Review: What Happened on Beale Street & No Other Will Do

What Happened on Beale Street is an exciting addition to the Secrets of the South Mysteries from bestselling author Mary Ellis. These standalone, complex crime dramas follow a private investigator’s quest to make the world a better place…solving one case at a time.

A cryptic plea for help from a childhood friend sends cousins Nate and Nicki Price from New Orleans to Memphis, the home of scrumptious barbecue and soulful blues music. When they arrive at Danny Andre’s last known address, they discover signs of a struggle and a lifestyle not in keeping with the former choirboy they fondly remember.

Danny’s sister, Isabelle, reluctantly accepts their help. She and Nate aren’t on the best of terms due to a complicated past, yet they will have to get beyond that if they want to save Danny.

On top of Danny’s alarming disappearance and his troubled relationship with Isabelle, Nate also has to rein in his favorite cousin’s overzealousness as a new and eager PI. Confronted with a possible murder, mystery, and mayhem in the land of the Delta blues, Nate must rely on his faith and investigative experience to keep one or more of them from getting killed.

Review: At times humorous and then heart-wrenching, Mary Ellis steps away from her Amish books, which is what I know her for writing, to bring us this romantic suspense. I loved Nicki’s go-get-em attitude. She wasn’t afraid of plunging in to find out where her friend had disappeared to. Paired with Nick’s steady, reliable investigative technique, they find the answers they sought. In the process, we see hearts collide and struggle with the realities of life.

While not in the same vein as her Amish work, Ms. Ellis did an excellent job telling this story and I enjoyed the book.

Rating: 4 roses


She Trusts Him For the Job,
But Can She Trust Him With Her Heart?

Men are optional. That was the credo Emma Chandler’s suffragette aunts taught her and why she established Harper’s Station, a women’s colony that offers a fresh start to females in need. But when a dangerous and shadowy assailant tries repeatedly to drive the women out, Emma is forced to admit they might need a man after all. One who can fight. And there is only one man she trusts enough to ask.

Malachi Shaw has finally earned the respect he’s always craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma’s telegram arrives, he rushes back to Texas to repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she’s not a girl any longer. She’s a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn’t deserve.

As the danger intensifies, Emma, Mal, and the ladies of Harper’s Station must choose between safety or risking everything to fight for their future.

Review: Once again, Karen Witemeyer wrote a great story. Words can’t convey how much I love her spunky heroines and her hunky heroes. They always have so much character and life in them. Ms. Witemeyer has long been one of my favorite authors, and she maintains that position with No Other Will Do.

Rating: 5 roses

***I received these books from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Happy reading,

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