I have always enjoyed Christina Dodd’s books. In fact finished one just last month, but the characters and story development of Wrong Alibi just didn’t live up to my expectations. I thoroughly enjoy when a character is developed who I would really like to either see in a sequel or one I enjoyed being ‘part of their life’ when the book is done. I just couldn’t accept Evie or Petie and her story. As a naïve teen she drove me crazy in her decisions, or lack there of. Jumping from the incident that started out the story to 10 years later as a remade woman I looked to see how many more pages were left to resolve her situation, trying to understand reasons for her decisions. Too much to me came out of left field. I really can’t say that the novel could be considered romantic suspense, rather I would have preferred seeing her and the character Zone being drawn to each other as they find their connection and then see the romance develop in the sequels.. Characters and plot have to be something I remember so I’m drawn to the next book or feel a satisfied conclusion to my read. I can give it a 3 stars and sad that I can’t give the 4 or 5 I love to give my favorite authors.

Title: Wrong Alibi
Author: Christina Dodd
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 3 out of 5

WRONG JOB
Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Jones lands a job in small-town Alaska, working for a man in his isolated mountain home. But her bright hopes for the future are shattered when Donald White disappears, leaving her to face charges of theft, embezzlement—and a brutal double murder. Her protestations of innocence count for nothing. Convicted, she faces life in prison…until fate sends her on the run.

WRONG NAME
Evie's escape leaves her scarred and in hiding, isolated from her family, working under an alias at a wilderness camp. Bent on justice, intent on recovering her life, she searches for the killer who slaughters without remorse.

WRONG ALIBI
At last, the day comes. Donald White has returned. Evie emerges from hiding; the fugitive becomes the hunter. But in her mind, she hears the whisper of other forces at work. Now Evelyn must untangle the threads of evidence before she’s once again found with blood on her hands: the blood of her own family…

Dodd is a good writer. The writing in this is solid and never detracted from the story. I was always firmly rooted in what was happening and the vividly realized setting. But…see that blurb up there? Does it say anything about romance? Nope. Not a hint.

If I read most of a book with the idea it’s a thriller and there’s no hint of “romance” until about 75% of the way through the book and then suddenly, there’s what I’ll charitably call a love interest—by which I mean the MC hops randomly into bed with a guy she just met who thought she murdered his family until about five seconds ago, with no logical transition from him thinking she’s a murderer to him realizing she isn’t and that he actually likes her—then I lose all faith in the author. All faith.

If I can’t trust you to drop hints throughout the book that there’s romance in here somewhere, what else can I not trust you with? Well, as it turns out, I also can’t trust you on several other things, including a believable conspiracy ten years ago when your MC was framed for murder. And several other things that made the last 75% of this book completely illogical and not connected to the rest of it. Sorry, but I doubt I’ll be reading anything else from this author in the future. I have to be able to trust the authors I read.

Christina Dodd is a bestselling author.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 12/29.)

Wrong Alibi is the first in a brand new series (Murder in Alaska) by Christina Dodd. The location, cover, and description made this novel seem exactly like the sort of read I've been looking for.

Evelyn Jones, a young woman in desperate need of a second chance, took a job that required her to move to Alaska. It seemed perfect. In hindsight, it was definitely too perfect. Now Evelyn has been framed for murder, and there's little evidence to prove her innocence.

She's free again, and she's biding her time. Someday she'll get her hands on Donald White, prove her innocence, and get revenge for the family he killed. All it takes is a bit of patience, a dash of daring, and a whole lot of stubbornness.

“Alone for eight months of the year. No Christmas. No New Year's. No Valentine's Day. No any day, nothing interesting, just dark dark dark isolation and fear that she would die out here.”

Wrong Alibi is truly a twisting tale, one that will cause readers no end of fascination as they try and work their way through the mystery. I know that was certainly the case for me. Evelyn and Petie. Petie and Evelyn. Both a host of dozens of questions.

If you read the description of Wrong Alibi, you might be wondering where this Petie comes into play. It was one of the first questions I had, when diving on into this review. That being said, it was a mystery that compelled me to keep on reading.

The first five-ten chapters are probably my favorite of the whole novel, which is a bit surprising. I adored the earlier tone, which did seem to change once we really got into the meat of the mystery itself – that and Evelyn's past.

