This book introduces Detective Jo Wyatt of Echo Valley, Colorado. The story begins with her discovering the body of a young college student with her soon-to-be-ex husband. Tye Horton looks like a classic suicide but Jo has a feeling that she's overlooking something.

Quinn Kirkland discovered the body and called it in. She's a fellow student in the same college program - having to do with computer gaming - and she wants the final project that the two of them were woking on. Quinn has problems of her own. She's being cyber-stalked and the threats are getting closer to home. Quinn also has a past which includes heroin use and the death of her police officer mother in the line of duty when she went into a dangerous place to pull Quinn out. Quinn's clean now and has a bad attitude toward the police.

Quinn and Jo butt heads because both of them have attitudes and isues. Jo's marriage is falling apart, her ex got the post of police sargeant that both of them were working toward, and she's facing harassment from other police officers because of her gender. Even her father, a retired police officer, isn't on her side.

But Jo is determined to look into Tye's death and the threats Quinn faces and soon begins to believe that the cases are linked and have something to do with a computer game Tye had written. When a suicide from one year earlier is linked to the cases and the third member of the group working on the game dies too, Jo knows she has to hurry to find the killer before Quinn becomes the next victim.

I liked this book a lot. Jo is a great character. I liked that she was willing to put up with the harassment in order to do a job she loves. I liked her persistence and determination to bring a killer to justice. I look forward to reading more about Jo in future books.

Sooo, I don’t wanna say that I disliked this book, but I definitely wasn’t very interested in it. I will admit that I didn’t really read the synopsis before I requested it off Netgalley so I guess that’s my fault😂

I’m really not into video games so that part of the book kinda bored me. The only part that I did enjoy was the ending because things were finally starting to move at a good speed. The rest of the book was just kinda blah for me.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, M. E. Browning, and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

 M. E. Browning is back with a new novel (and series?) that is sure to catch the interest of many readers. Full of all the essential ingredients for a great thriller, this book is well worth the invested time and effort. From the chilly parts of Echo Valley, Colorado, Detective Jo Wyatt is doing her best to stay level-headed. She’s just been passed over for promotion to sergeant. To add insult to injury, her soon-to-be former husband has won the honour. Chin up and ready to put the sad experience behind her, Wyatt is called to the scene of an apparent suicide. A young man was found by Quinn Kirkwood, a classmate who had come to do a welfare check on him. The rifle appears to have done a clean job, leaving Wyatt to surmise that there’s no question about what happened. But, when Quinn shares that she is being threatened by email, Wyatt agrees to poke around a little to see what she can make of it. Wyatt learns that the victim and Quinn were both in a class together where they were creating a new computer game as their final project. Wyatt wants to know a little more about whether the victim might have had any enemies, but it would seem that gaming was all the guy liked to do. When Wyatt pays a visit to the District Attorney, who had been renting the property where the suicide occurred  she learns that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. It would seem this D.A.’s teenage son knew the victim, also having died by suicide. This lights a beacon inside Wyatt’s head and she is not ready to let things go. After more conversations with Quinn, they agree to keep talking to see if they can get to the heart of the matter. When Quinn sees another of her classmates drive off a road and crash to his death, Wyatt begins to wonder if someone might be trying to send a message. She pushes forward as best she can, but ends up at countless dead ends. There must be something about this game that holds the key, though Wyatt knows little about the world. A brief tutorial from Quinn sheds some needed light, but there is still a massive question mark and only one person left with ties to the missing game, Quinn Kirkwood. It’s time to push forward and find the answers that have been eluding Jo Wyatt for the entire case. A gritty thriller that pulls M.E. Browning back into the limelight with new ideas and great characters. Recommended to those who enjoy a small-town police procedural, as well as the reader looking for something with a light peppering of tech talk!

