Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

This cozy captured my attention from the first page and held it throughout. I really like Helping Hands, a program where a social worker who many in the community are familiar with riding with a police officer. Many people they are called to help can benefit from community referrals, and in this case, Hildy works also at the local hospital and knows available services. She brings Roscoe, her trained therapy dog. The golden retriever has proved to help calm people under stress of illness or other circumstances. The characters are engaging and well-defined and the mystery is quite challenging.

Danny is a young man with schizophrenia. He lives with his sister and her fiancé, and usually does very well when he takes his meds that are well balanced. Hildy has known him a couple years from his emergency room visits. It is Hildy’s first week riding with a police officer, and they are called to Danny’s sister Allie’s home. He is visibly upset, ranting about someone being mad and coming for him, something about a ghost of a man he saw killed and didn’t help save him. None of it makes sense, so Allie, Danny, Hildy, and the comforting Roscoe go to the hospital in Allie’s car with Devo, the cop Hildy is working with tonight, following close behind.

When they pass the cemetery, Danny is convinced he saw the ghost. Later, Allie said she was sure she saw a specter, also! She shares the details Danny told her about seeing a man killed and a pink and purple dinosaur seeing it all. To the best of Hildy’s knowledge, nobody has been found dead in the manner Danny told Allie about.

Later that night, Devo is sent to check on the welfare of a man living alone in the county whose out of state daughter had not been able to get hold of him on their regular weekly call. Hildy is stunned to see that the means of death appears to be the same as what Danny has described, right down to the dinosaur. As if that isn’t enough, when Hildy takes Roscoe for a walk, they see a light through the floor of the open barn. After hearing someone escape from there, investigation by the officers and sheriff reveal a huge cellar full of premium grade pot growing, but very deadly plants that can be used in bioterrorism.

It is hard to imagine Danny having anything to do with this farm, as he never mentioned it to his sister. Yet he described enough of the scene to put him on the radar of the detective, Bob Richmond. Bob and Hildy had gone to dinner recently, and each had hoped to see the other again – just not in these circumstances. Hildy is convinced Danny could not have done the deed and insists on helping Bob with the investigation when not working either of her jobs.

The characters are a great mix. I liked Hildy from the beginning. She has chosen a challenging line of work that she, as a former foster child, can do better than most. Hildy is described best, and each of the others as befitting their roles. I appreciate that Hildy and Bob, despite their ages, are relatively inexperienced in relationships. It makes their dates interesting, and I like the thought of middle—age folks being able to still feel embarrassed. Bob sounds like he is trying to open his life up in many ways, including with Hildy. Danny is well-portrayed; the focus is more on his strengths than just his periodic mental health flares except in terms of the investigation.

I very much enjoyed this complex mystery that kept me guessing throughout. There were enough clues and plot twists to keep this fast-paced novel interesting. This duo of Hildy and Roscoe, and possibly Bob Richmond, gives the good guys a real boost. The lawyer Allie had for her brother was a real piece of work, especially when seeing Roscoe in the room! In some ways, the man provided comic relief in a stressful situation. The bad guy really was diabolical in the extent of deception and planning that went into the crimes. The ending brought surprises even though I had a good idea who the mastermind was, and all loose ends were tied up. And the ghost that everyone saw? I’m not telling! I highly recommend this cozy mystery!

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

Night Shift: A Helping Hands Mystery
By Annelise Ryan
Kensington
August 2020

Review by Cynthia Chow

Social worker Hildy Schneider is excited to be a part of the trial program where she works in conjunction with the Sorenson Police Department. Helping Hands has Hildy and her trained therapy dog Roscoe doing ride-alongs with police officers, offering counselling, referrals, and whatever other resources that are needed for those in mental distress. One of their first encounters has them meeting Danny Hildebrand, a frequent patient at the hospital where Hildy works at her full-time job. While Danny’s medication usually controls his schizophrenic episodes, he is now out-of-control and claiming to have seen ghosts and a murder by gunshot. Hildy would have attributed these to bouts of delusions if not for the later discovery of farmer Arthur Fletcher, whose body is found shot to death at his own kitchen. When Roscoe leads them to crops that will never appear in your local supermarket, the threat level escalates even as Danny becomes one of the main suspects.