Wrong Alibi has a little bit of everything in it; survival, violence, gore, revenge, drama, love, hate (plenty of that), desperation, and so very much more. It's what made it such a compelling read. Well, that and the twisted series of events that one woman just couldn't seem to get away from.

What a thrilling and suspenseful story! I absolutely loved this book! I felt great sympathy for the main character. I enjoyed seeing her growth as the novel progressed. I was pleasantly surprised by the final outcome. I would love to read future entries in this exciting series!

I had an insomnia night waking up at 2am and then not being able to go back to sleep. I started reading this book the next thing I knew it was 6am and the book was finished. The story sucked me in, I wonder if there will be a next, as there was a lot of past covered and the story ended but there was an open endedness about it,

Disclaimer: I received the e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Wrong Alibi

Author: Christina Dodd

Book Series: Murder in Alaska Book 1

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: thriller, mystery, suspense

Publication Date: December 29, 2020

Genre: Thriller

Recommended Age: 18+ (death, gore, violence, romance, sexual content, language)

Publisher: HQN Books

Pages: 384

Synopsis: WRONG JOB

Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Jones lands a job in small-town Alaska, working for a man in his isolated mountain home. But her bright hopes for the future are shattered when Donald White disappears, leaving her to face charges of theft, embezzlement—and a brutal double murder. Her protestations of innocence count for nothing. Convicted, she faces life in prison…until fate sends her on the run.

WRONG NAME

Evelyn’s escape leaves her scarred and in hiding, isolated from her family, working under an alias at a wilderness camp. Bent on vengeance, intent on recovering her life, she bides her time, patiently searching for the man who took everything from her.

WRONG ALIBI

At last, the day comes. Donald White has returned. Evelyn emerges from hiding; the fugitive becomes the hunter. But in her mind, she hears the whisper of other forces at work. Now Evelyn must untangle the threads of evidence before she’s once again found with blood on her hands: the blood of her own family…

Review: For the most part, this was a good book. The setting and tone of the book is perfect for the genre, the story is intriguing and kept me interested in the book, and I liked the world building. I also felt that the twists were fairly good and, while predictable, was really good.

However, I couldn’t connect with the characters. They all feel flat and uninteresting and their development wasn’t that well done.

Verdict: It was good, just needs a bit more character development.

Solid Escapism. This is one of those books with enough twists and turns that it truly provides a great deal of effective escapism - even if you manage to put it down, you're going to be wondering what can possibly happen next. As a setup to a series... I'm interested to see where it goes from here, honestly. To me, it didn't really feel too "setup" ish and almost completely read like a true standalone book. There weren't any real threads left dangling here, so other than setting up the backstory of the primary character and a few key supporting characters.... like I said, not overly obvious what this series will entail. Which is unusual for a Book 1. Still, in and of itself this was an excellent twisty mystery/ action book, though the climax did feel a bit abrupt. Overall a fun read, and very much recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The story is very engaging, the main character is a strong and smart girl that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The twists are nice and page turning but a bit predictable. It's a great winter story and you will see yourself reading fast to figure out how the main character will fix her life after all that happened. One thing that I found too cheesy was that the characters weren't too well developed and everything happens too easily: they believe things too easily and fast, everything happens too fast, they're mad in a second and then they're sleeping together? But overall I loved reading it and I'm very excited to read the next books in this series. This is my first Christina Dodd book and I'll definitely be checking out her other books.

Im a huge fan of Christina Dodds historical romances and havent really ventured into her newer non historical books. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I sat down and read this in one sitting and while I did think there were a couple slower parts this book really sucked me in.
I was fully invested in what was happening to Evie/Petie.. A young girl in the wrong place at the wrong time who was in juvie, and upon being released finds herself a new job in Alaska with a really nice guy.. Or is he?
By the time Evie starts to question Donald White its too late.
She is convicted of a multitude of crimes including the double murder of a mother and son. However on the way to prison her bus gets wrecked and she is the only survivor. Thought to be someone else she leaves town and starts a new life in hiding. Waiting for the moment when she tracks Donald down and finds a way to bring him to justice.
I really admired Petie/ Evie.. She finds herself completely alone, and having to figure out how to survive. She teaches herself all about finding lost things, languages, and becomes someone that people rely on..
When the day arrives that she finds out where Donald is, she drops everything to make sure that he won't be able to hurt anyone else.
Zone is a man who is grieving, his family was murdered and he thinks that Evie did it. When an anonomous person lets him know that she is still alive he goes on a mission to find her.
When things start to come together and Petie/Evie ends up in the same place as Donald White things begin to happen fast.. Everything comes together and ends perfectly.... in my opinion.
I also really liked some of the secondary characters. The chief of police and Hawley, the guy that Petie works for while she is hiding from the world.
I hope we get lots more books in this series, I would love to read more about Rockin Alaska and the people that live there