It is always nice to see an author use some of their past experiences and infuse them into books. M. E. Browning’s past in law enforcement shines through in this piece, with the added bonus of bringing the role of a women in power to the table. Jo Wyatt has a long history with Echo Valley PD, made even longer because her father was once a member of the force. As the story progresses, the reader sees much of the strains within Wyatt’s backstory and how she has never been able to live up to the enormous expectations her father laid out. While she struggles personally, her work ethic is second to none and she shows just how determined she can be, seeking to work within the parameters of a small force with a major crime on their plate. The reader will see some grit balanced with the emotional side of Wyatt, as they vie to define her throughout the novel. A number of secondary characters not only add to the story, but pull the plot in a number of directions. Quinn Kirkwood alone has enough depth to almost act as a secondary protagonist, showing up throughout in a major role. The story may not have been entirely unique, but it is not that which differentiates novels in the genre. Rather, M. E. Browning’s handling of the scene and how she developed the plot is the means by which the reader can feel they are reading something superior. With a mix of perspectives, there is insight from all sides as the story leaves the door open about who could be behind these deaths and for what reason. With a few plot lines that provide suspects, it’s a matter of patience and intuitiveness on the part of the reader to crack the case wide open. Browning keeps things interesting throughout and does not rely on too many stereotypical police procedural elements that leave readers wondering why they spent their time on the same old thing. I can only hope that Browning has more in store for Jo Wyatt, as this was a great start of what could be an exciting series!
Kudos, Madam Browning, for a great series debut. I enjoyed your past work and will keep my ear to the ground for your next project.

A gripping, atmospheric and highly entertaining start for a new series.
jo Watt is a great characters, a strong woman that I loved.
The plot is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing till the end.
I loved descriptions of the small town and the atmosphere of the story.
It's an excellent read that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Excellent crime novel by M.E. Browning. A page-turner with unforgettable characters. Browning, through Detective Jo Wyatt, gives us a realistic glimpse into police procedure combined with the human side of law enforcement. The twists and turns of Shadow Ridge keep the reader guessing on what is going on in this small Colorado town. I look forward to another book in this series.

Shadow Ridge was one of those books I really tried to like - Suicide by shotgun is rarely actually suicide, based on what I understood the evidence pointed to, and there was a lot of 'cop family, cop ex' stuff that I found a bit too cliche and maybe a tiny bit...trite.
The twist wasn't exactly expected, but I kinda guessed after halfway. By that point though, my engagement and connection with the characters were flagging.
It's not a terrible book - the characterisation was solid, there was nothing in there that put me off, but there also wasn't much to keep me drawn in.

This is an excellent first entry in the Jo Wyatt mystery series. When Tye Horton, a computer game creator, is found dead, Detective Jo Wyatt doesn't believe his death is a suicide as it's labeled. As she pursues her hunch, Wyatt discovers that Horton had created a computer game that three young people were testing. He allegedly killed himself on the one-year anniversary that Derek Walsenberg, the District Attorney's son, also committed suicide. After another murder, that first, appears to be an accident, Wyatt is convinced that all three deaths are connected. Sidetracked by her husband's promotion and the arrival in town of an old boyfriend, she nonetheless solves the case, but is it in time to save the third gamer? With lots of interesting information about computer gamers and many twists, this is a recommended cozy read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty quick read! Jo Wyatt is tenacious and easy to root for from the beginning. All of the characters were really interesting; there wasn't a single one I didn't want to know more about.
The story was a little slow because there was a lot of world and character-building, which I suspect is because there are plans to make this a full series.
It wasn't the most unique detective novel I've ever read, but it was interesting enough that I'd read more should it become a series.
Avid lovers of thrillers and detective novels should check this one out!

Amid relentless pushback, Det. Jo Wyatt continues an investigation that for everyone else is open-and-shut, putting her in immediate danger. M.E. Browning has written a well-plotted mystery that also examines sexism in the world -- whether in a police department or in the gaming world. This first book in a series has a protagonist who is strong, yet vulnerable. I look forward to more books from author Browning.

This is a great start to a new series. The setting is in Colorado and the writing is very atmospheric. There were many clues, twists and turns throughout. A very good read.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a well written book that keeps you turning the pages. It is full of twists and turns and will keep you guessing until the end, my favorite kind of mystery. This is a new-to-me author and I look forward to the next book in this series. Thank you Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Echo Valley, Colorado is a breathtaking river valley perfect for nature lovers, but in Shadow Ridge, it becomes a place of sudden death. Detective Jo Watt investigates an apparent suicide, and when it becomes a homicide her suspicions rest on gamer and college student, Quinn Kirkwood. But Kirkwood has her own problem: an internet stalker. Welcome to the world of gaming, where expert female players are often terrorized. But is there a connection between Kirkwood, the stalker, and the young man who was murdered?
As the investigation goes forward, Jo seems to be battling a killer in the shadows, and more suspicious deaths occur. What is their connection? Jo uncovers one layer after another in this complicated mystery, and each clue seems to lead her back to the gaming community. The reader, like Jo, will be stunned by its shattering finale.
I could not stop reading this story told in several points of view. The plot was expertly structured, and just when I thought I knew who the killer was, I was hit with another twist or turn. M.E. Browning hides clues throughout the story. I dare you to find them. She is a master of police procedure, which is quite apparent from the first scene to the last. Her characters are deeply drawn, and she delves into their motives, life experiences, and feelings. I have not read such an intricate mystery, perfectly plotted, in a long time. It left me thinking about the characters long after I finished the book. I highly recommend it.