Hildy’s own struggles help her to relate and be sympathetic to her patients, and they are also what led her to Helping Hands in the first place. Raised in foster homes after her mother was murdered, Hildy continues to investigate the unsolved case in the hopes of tracking down the killer. Detective Brenda Joiner warns Hildy the same unknown man who fathered her could also be the one responsible for the crime, but Hildy’s vague memories dispute this. Growing up in foster homes has led to an obsessive – and unconscious – need to steal food, and she finds resisting the impulses almost impossible. It’s an embarrassing compulsion that she attempts to hide, so a nice diversion comes in the form of Detective Bob Richmond. Richmond’s inexperience in dating etiquette is charming and entertaining, that doesn’t mean that still won’t warn Hildy away from conducting her own investigations. That’s going to be futile when her protectiveness over Danny kicks in, even when it looks as though federal crimes and a much bigger threat looms over them all.

Fans of the prolific author’s Mattie Winston mystery series will enjoy seeing a brief cameo by Detective Steve Hurley, but the real stars here are Hildy and Roscoe. The exploration of mental health issues and how it affects law enforcement is compelling, and ultimately integral to the plot. Hildy is a fascinating character, one who has overcome a trouble past to help others facing similar challenges. Hildy shares with Mattie an often dark sense of humor and dry wit that is prevalent in those who daily confront death and damaged humanity. The writing is always lively and fast-paced, and leaves readers wanting more installments of Hildy and her involvement in Helping Hands. The mystery in Hildy’s past will hopefully continue to play out as she solves present-day crimes, but any impending appearance by Hildy and Roscoe will be welcome.

This was a fun installment for this newer cozy mystery series.

Social worker Hildy Schneider is starting her new job with the local police department. When she helps respond to a 911 call involving a patient she’s worked with at the hospital, she is determined to get to the bottom of his distress.

I am really enjoying this series. I think the whole concept is fun and new. I like the characters a lot. I feel like the roles of each of the characters were kind of turned and untraditional. Hildy is more forward and Bob is more reserved. I liked this almost reversal of “traditional” gender roles. I find that cozy mysteries sometimes are more traditional in their roles and it is nice to have a different approach to that. It’s also nice to have a more progressive view of mental health. It was refreshing to not have jokes being made about mental health. One thing that did bother me, however, was that so much focus was put on every character’s weight. I felt like there wasn’t a page without some comment on someone being overweight. I wish there were different ways to describe characters than whether they are fat or skinny.

I will I’ll be continuing this series because I’m really interested in the characters and the overall story. I can’t wait for the next one!

*eARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

I do appreciate humor included in a cozy novel. It's not meant to be dark and this narrative stays rather on the light side due in part to MC Hildy Schneider. She's a social worker at the hospital newly committed to a second job with the Sorenson Police Department. She is working with the police in a trial program called Helping Hands and she'll ride along with the night shift cop. This could be a good thing using golden retriever Roscoe, a trained therapy dog.

Her first night sees a homicide victim that manages to tie into one of her patients with schizophrenia who is obviously off his meds. Something is really wrong here--she knows he wouldn't have done the deed--meds or no.

The author has peppered in a variety of damaged and unusual support characters--one of my favs is PJ, the (autistic) teen who walks Roscoe. I'm still trying to make heads or tails of Detective Bob Richmond, but that's a thread that will be further explored in the next series entry. The author's sense of humor manifests with some weirdly funny analogies producing a soft chuckle or two.

The mystery is not that difficult and the perp is rather obvious early on with the motive by mid-book. The storyline is easy to follow and the characters add depth and a little fun to the narrative. My grumble is the use of an (another) damaged protagonist and there are repeats of conversations and commonly repeated descriptions.

The real conundrum is the conflict of interest between allegiance to the hospital or the police department. A situation that will surely force a resolution.

I've read this author before in one of her other series. While I tripped over the few quibbles noted above, but basically enjoyed a well-plotted and easy-paced cozy read with characters I grew to invest in. Recommended

This is a cozy mystery centred on Hildy Schneider, a social worker who has taken on a new role in a joint program with police in her small town, going on ride-alongs to call outs and welfare checks. It’s actually a really interesting look at how the US police could change their modus operandi; I don’t know if it’s based on real pilot programs but I’m guessing that it could be and it makes a lot of logical sense. Hildy’s non-confrontational, problem-solving, sympathetic approach defuses situations before they can descend to violence.

Hildy herself is a character with an awful lot of baggage; raised in the foster care system she has some major personality quirks - OCD, food hoarding, a strained relationship with diet as a whole - that are nevertheless treated very matter-of-factly and in no way inhibit her being excellent at her job. Her own past (her mother’s murder is an unsolved cold case) means she has a genuine passion for helping victims get justice. When a call-out on one of her first ride-alongs with the police leads to Danny, a regular patient of hers suffering a schizophrenic break, Hildy’s efforts - and those of her canine companion, therapy dog Roscoe - calm the situation, but at a different scene later that night Hildy and her cop partner find a body in a scene that bears an uncanny resemblance to Danny’s babblings. The mystery only deepens when Hildy and Roscoe make an alarming discovery which could lead to a dangerous cell of domestic terrorists.

