This is another edition in the series, and once again Ms Baker doesn't disappoint. Kate gets involved with her ex-husband's baby and the mystery of a disappearance gets resolved. Thrilling read throughout. Recommended.

In Shannon Baker’s Broken Ties, the 5th installment in the Kate Fox mystery series, this mystery keeps you in suspense from the first page to the last. It all started for Kate Fox, a sheriff in Sandhills Nebraska, when she covered for her ex-husband, Ted Conner, who’s a sheriff at another county, when he takes off to go on a fishing retreat. While she dealt with family issues at the heart, Roxy Conner, her ex’s new wife, had dropped off her baby boy at her home, she had disappeared and taken off to parts unknown, and couldn’t deal with being a mother. It’s up to Kate to find her, and to locate her missing niece Carly, who she haven’t seen in over a year. Every clue leads her to her late sister’s cabin in Wyoming when she reunited with Glenn Baxter, a family fiend and private detective. But when she discovered what’s been going on lately, it brought her closer to danger and the possible truth on why her niece ran away and into hiding. It landed right on her own doorstep with the shocking realization that left aftershocks in her family.

This stunning mystery would keep you at the edge of your seat. It would leave you hooked and keeps you guessing. I cared for Kate who wanted to search for the truth and the answers for those lingering burning questions that were linked to the past. I loved how she remained devoted to Poupon, the family dog, and temporarily cared for Beau. I also loved how Poupon looked after Beau—sweet tender moments. The dual locations of Wyoming and the Sandhills district were mesmerizing and transported you there on the pages. The themes of the story is okay to let go of the past and to move on from there.

This intriguing mystery will give you goosebumps and chills. I had no issues with this book. I rated this book, four out of five stars for no reason. If you love gritty mysteries with non-stop action, plenty of dramatic suspense, and lots of twisted turns, Broken Ties is the book for you. This book is recommended for those who love mysteries set in midwestern states and suspense novels.

When her niece goes missing, Sheriff Kate Fox dives into a lethal investigation that unearths long-buried secrets—and a secret society desperate to keep them hidden…

Sheriff Kate Fox is wrangling her personal and professional life into order while still searching for her niece, who slipped her halter and took off almost two years ago. But when her ex-husband’s wife, Roxy, drops their infant on Kate’s doorstep and disappears with no explanation, Kate’s world is turned upside down.

Her search for Roxy takes her to a remote cabin in the Wyoming mountains and Kate discovers a fresh trail for her niece. Her instinct tells her the two women’s disappearances are related and may be connected to a mysterious society whose members are playing a dangerous game.

As Kate races to save the women, she turns to friends and family to help—but the society’s reach stretches far, and its most dangerous members are closer than she think

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It's a domestic missing people trope in murder mystery book. I also found out that this book is a part of a series. I don't read the other books but I still can enjoy this book just fine. At first, it's hard for me to get through the story but it's still pretty good. It's pretty slow but again every mystery book is slow at first and then for the next 50% of the book, it will pick the pace again.

Wow. This is the best book of the series. This one was funny, witty, fast paced, and shocking. I don't want to say too much because it would definitely be spoiling things things. I loved it. I can not wait for the next book. Highly recommend this series!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author,, and Severn River Publishing for the ARC!

Broken ties by Shannon Baker.
Kate Fox Book 5.
When her niece goes missing, Sheriff Kate Fox dives into a lethal investigation that unearths long-buried secrets—and a secret society desperate to keep them hidden…
A very good read with good characters. Great series. Hope there is more to come. 4*.

I possess the uncanny knack of choosing books that are in a series and beginning to read the most recent books. I’ve done it again with this one. I loved the setting of Nebraska and Wyoming. However this book neat me up. I was bashed from side to side trying to figure out where the heck this story was going. I was left sputtering and cussing with many of the characters, especially Kate. What kind of sheriff goes careening off without her gun? I also didn’t like how she acted with Baxter.
Roxie and Ted really kept me pissed off and I don’t like either one.
I’ll have to read a couple of the earlier books to discern if this series is worth sticking with.

When her niece goes missing, Sheriff Kate Fox dives into a lethal investigation that unearths long-buried secrets—and a secret society desperate to keep them hidden… The story grips you from the start and keeps you hanging on till the end.

Enjoyed the read, have previously read this author, which does help when keeping track of the characters. The author has kept her high standard going, hope she continues the series

This book was sent to me electronically through NetGalley for my review. The book is the fifth installment of the Kate Fox series and the story line is continuation of from the first four books. Unfortunately, I was unaware this was the end of a series and have not read the previous books. It heavily relies on the previous storylines to fully understand the plot. Broken Ties is different than other police series because there is very little crime happening in the book. It seems this book is more about family issues and previous mysteries than a small-town sheriff and crime. While the book moves slowly at first, it gains momentum in the latter chapters. This is definitely a series where all the books should be read in order to help build more rounded characters.