This review appears on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3369422000

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book; a good start to a new mystery series. Set in small college town, Echo Valley, Colorado, where there are only two detectives, one Sergeant and one Chief, so when Detective Jo Wyatt commands the scene of an apparent suicide of a young man she, together with senior detective Squint
MacAllister carry out all the forensic work required between themselves.

Quinn Kirkwood, a student at the local college, was concerned about fellow-student Tye Horwood who had missed classes for 2 days, and reported to the police. He appeared to have shot himself whilst seated in his high-tech gaming chair. Except that there is no sign of a laptop, nor his video games. Both Tye and Quinn, with others, were beta-testers and games developers. When Jo's investigations uncover another young man's suicide a year earlier, their questioning starts to involve a college professor and the District Attorney and she has to tread carefully.

Quinn has a secret past, having moved from California to Echo Valley, she is paranoid about her personal security, not least when she is nearly run-off a mountain road by a truck one night. Is someone out to destroy a group of gamers?

There's a really good complex plot involving internet trolling, video-game development, suicide, murder, attempted murder and the depths of the Dark Web, running through this excellent police procedural. I also enjoyed Jo's back-story - separated from her husband Cameron who, due to the male-dominated hierarchy of the department, was promoted to Sergeant over her. She's now living with her father - a retired Sergeant.

All good stuff and I look forward to another Jo Wyatt mystery.

An investigation of an apparent suicide in a college town that takes a turn when the detective uncovers something beyond. Thanks to netgalley and Crooked Lane publishers for introducing me to this author. With her experience in the police department the author has given equal weightage to the suspense and the investigation. The personal life of the detective is left off probably to be continued further down the series. A very good start. Don't miss it.

Shadow Ridge has everything that a reader wants in a mystery with red herrings, gutsy detectives, excellent plot and unexpected finale.
There is social observations along the journey with misogyny, divorce, blackmail, dark internet sites., illegal drugs, and gaming that make this more than your run of the mill pulp fiction.
M E Browning shows how it should be done..
An independent review for Netgalley / Crooked Lane

You'll never see the ending coming until it's too late - my favorite kind of mystery. This new book is set a college town in the Rocky Mountains where the affluent and the less so are more intertwined than you'd expect. Dislike or distrust is palpable but mostly hidden by social rules. Without giving much away, you'll find the story is told from the viewpoint of the main character - a female police officer. Other characters include some young adult gamers, a testy, anti-social college student plus a host of interesting supporting characters (other college students, professors with big egos, other police officers with inter-personal issues) and an unexplained death.

I loved this new main character and will be looking for other books by this author.

Shadow Ridge begins with a case that appears to be a suicide: a young man who developed video games who shot himself with a shotgun, But as Detective Jo Wyatt investigates deeper she begins to suspect that the suicide was actually a murder that is connected to two other cases. The story is solid and Detective Wyatt is an intriguing character but the climax of the book was a little disappointing.

Shadow Ridge is the beginning of a new series by M.E. Browning (who is also writes the Mer Cavallo mysteries as Micki Browning). Detective Jo Wyatt is faced with two new cases--an apparent suicide and a female gamer who is being trolled online--while trying to deal with the recent break-up of her marriage (and the promotion of her soon-to-be ex-husband to sergeant).

Jo Wyatt is an engaging protagonist: smart enough to know her limitations, confident enough to trust her gut, and determined enough to unravel the threads in any case, and Shadow Ridge is a well-written police procedural. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down. I'm already impatient for the next book in the series.

Recommended for those who like Mer Cavallo, Detective John Byron, and Detective Gemma Monroe.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for access to a digital ARC.