How is it the end of the year already?! It’s been a whirlwind of a year with a lot of ups and a few downs, but overall I have been very blessed. I have had a house full of family the past week and have necessarily neglected the old blog. I’m sure you understand. 😉 But I didn’t want the year to end without one last review. I read Burying Daisy Doe by Ramona Richards last summer, but failed to write a review. I really enjoyed this mystery set in the South. It made my best of 2021 list. Find out more below.
No cold case is more important than the one that destroyed her own family.
Every small town has one unsolved case that haunts its memory, festering for generations below the surface with the truth of humanity’s darkness. Star Cavanaugh is obsessed with the one that tore her family apart.
Over sixty years ago, Daisy Doe was murdered and discarded outside Pineville, Alabama, buried without a name or anyone to mourn her loss. When Star’s father tried to solve the case, he was also killed. Now a cold-case detective with resources of her own, Star is determined to get to the bottom of both crimes. But she’ll have to face an entire town locked in corruption, silence, and fear–and the same danger that took two other lives. The only people in town she can trust are her grandmother and the charming Mike Luinetti, and both of them trust a God Star isn’t sure she believes in. Can Christians so focused on the good really help her track down this evil?
Ramona Richards, in her own words:
I started making stuff up at 3, writing it down at 7, and selling it at 17. I’ve written 12 books. The latest two are Tracking Changes: One Editor’s Advice to Inspirational Fiction Authors, a collection of essays for novelists, and Burying Daisy Doe, a suspense novel set in a small Southern town. In fact, most of my suspense novels are set in small Southern towns. Murder in the Family is the latest already in print. I have six Love Inspired Suspense novels still available in ebook.
I’m also an editor, with more than 500 publications to my credit, and I’m now the associate publisher for Iron Stream Media. My specialty is fiction, although I’ve also worked on CD-ROMs, magazines, non-fiction, children’s books, Bibles, and study guides. Lot of publishers have helped my bottom line, such as Thomas Nelson, Barbour, Howard, Harlequin, Ideals, etc.
And, as I say on Twitter (@RamonaRichards): Music nut. Film buff. Usually a fun person to eat a burger with.
My Impressions:
Burying Daisy Doe is a mystery novel involving a cold case that is very personal to main character Star Cavanaugh. Her father was murdered trying to discover the truth about Daisy Doe. As a PI, Star takes on the most daunting of cases and this one is no exception. There has to be a connection between the two murders, and Star and the reader are taken on a twisting journey through the underworld of a Southern town. Yes, underworld! Small towns have long held secrets, and Pineville, Alabama is no exception. Richards captures the charm of this small southern town with its quirky and endearing citizens, quaint homes and businesses, as well as a very dark side that kept me turning the pages. I was kept guessing all the way through this book, a big plus! The characters were well-developed, and their stories were intriguing. Star is the perfect sleuth — determined and undaunted by threats. There’s a bit of romance too, that I hope will develop in more books featuring Star.
If you are looking for a great mystery, then Burying Daisy Doe is the perfect pick. I loved it and know you will too.
Highly recommended.
Audience: adults.
(Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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