Wrong Alibi is the beginning of a new series by Christina Dobb which means lots of characters are introduced while moving a story forward. The "twist and turns" work but at the same time readers will figure things out faster than the main characters due to the romance that is more distraction than helping more the story forward.

The story is over the top at the beginning but soon finds a flow that will engage readers.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Christina Dodd Wrong Alibi

3 1\2 stars

I am a huge fan of Christina Dodd's thrillers and when I saw that she was coming out with an Alaska series I nearly screamed! Wrong Alibi is a great book filled with twists, turns, and intrigue. It kept me reading late at night and I didn't want to put it down. I definitely thought the romance in the book was far-fetched and quite instantaneous but overall it was a lovely story and I look forward to more.

Suspend your disbelief, and you can sit down with Wrong Alibi for an enjoyable read.

I saw this mystery thriller from an author I used to read, and I was excited to get the chance to read it. It's been years since I've read Christina Dodd, but I remembered always enjoying her writing so this book was disappointing in some aspects for me.

To me, Evie/Petie was a strange and underdeveloped character. As a young girl/teen, she was extremely naive, even for being young, and especially for being in a juvenile detention center. Her voice throughout the story also sounded formal and stilted. She was an awkward woman who had awkward conversations and encounters with every other character.

Furthermore, there was a lot going on in this book. Now usually I love that, but in this instance, the first 50% of the book felt like a build up for the rest of the series. There were so many seemingly random characters that seemed to have an unnecessary role in Evie/Petie's story that I can only assume they will play a larger role further along in this series.

Then there was the romance: another unnecessary part of the book. I don't know that I've ever been against having a romance in a book, but by the time this one came along, it felt extraneous, like it was added in just to say there was romance. Furthermore, it was much too insta-lust for my taste, and I felt it was all very cold and mechanical. There was no relationship development, but the two individuals supposedly cared deeply for each other already. It was....weird. It actually could have worked for me if the romance would have been introduced sooner in the story with time for something to develop between the characters.

I did enjoy the last 50% or so (minus the romance). Again, you have to suspend your disbelief for a good portion of it, but it was still enjoyable.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley.***

Hold on to your hats, this is a new gritter Ms. Dodd and I like it. A fan of her historical and contemporary romances, this is one of the first of her suspense I've read. For those who enjoyed Rockton series by Kelley Armstrong, this is a book to pick up and read.

Evelyn Jones is a girl who made a mistake. This mistake landed her in juvie and caused problems for her mother and sister. The shame Evelyn felt after breaking her mother's heart urged her to do better when she paid her dues. Fortunately for her, she found a job in Alaska. This is her path to redemption. Unfortunately for her, this dream job comes crashing down.

The plot of this story is multi-layered and kept me interested. Evelyn is a survivor. I like how her character is designed with the foolish arrogant child learning and growing into a woman who knows better. I thought this story would be just about her growth. It is that and so much more. Her path back to her mother and sister is a long and winding path. The different red herrings and plot twists in this story kept me amused and constantly trying to guess the end game. I am pleasantly surprised at the length of the story and how it all ties up at the end. This is a suspense recommended to readers who are looking for second chances and a heroine who is determined to overcome all odds.

I won't lie but this book took me longer to get into. The author did however manage to suck in me into her tale, a true testimony to her writing skills. The title gave me a bit of a pause as both the title and synopsis seemed to imply that there would be more tense moments between the main characters. I felt that their moments together were rushed and the build up leading to it didn't warrant such quick scenes. The majority of the book is spent in the past and while I love a good backstory, it made the present moments seem far too short. If that was the author's intent, then great work. If not, then I'd hope this book continues into a series of sorts to give more opportunities for the character development that seemed to happen in two pages. I also wanted to know more about the antagonist as the glimpses revealed only a little about his character and the ending chosen for him left me asking more questions.

