Book Description
“Mommy, wake-up,” he cries, pulling at her beautiful blonde hair. She’s silent, and her skin is deathly white. Tears roll down his cheeks as he realizes something is very wrong…
As snow falls on the small town of Lost Creek, Colorado, a three-year-old boy is found playing quietly in his car seat, his mother, cold as ice, slumped against the steering wheel in front. Tearing herself away from reconnecting with her special agent father who abandoned her for his career, Detective Madison Harper is haunted by the fear in the boy’s sky-blue eyes, and vows to find justice for this innocent child, left motherless just days before Christmas.
Madison works around the clock on her only clue: a perfect circle of clean glass found on the car’s rear window. But she’s stopped in her tracks the moment another mother is found dead outside a church during Midnight Mass, her young boy left sucking his thumb on the frozen ground beside her. It can’t be a coincidence.
The need to spare the children might hint to the suspect being a woman, but the deeper Madison digs, the closer she gets to a serial killer her own father spent a lifetime chasing. Has the killer followed her father here? Could Madison, single mother to a son herself, be next?
As a blizzard closes in, wreaking havoc on the investigation, Madison hits the same dead ends her father did all those years ago. But when her closest friend goes missing, Madison must dive into the mind of this twisted soul and risk it all to stop another heart-shattering tragedy. But will she make it in time?
An absolutely gripping read that will get your pulse pounding! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Catch Her Death' by Wendy Dranfield.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Wendy Dranfield, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 9th September 2022
This is the fifth book I have read by this author. It is also the fifth book in the 'Detective Madison Harper' series but it can be read as a standalone. I have previously read 'Cry For Help' which is the second book in the 'Detective Madison Harper' series, 'Little Girl Taken' which is the third book in the 'Detective Madison Harper' series, 'Gone To Her Grave' which is the fourth book in the 'Detective Madison Harper' series and 'The Birthday Party' which is a standalone. I would highly recommend each of them.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.' I am a huge fan of Melinda, Lisa AND Kendra so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a fan of Wendy Dranfield and if this is half as good as 'Cry For Help', 'Little Girl Taken', 'Gone To Her Grave' and 'The Birthday Party' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 51 chapters. The chapters are short in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Lost Creek, Colorado, USA 🇺🇸.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Detective Madison Harper and Nate Monroe. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out on anything.
Wow!!!! Just flipping wow!!!! What an absolutely epic page turner!!! Well done Wendy you have done it yet again!! Absolutely smashed it!!!!!!!
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions creating the perfect atmosphere for the storyline. The book cover and synopsis works perfectly with the book plot and I am most definitely looking forward to reading the next book, and the previous one in this series.
An addictive, nail biting, page turning, heart racing and compelling storyline which had many layers of mysteries and crimes for the reader to be kept guessing throughout. Filled with twists, turns, shocks, tragedy and red herrings throughout I had no idea who did what until the end. This is an achievement in itself as it is definitely getting harder to surprise me with the amount of crime novels I've read. There was so many explosive bombshells in this book that I actually lost count on how many times I was shocked which I didn't think would be possible!!! The plot was unique and realistic. It started straight in the action and kept you going on a roller-coaster ride of suspension throughout. There were several occasions when my heart was in my throat and I the hair was raising on my arms but I won't mention those as not to spoil it for future readers. It is so hard to not say too much without giving anything away to future readers but I'm sure once people have read it they will know exactly what I mean. Well done Wendy you did absolutely amazing and everything was tied up perfectly. The twists and turns in this book left me going from laughter to tears of sadness to absolute shock!!! Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride of emotions!!! I just could not put this book down and would absolutely LOVE to see this whole series turned into a TV series!!! Hint, hint Wendy 😉
I have loved this series from the start but I must say Wendy you just keep getting better and better with each book and this has got to be the best so far!!! It is most definitely in my top 5 books I've read this year!!! That may not seem like much but my average is 20/30 a month.
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
Before you start this make sure you clear your schedule because once you pick it up you are not going to want to put it down!!!!
Although this is the fifth book in the series I had would have had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
I absolutely loved meeting certain characters again which definitely included Madison, Nate and Brody along with discovering new ones!! I loved the fact that the main lead was such a strong female with alot of background and yet having gone through so much and still going through so much Madison still didn't back down!! I cannot wait to read what happens next with her. I also enjoyed Nates character but of course being an animal lover my favourite has to be Brody!!! I really like Vince's character and his obsession with all things crime and I really enjoyed meeting him again. I am looking forward to seeing how Mendes and Madison's relationship develops in the next book and although I really didn't click with her when I first met her she has surprised me on a few occasions. There were a few occasions in this book where I wanted to shout at Nate for being a pillock but that was nothing compared to how much I wanted to scream at new member Detective Marcus Adams and Madisons estranged father. However I wont go too much into that and let you make your own opinions of them. All the characters were strong and well defined. I enjoyed that the author gave just the right amount of background information on the characters to let us know about them for it to be a standalone but not too much so if you've read the first book your not going over the same information too much.
Congratulations Wendy on yet another success and here's to the next explosive book in this absolutely epic series!!! This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors and why this series is in my top 5 crime series!!!
Overall a must read, pulse racing, addictive page turning crime thriller thay will keep you on edge.
Genres covered in this novel include Crime, Police Procedural, Crime Thriller and Mystery amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Melinda Leigh, Lisa Regan, Angela Marsons, C. L Taylor, Kendra Elliot, Carol Wyer and anyone looking for a great new series.
358 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon (at time of review) and £8.99 for paperback which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@WendyDranfield @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio
Wendy is the bestselling author of the Detective Madison Harper crime series.
She is a former coroner's assistant turned crime writer who writes a mixture of standalone thrillers, crime series and short stories. Some of her books have been shortlisted for various writing competitions and awards, including the Mslexia novel writing competition and the International Thriller Writer Awards.
You can find more information on her website:
Author social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WendyDranfield
Website: wendydranfield.co.uk
Instagram: @wendy_dranfield
Author newsletter sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/wendy-dranfield
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B6WQK2RFsocial
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