This book was a enjoyable, solid read, it had suspense, action, and twists until the end. I will read more by this author in future. Recommended.

Lacey Madison is supposed to be meeting her sister at the sister's house, but (as usual) is running late. When she arrives, she finds the house locked, but she can hear her baby niece crying up a storm. Unable to find an open door, she winds up going in through the bathroom window. She finds baby Tina without issue. What she also finds is the dead body of her sister's husband. When the police arrive, suddenly her sister is the prime suspect in her husband's murder. Lacey doesn't know her sister as well as many sisters do, but she knows Carolyn is not a murderer and is determined to track down whoever killed her husband.

There is quite a good bit off character shaping done quite well throughout the book, especially Lacey and Carolyn's characters, as Lacey learns more and more about her. Then a body is found in the La Brea Tar Pits, and the woman pulled from the goo looks a lot like Carolyn.

Alas, I can't say much about the investigative work Lacey does without revealing too much, but Lacy could take up a side gig as a PI if she were so inclined. My quibbles are two: the bad guy can be figured out about halfway through, because of their actions as described when the POV switches to him. Two, we get another "I'm gonna confront bad guy!" says the plucky hero(ine), without bothering to notify anyone of what she's doing. It is, to me, the equivalent of a character her decides to go down into the spooky basement when all the power and phones are out. Can we get past this? Law enforcement could be notified but get held up to give the same worry about whether or not they will arrive in time.

Even with this, and the points of stars I remove, it's a good read, suitable for a rainy day or a beach or plane or anywhere else you read books.

There point five stars out of five, rounded down to three.

Thanks to Crossroad Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.

As we start popping through the events in the book, making our way to the end

Lacey Madison is running late. She was supposed to be at her sister's but when she gets there, the door is locked, curtains are drawn. She can hear her infant niece crying .. but no one is coming to the door. She goes around the back and finds a bathroom window slightly open. The baby is screaming ...

When she gets to the bedroom, she finds her brother-in-law-dead and her sister, Carolyn, is missing.

Is Carolyn a victim .... or a murderer?

Being a radio news writer, Lacey is determined to find her sister and discover the truth. But the closer she gets to the truth, the bigger the target on her back.

The suspense begins building from the get-go. Cleverly drawn characters work well amid the list of suspects, the police, and her boss, who's keeps popping up. There's lot of action, lots of misdirection. Entertaining.

Many thanks to the author / Crossroad Press / Gordian Knot Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this cozy mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I went into this story blind! And I must say...... It wasn't bad reading!
I was interested. Scanning though the pages! Feeling these characters feelings!
But over all this was a suspense thrill of a ride!
Looking for a book the will keep you on your toes????? Read this!

This book was a decent read, it had suspense, action, drama and I really good who done it! Definitely had me guessing till the end! It was a little short but still worth reading ! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!