This is the second book in the Abish Taylor series. As a non-Mormon, female police detective in a small Utah town, Abbish (Abbie to most people) is once again facing prejudice, suspicion, and personal danger, as she investigates a series of murders related to the Mormon church and some of its leaders. First, a car accident involving a family friend and church leader turns out to be a murder, then the only eye witness -- an experienced climber -- falls to his death, but the autopsy reveals he was pushed. This leads Abbie to discover a covert operation with the Mormon hierarchy involving polygamy in order to address the imbalance between females and marriageable males and the shrinking numbers of the church. When Abbie helps one of the young women caught in this illegal practice, she puts her father's church membership in danger and her own life is threatened. Fighting against the secrecy within the community, Abbie realizes that there will not be a "perfect" outcome for her investigation, but there may be with her personal life and relationship with Flynn. I anxiously await the next book in the series to learn what develops between Abbie and Flynn.

I know practically nothing about the Church of LDS, so I found this an interesting read on that account alone – finally, I was left feeling baffled about why anyone should be a Mormon, but then I suppose there are many people who say that about Christians!

The story was a fairly straightforward, reasonably well told mystery: it wasn’t exactly a who-dunnit, but there were murders to solve. I wasn’t really surprised by the ending, but it wasn’t flagged right from the start! The characters were well described, and believable; I liked the people I was supposed to like, and didn’t find the bad guys too “pantomime villain” like. There was a satisfying feeling of Abbie being pulled in two directions, and feeling the weight of her adolescent faith still on her shoulders; it wasn’t an easy dénoument for her.

Perhaps there had to be a slight suspension of disbelief to credit well-educated young women with making the decisions that they did, but I can understand how a belief system followed from childhood, and involving the entire family, can mean that certain paths seem to be the right way, however illogical it may seem to outsiders.

Utah detective Abbie Taylor, lapsed Mormon, is investigating a death of an important church official. She gets close to the truth, and the powerful church men take steps to ensure that their plans will not be discovered. The subject of this book, plural marriage (men who were already married impregnated girls young enough to be their granddaughters under the guise of following Joseph Smith’s original plan) was repugnant to me. I found it difficult to believe that Brittany, a woman admitted to the PhD program at Yale, could make such foolish decisions. Sadly, I had no problem believing that, in the name of religion, power mad old men were capable of murdering and lying to further their agenda.

Such a treat to read a well written book!

The main protagonists are credible and likeable. The author shows great sensitivity in presenting the view point of both the believers and non-believers (Abbie and her father especially.) The issues of faith, morality and reason are complex and the author does not trivialize this and tie everything up neatly with a bow. The insights into the Church are interesting and provide a unique setting.

There are a few spots where incidents in previous books were referenced, but this will not adversely affect the reading this book as a standalone.

I would not hesitate in recommending this book and will look for other books by this author.

I enjoyed this book. It had a good story to it. | liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

As an Utahn I liked the familiarity of place and topic, I can see how some church members so blindly follow the "prophet". Good people don't always prove to be independent thinkers. Sadly I see many who are more concerned with their afterlife that they miss out on so much living now. I hope children are not just to meet a quota. Grabbed hold of my attention I had to find out who was involved, had to see if the "good" guys were the higher up in the church or those who were deemed not church worthy. Church doesn't always equal good.

Super well written and enganging read about LDS and Mormon society set in Utah. Featuring a lapsed Mormon police detective, Abish Taylor (Abbie), who strikes me as a very real and relatable person. I throughly enjoyed the mystery and murder in the story, but also the personal struggles of being different in your community and search for peace and a path that lets you sleep at night.

Also, I didn’t have a very good knowledge of Mormon and LDS society. I felt like I walked away from this read more educated about the structure of the church and the basic tenants. It felt like a well research read, and I finished it in one day!

Thanks netgalley for the copy.