have long to find out…

            Lenore, searching for true love believes in an instant that she has found it in Kolbein Booth. Desperate to avoid courting Mr. Rybus, she informs her father of her desire to court another man. When her father gives her a deadline of one month, Lenore worries that her desire will be not granted her when her family goes on a vacation to San Francisco only one day after meeting Kolbein. In the meantime, Kolbein and Abrianna embark on a search for Kolbein’s missing sister, Greta, eventually finding her in the most unlikely of places.

            Steadfast Heart’s plot is slow and uneventful. My expectations were not met with this book, as I was anticipating much more from Tracie Peterson. The romance is dull, with the biggest conflict between the couple being a fight about their age difference which lasted about a day. Besides being boring, I thought the romance was unrealistic. After only seeing Kolbein once, she goes on her vacation where she believes she is in love with him—telling her parents that she is planning on having a suitor in the very near future while she had no idea of his intentions. The “love at first sight” theme along with their fast-moving wedding plans all seemed a bit unrealistic to me. Something I found odd is that the main character, Lenore, is brushed to the side and made a secondary character for the bulk of the novel. Abrianna takes over as soon as Lenore is in San Francisco. As she is a much more interesting character, I did not necessarily mind this. Abrianna, with her red hair and vibrant personality, reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. She is a complete opposite from prim and proper Lenore—she can’t sew or cook, she runs about the streets of Seattle helping the poor, believes she will never marry, and often runs off at the mouth in rather humorous speeches. Abrianna’s bright personality made me even more bored by Lenore. I found myself skimming over many of Lenore’s scenes. I did like the spiritual aspect of this book. Instead of making religion a main theme, or not portraying it at all, Tracie Peterson showed us the character’s relationships with God very realistically and down to earth. Again, Abrianna’s character was most developed this way. Her uncomplicated way of thinking allowed her to have a very clear and fresh relationship with God. Towards the end, Lenore realizes that instead of helping Abrianna fashionably throughout the years, she should have been learning spiritually from her. Tracie Peterson does well with developing the setting of Seattle, 1888. I never forgot what time period I was in. Everything in the book is related to the time. The bridal school was interesting, and something I have never heard of existing. The ladies who ran it were an entertaining bunch in and of themselves. Steadfast Heart may be entertaining for those who enjoy slow romances, although I would not read it again or recommend it to a friend.

I received a complimentary copy of Steadfast Heart from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The opinions stated are my own.

This review also appears on The Christian Manifesto at http://thechristianmanifesto.com/fiction/steadfast-heart/.