I really enjoyed this. Hildy’s a fascinating, raw character; honest almost to a fault, she doesn’t hide anything. Her relationship with her precocious pre-teen neighbour is really intriguing, as is her approach to her love life. She uses her wits and her life experience to adapt practically to her new job quickly. I’d have liked more Roscoe in the story (a common plaint of mine in cozy mysteries, sadly) but this was nonetheless an excellent read. I’ll give it five stars.

What I did not like about this book:

* There is a lot of excessive descriptions that go on for several chapters. First it is licking the lips. Everyone is doing it and they are doing it a lot and the author isn't shy about letting you know that they are doing it. I noticed this in the first book and it just got amped up a bit more in this book. Then it is swallowing and wiping the lips. Which also happens a lot because they eat a lot in this book [which isn't bad, but it does get extremely repetitive]. And then we start all over again. It doesn't seem like a big thing, but when you start thinking you should start counting how many times it is brought up, it might be just a bit too excessive.

* In the first book, the MC and the Cop make a deal and she goes the gym with him for 2 weeks straight every day. This book starts [with Hildy starting a second job as a counselor with the police force] and Bob [the cop] makes a comment about how she hasn't been at the gym. She responds that with her working two jobs, she isn't sure how she will be able to keep up the pace of the gym every day [which seems reasonable to me]. All a nice normal conversation. Except....it happens 3 more times in the book. So either the MC/M has a memory issue, or the author thinks we, the readers, do. And it happens with more than one topic and amongst several people. Once it was three times in that many chapters. The same conversation. Really?

* I knew who the murderer was in the 3rd chapter. And by the 5th chapter I knew the why and how. Maybe spend less time with all the repetitive descriptions and more on the plot? Maybe?

What I did like:

* The characters themselves, especially Hildy. She is a really good character that really deserves a better book than this one. The peripheral characters are also very good and would be awesome in a better book. There is so much potential here and it is just not being met IMO.

* I liked the idea of the story. It is a good one. It just was....tepid. TOO. MANY. DESCRIPTIONS. NOT enough plot and believable story.

I am not sure I would read a third one - we will have to see if one gets written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second release in the "Helping Hands Mystery Series" by cozy author Annelise Ryan. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own . I have read the first in series and enjoy returning to this fun cozy series.

Hildy Schneider is already struggling to pay the bills when her hours at the hospital are cut. She decides to add a job working with the police as a social worker with her therapy dog. During her first week she becomes involved in a murder investigation with a patient. Hildy starts getting threats and is struggling to balance both of her jobs and investigate as she feels she must even when her boss tells her to back off. Her patient is being blamed for the murder and she trust her instincts that the patient is not guilty and is being framed. As she digs into red herrings and many clues she finds information of a darker agenda may be at work.

I loved this well crafted sleuth and the many clues throughout the investigation. Hildy is a favorite protagonist as she is independent and a savvy investigator that does not stop until she figures out the truth. I love her therapy dog who is a big part of this delightful cozy series. I look forward to the next in series.

Fun to read and fast paced, I was hooked since the first pages and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Hildy already has a full-time job working as a hospital social worker in rural Sorenson, Wisconsin. She decides to take a second job to ride along with Police Officer Devonshire (Devo for short) and her therapy dog, Roscoe on the Night Shift.

Hildy is doing what all the Defund the Police protesters want— she is a mental health professional riding along with the police. She solves mental health issues by talent and skill rather than the police using force and threats of arrest to solve every problem.

Her first case on her new job is Danny, who suffers from schizophrenia. He claims to have seen a murder. Because he has done nothing to prevent the killing, he believes that the ghost of the victim is haunting him. Strangely, his sister professes to have seen the ghost too.

Later that night, Hildy and Devo come across a crime scene that eerily recalls Danny’s vision of the murder. Even down to the smallest details. But the scene is miles from Danny’s house. What did Danny really see? Could there be a real ghost? And who is the murderer? Will he come after Danny next? Or, worse, is Danny the murderer?

Hildy is a fascinating character. She had an extremely difficult childhood. Her mother was a prostitute. Her father unknown. At seven, Hildy was placed in a series of foster homes after her mother was murdered. The murderer was never found. By trying to control the uncontrollable life in which she was thrust, Hildy develops OCD. She also becomes a social worker on a mission to help others.

The therapy dog is also a nice addition to the cast of characters. And Hildy’s budding romance with Detective Bob keeps the story interesting on a personal level. There is also gentle humor among these pages.