I am really glad I stuck with this series because it has reached its potential with this story! Kate is back and with more on her plate than ever. There are a lot of answers in this one. A lot of emotions. And I loved the way it all came together. The ending was perfect and opened doors for a whole new chapter for these characters. I'm excited to see what comes next.

I haven't read the previous books in the series but that was not much of an issue. Everything was well written and there was lots of different threads which kept me hooked. I'm looking forward to reading the others in the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Severn River Publishing for this arc! This book was not for me! So much unneeded description for everything made the book drag. I skimmed so much description it made for a fast read. There were so many relationships this might be the middle of a series and I didn't know that when I requested the book. The story was okay, but the ending was not great for me because there was no build up and no hints about what other people were investigating.
People who love to read lots of description and have read previous books in this series will probably love this book. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Kate Fox, truly one of my favourite sheriffs, finds herself again in a race to solve a puzzle. Her ex, also a sheriff, asks her to keep an eye on his turf as he takes a break from his new wife (Roxy) and their couple of week-old son, the next morning Roxy leaves the baby on Kate’s steps to take care of while Roxy takes a break too …. As Kate searches for Roxy to bring her the baby, it triggers events that might solve her to find her niece that has been missing.
Fast pace, on the edge of your seat, and things happen that you didn’t expect!

Sheriff Kate Fox is back. Life is never simple for Kate, and this time she finds herself in a complicated situation not of her own making. When her ex-husband and his wife have a new child, the stress makes the couple decide they need to escape the demands of parenthood for a little while. This involves leaving Kate with their child (without asking). Being around babies is not new for Kate; she's been around babies her whole life, but she's not prepared to be a sole caregiver while trying to do her job as sheriff. When she goes looking for the mom, she stumbles upon a dangerous situation involving her niece, who has been missing for some time, and the death of her brother-in-law. If that is not enough, Kate's love life is a mess. It's a fun read with interesting twists and turns. I can't wait to see what happens next for Kate.

This series keeps getting better...but the ending broke my heart. No spoilers.

When Kate's sister needs a ride to a wedding, Kate sees bracelets that have been made for her sister and the bride. She just knows that they were made by her missing niece Carly.

Kate's ex, the sheriff in a neighboring county asks her to cover his county while he goes on a fishing trip. The next day her exes current wife, Roxi, who is struggling with having a new baby, drops the baby off at Kate's and takes off. When Roxi doesn't come back the next day, Kate goes looking for her.

All of this gets entangled with the search for Carly, Kate's other family and the mystery behind Kate's brothers death. It's satisfying to find out what has been going on the past few books but once again, the ending made me sad. Very curious to see where it all goes next!

Sheriff Kate Fox and her ex-husband (who is also a Sheriff) cover two counties in northern Nebraska. Ted and his new wife, Roxy, are overwhelmed with being parents to Beau -- so he's left in the care of Kate with no means to contact the parents. Also, Kate is frantically searching for her niece... To me, Kate Fox could be cousins with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum by way the story is narrated and working the case... in addition to a very large family to navigate.

This is the fifth book in the Kate Fox series and had I known that I probably wouldn’t have requested it, unfortunately the description didn’t even hint at it being part of a series so I read it as a one off. I enjoyed the character of Kate and even though I didn’t feel like I was missing crucial story elements, I would like to go back and read the first four. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and the plot was intriguing, it definitely held my interest!

I was really looking forward to this book. The plot sounded interesting and I love a good mystery. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I did not realize that this was book #5 in the Kate Fox series. Usually, I will go back and read all the books in a series if I like it enough. That did not happen here. I have no desire to read any further than this installment in the series.

For me, the mystery just dragged and dragged. I tried hard to be invested in it, but I could not get interested in happened to Kate's niece. She's nineteen and ran away. Got it. I don't really care why she ran away. Maybe because I don't care about Kate?

The writing is nice for this series but I think my problem with the book (and series as a whole) is the main character Kate. Her story arc is derivative of other female mystery protagonists. She's sheriff of a rural county (like the Kane and Altron series), her husband cheats on her & leaves her for the other woman, who happens to have his kid (Det. Josie Quinn). Her ex-husband is now the sheriff of the neighboring county which makes Kate super competitive with him over who is the best sheriff. And of course Kate has no problem watching this baby after his mother dumps him on Kate's doorstep (again Det. Josie Quinn). Even Kate's relationships with her sisters is bizarre and confusing. I never felt like they even liked each other. Instead, they seemed to be in the plot just to throw red herrings everywhere. Ultimately, I ended up skimming the book just to finish. Obviously, this is my opinion, but it would have been nice to have a female who isn't the lead in a continuing soap opera where she sort of solves mysteries.

My advice? Skip this and find a better series to read.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley electronically for review. The characters are likable and the story is intriguing although it moves slowly at times. This is a quick read with red herrings that puzzle the reader. Enjoy this one.