The darkness closed around her. She tried to clear her vision, but there was no light, no noise, nothing. Only the emptiness, the echoing sound of being alone. Fear pulsed through her. The man had come out of nowhere. Who was he? Blinking away tears of frustration, in the pitch black she felt the floor and walls surrounding her. Cold. Steel. Bars.
Detective Ellie Reeves heads into the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains when she wants to get lost - to forget the whispers chasing her and the past that keeps her up at night. She’s sick of having to prove herself to her small town.
But hiking in the endless miles of woods isn’t the escape she was hoping for. One night, as dusk falls, a gust of wind blows some petals on to Ellie’s path. Following the trail, she finds a golden-haired young woman dead on a bed of daffodils, with a note: Monday’s child is fair of face.
When Ellie emerges from the forest, there is a message on her phone. Someone has sent her a picture of her colleague, Officer Shondra Eastwood, with the words: Can you find her, Detective Reeves? Ellie is racked with guilt -while she was busy hiding from life a killer was on the loose, and he has taken her beloved friend.
The wilderness, and its shadows, are the perfect hunting ground for a criminal – but what does the sinister nursery rhyme mean? It soon becomes clear when another dead woman, Tuesday’s Child, is found.
Ellie is up against a serial killer who will claim a victim for every day of the week, and in the next twenty-four hours there will be another body. As this ruthless murderer closes in on her, can she save more innocent women - and Shondra – from his clutches? Or will he get to Ellie first?
An utterly gripping and completely breathless crime thriller for fans of Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh. You’ll have trouble falling asleep after this heart-pounding page-turner!
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B08DJCY4D7Social
Apple: http://ow.ly/YQED50AOUvs
Kobo: http://ow.ly/SVgL50AOUuJ
Googleplay: http://ow.ly/WH5C50AOUy3
My Review:
I loved The Silent Dolls so was delighted to reacquaint myself with Detective Ellie Reeves in this new thriller. Pretty much loathed by most of the residents of her small town after events in the first book and with family problems of her own Ellie is desperate to get away and heads off into the Appalachian mountains for a few days. However her getaway is cut short when she discovers the posed, obviously murdered body of a woman. And from the texts she starts receiving from the perpetrator it's clear that she may well be a target.
Wildflower Graves works great as a standalone but there are a lot of references and mentions of events in The Silent Dolls. These are explained in enough detail for the new reader but, as ever with a series, you will probably get a richer reading experience by starting at the beginning. And The Silent Dolls is fab anyway so well worth the read.
I love Ellie - she's strong, resilient and doesn't give up. She's not afraid to put herself in the way of danger, to the point of being reckless sometimes in her determination to catch the perpetrator. But we see her vulnerable side too with her confused feelings about her parents, and Special Agent Derrick Fox after previous events, her guilt over Shondra and her sadness at how she is being treated by many in the town.
Derrick Fox comes across as a brooding ball of pent up anger, but in a good way! His anger is the righteous kind, or it's his anxiety that comes out as aggression. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong and is as just as focused on finding the perpetrator as Ellie. But occasionally, just occasionally, we see a more tender side to Derrick. The characterisation in the book is brilliant - it allowed me to picture each character in my mind, fully formed. And let me tell you, I do not like Sheriff Bryce Waters. At all! I should also mention the Appalachian Mountains as they are such an integral part of this story, this series actually, and so richly described. Somewhere I'd love to visit, but only with a guide!
The story is packed with tension as Ellie seems to face danger at every turn. There are few dead ends and definitely some surprises along the way. Herron doesn't shy away from portraying violence, or its effects which might be a little off putting for some. There are a few heart stopping moments and more than once I found myself holding my breath.
Wildflower Graves is a well written, tense and exciting thriller, with an engaging, determined protagonist and a satisfyingly twisty storyline. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more by Herron.
The Author:
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn't think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn't have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she's penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
Author Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorritaherron/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ritaherron
Website: http://www.ritaherron.com/
The Author:
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn't think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn't have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she's penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
Author Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorritaherron/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ritaherron
Website: http://www.ritaherron.com/
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