Overall, if you feel like reading a cozy with some humor, a light romance, and an original job for the heroine look no further. Night Shift is an excellent choice! 4 stars!

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Night Shift by Annelise Ryan is the 2nd book in A Helping Hands Mystery series, and another great addition. First of all I love Ms. Ryan's other series, Mattie Winston Mysteries, so I was excited to read this one too. Clothilde “Hildy” Schneider is a social worker and colleague of deputy coroner Mattie Winston at Sorenson General Hospital in Wisconsin. Hildy has a beautiful Golden Retriever dog, who works along side her. Hildy is now moonlighting with the local police, and a call comes in from a former patient, saying he being haunted by a ghost, is he having hallucinations again? Night Shift is a very good cozy mystery. I enjoyed the plot and all the of characters . I look forward to reading more books in this series. I highly recommend this book to all cozy lovers.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5 stars

This is the second book in the A Helping Hands mystery by Annelise Ryan.

I was quite captured by this book. Hildy had a job where she worked at the hospital as a social worker for a bit during the day and then worked with the police during the dead of the night.

Her friend’s brother who has mental problems is admitted to the ER in order to balance out his medications and he tells them about a murder that they think is all in his head. Then later, they come across a scene eerily similar to what he claimed he saw all the way down to the purple dinosaur.

Definitely an interesting read that I found engaging and interesting. I definitely want to keep following this author and maybe even pick up the first book in this series just to give myself a bit of back story.

If you want to read a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Hildy's a great addition to the list of cozy heroines, in part because she's a lot deeper than most. A social worker who deals with individuals with mental health issues, she's got a second job doing ridealongs with the police when they have a person who might benefit from her expertise. She brings her therapy dog Roscoe on the calls (love Roscoe). In this second outing (and I didn't, sadly because I like the character, read the first one), she finds Danny, a schizophrenic who is off his meds ranting about a dinosaur and a dead body. Sounds not quite right but then the police find a farmer dead and a cookie jar in the shape of- wait for it- a dinosaur. Hildy's of course sure that Danny didn't do it but how she proves his innocence (along with her police friend) reveals more than the usual. She's terrific- she's got quirks, OCD, the dog, a fondness for sausage sandwiches, and a good outlook. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A series to follow!

A good cozy mystery. I really liked the Mattie Winston series, so figured that this one would also be enjoyable. Some interesting characters and a dog help flesh out the tale. The ringtone of the funeral home worker made me laugh. Spot on.

I really enjoyed getting back to these characters and see what all new has happened. The mystery was well thought out and I had no idea who the killer was.

This was a fun and entertaining cosy mystery. I liked several of the characters, such as Hildy and Danny and the plot was engaging, especially considering the mental health aspect of it. There's also a couple of red herrings in there.

The main character is really starting to grow on me in this series. With each book I like her more and more. She's honest, raw, and very flawed. The themes in this book are real, sad at times, but always interesting. The story was a little chilling, but had a lot of today's realness mixed in. I love the relationship developing between Bob and Hildy.

Hildy Schneider, a secondary character in Ryan's other series, gets her second book now. She's a social worker who has committed to a second job on a trial program reprising along with police to help out on calls where a different type of intervention could be useful, called Helping Hands. Immediately she gets involved with a missing man with schizophrenia that may be off his meds. How the story plays out is innovative, thought provoking, and just a darned good mystery. Hildy is an unusual heroine with OCD and other issues that impact her daily life. Quite enjoyable!

As usual with this author, excellent writing and great characters. The story is structured very well, with a good mix of action and descriptions as we get to know the main character.

I enjoyed this book. It hooked me from page one and didn't let go. It's fast-paced and doesn't disappoint. Hildy is helping the police out with a new program, where a social worker rides along with a police officer and they find a dead body on their first night. Hildy works with the police to find the bad guys while helping out with mental ill patients. The reveal was good and in the end the bad guys are caught. #NightShift #NetGalley

Hildy Schneider has begun her second job as liaison with the police department. Working by day as a psychologist in the emergency room, by night she rides along with a police officer in a new grant funded position. This is the second book in the series. Hildy has come into her own and she and her therapy dog, a Golden Retriever named Roscoe, ride along each night helping the police to deal with those who are struggling with mental illness. And, of course, to help solve murders. Hildy first helps Danny, a man who has become unstable. Hildy's met him before in the emergency room and fears he's off his medications. She's troubled that he appears to be having visual hallucinations, imagining the ghost of a man who's been killed. Later the policeman and Hildy are called to do a welfare check where they discover a man who has committed suicide. Or did he? Hildy can't leave it alone and uncovers a much bigger crime. A good mystery with nice character development. I can't wait for the next one. #netgally #nightshift