A great thriller that kept me guessing throughout the book. It hooked me right away & I couldn't wait to read more; however there were a lot of switching of time-lines and points-of-view that were frustrating/distracting. And I could not buy into how quickly the relationship between Petie & Zone developed; but with that said it was still a great read (just not one of the author's best, in my opinion).

Oh I love to read Christina’s books! They are so very full of twists and turns and suspense that you don’t know if you are coming or going most times and this book is no exception! Alaska makes the perfect setting for her books, lots of places you can get lost in or hide things in. Thank you for writing such fantastic books and I can’t wait for the next book!

Interesting take on murder and misdirection. Look for some very unexpected twists as the plot unfolds. Loved the Prequal and would have liked to see more of the sheriff and deputy in the first book. Still a very hard to put down book.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I understand that this book is getting very favorable reviews, so I regret to say that I was less than impressed with this novel.

I could not wrap my head around how far I had to suspend my disbelief. It was not comfortable for me my friends.

Then there were issues with what name to call Evie/Petie. In one chapter she was being called both by the same character...

I felt the ending to be a tad lame but at least it was exciting. And for goodness sake, MUST we find the most stupid names to call the characters??? I mean what kind of name is Zone unless you are a musician? And why did we even need a sex scene and then-budding romance between him and Evie/Petie?

No, I was not enamored with this book- but it did hold my attention enough for me to finish it.

*ARC supplied by the publisher and author.

Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd is the 1st book in her new Murder in Alaska series. Wrong Alibi is a mystery thriller focusing on an 18 year old girl who travels to a small town in Alaska to work for a man living in isolation. Evelyn Jones, loves her new job, especially since her boss, Donald White, allows her to go into town to deposit large sums of money and jewels, and people in town get to know her. After a short time, Donald White disappears, and Evelyn discovers two bodies in the basement. She calls the police, but she is arrested for murder, embezzlement, as no one has seen or ever heard of Donald White. She is convicted and sentenced tor life, despite her claims of innocence; on the way to prison, there is a terrible crash, and Evie manages to escape, as all the others involved in the crash died, she is believed to be dead.

Evie travels to the Alaska wilderness, under the assumed name of Petie, where she becomes the right-hand person for the owner of the camp; with her also being in isolation as the caretaker during the deep ice winter months. Petie works closely with her boss, as she learns how to make investments for both of them to make money. During her 8 years, she continues to research online to find the man who set her up and destroyed her life; she becomes pretty savvy in doing research.

During the summer camps, Petie meets a strong and powerful woman, Jeen Lee, who comes a few times with employees to learn how to survive in the wilderness. After knowing this woman a few years, Petie decides to approach Jeen Lee, as her ability to research has enabled her to find information for the woman about her son who had been kidnapped years ago. In time, Jeen Lee will befriend Petie, and help her find the person who framed her. When Petie finally discovers him, she is bent on revenge, but she learns that the same man, Donald White (using another name), is living with her mother in her home town and Petie is desperate to stop him before he does the same to her mother.

What follows is an exciting tense adventure, that once Petie returns to her hometown, there are so many twists and turns that continued to change the game. Zone Jameson comes late into the story, as the two bodies Evie (Petie) had found were his wife and son. He is determined to find her and kill her, but he will learn there is more to the story about what happened, and in time Zone will work with Petie to stop the real persons from killing again.

Wrong Alibi was a very good mystery thriller, very well written by Christina Dodd. I thought the character of Evie/Petie was great, as well as some of the secondary characters. If you enjoy mystery thrillers, you should read Wrong Alibi.

Petie had no luck.

She was put in a juvenile detention center for something she didn't do because she had been part of a group that was arrested.

We meet her as the story goes from present day back to her release from the detention center and to a new, promising job in Alaska. She goes from sunny California to frigid Alaska for a job that sounded perfect.

But...is her job with Donald White really the perfect job?

I didn't trust Donald. He had a house and a car in someone else's name and oodles of money, antiques, and investments.

Donald was a problem Petie didn't need.

The writing style in WRONG ALIBI pulled me in, and the storyline was excellent and different.

This book is truly one you don’t want to miss because it touched so many emotions and will have you wondering how you would handle the situations Petie had to endure.

It will also have you asking yourself if you really can trust the people in your life no matter who they are.

I would call it a thriller with some tense moments that had me on edge, but I would also call it a thoughtful read. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.