Book Review – Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert #20booksofsummer20

Book Details
Genre: Mystery
Series: Shana Merchant, #1
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 2/18/2020
Pages: 307

Goodreads Synopsis –

A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. Senior Investigator Shana Merchant believes it all adds up to a killer in their midst—and that murder is a family affair.

Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she’s taken a job in her fiancé’s sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.

But as a nor’easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.

While Tim guesses they’re dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.

Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in—herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana’s right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they’ll strike again.

My Opinion –

This book reads like a good old fashion whodunnit!

A bloody bed, but no body. This is what investigators Shanna and Tim are facing on a remote island during a vicious storm that will only impede their ability to solve this mystery.

Just about everyone is a viable suspect and would benefit in one way or another from Jasper being dead. Shana and Tim have their hands full keeping the family from interacting with one another and off of their cell phones if they are going to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Lead detective Shana Merchant is an interesting character! She is smart, flawed, and unpredictable. Her past is slowly unveiled to us as the story unfolds and intensifies until just about everyone is at their breaking point.

This book is a good start to what I feel could be a great series!

*Thank you Berkley for the opportunity to read and review this book via NetGalley for my honest opinion.