Publishers Weekly
10/07/2019
This disappointing series launch from bestseller Shelton (the Scottish Bookshop mysteries) introduces Beth Rivers, a thriller author and recent kidnap victim, who flees from St. Louis to Benedict, Alaska, to hide from her attacker. With limited lodging available, Beth stays at Benedict House, a halfway house for criminals, where she does her best to acclimate herself to living with felons. When the Benedict police chief asks her to take over the village’s newspaper, Beth’s decision to write an article on the mysterious death of local Linda Rafferty lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. Her experience as a secretary for a small-town police department comes in handy. As she talks to a town full of potential suspects, she quickly realizes she’s not the only one hiding from something in Benedict. Too many unresolved subplots overshadow the intriguing setup and distinctive setting. In the end, Beth’s reason for moving to Alaska proves more interesting than the mystery behind Rafferty’s death. Agent: Jessica Faust, Bookends Literary. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
"[A] riveting story with an unusual setting and cast of characters. Fans of strong amateur sleuths will admire Beth's struggle to build a new future in a remote location. Readers of Vicki Delany's "Molly Smith" books, set in British Columbia, will also enjoy." —Library Journal (Starred, Pick of the Month)
"[With] murder, mayhem and heroics...[and] an intriguing cast of characters." —Anchorage Daily News
"A page-turner with an unusual location and a coda that provides more questions than answers." —Kirkus
"Readers are left wondering up to the last exciting page what the answers are, and will eagerly await the second in this new Alaska mysteries series from the author of the Scottish Bookshop mysteries." —Booklist
"Riveting. Suspenseful and intriguing . . . Shelton's fans are sure to enjoy this compelling departure from her typical writing style." —Shelf Awareness
Library Journal
★ 12/01/2019
Renowned thriller writer Elizabeth Fairchild was kidnapped by a crazed fan but managed to escape after three days. Now, under her real name, Beth Rivers, she's run as far as she can, to the isolated village of Benedict, AK. Her kidnapper hasn't been caught yet. With only a few memories of her ordeal and the man's name stuck in her head, she's going to hide until either the police or her determined mother find the man. She attracts attention as a newcomer, but everyone in Benedict seems to be hiding or escaping from the past. The police chief knows who she is and recruits her to use her skills to help with a murder investigation. The case keeps Beth occupied, while she tries to remember her ordeal and looks over her shoulder with every unusual sound. VERDICT Known for her cozy mysteries (The Loch Ness Papers), Shelton turns thriller author for this riveting story with an unusual setting and cast of characters. Fans of strong amateur sleuths will admire Beth's struggle to build a new future in a remote location. Readers of Vicki Delany's "Molly Smith" books, set in British Columbia, will also enjoy. [See Prepub Alert, 6/3/19.]—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
FEBRUARY 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Suzie Althens tells the story of traumatized Beth Rivers, who has moved to a small town in Alaska, where she plans to hide herself from the psychopath who kidnapped her back in St. Louis. The fear she lives with can be heard in her voice. Even though Beth is focused on her own troubles, she is drawn into the murder of a local girl and its possible association with girls staying in a halfway house. Benedict, Alaska, has a wide range of local characters, and Althens’s delivery includes varied accents since residents mostly come from elsewhere. Many disparate subplots remain unresolved. This is the first in a new series titled Alaska Wild Mysteries, so perhaps listeners' questions will be answered in a later audiobook. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-09-15
Prolific Shelton (The Loch Ness Papers, 2019, etc.) kicks off a new series featuring a traumatized heroine who flees to Alaska seeking safety.
Beth Rivers, an author who writes thrillers under the name Elizabeth Fairchild, spent three days in a van with an obsessed fan/kidnapper before leaping out of the moving vehicle. After having been hospitalized for injuries that required brain surgery, she's looking for a place to stay where no one will find her, and she settles on the remote town of Benedict, Alaska. The only ways to get to Benedict are by air or water, and the only one who knows Beth's true identity is Police Chief Gril Samuels, who sends park ranger Donner Montgomery to pick her up at the airfield because Gril's busy with an unexplained death. Beth's plan to stay at Benedict House is almost derailed when she discovers that the hotel is actually a halfway house for female criminals, currently three shoplifters who do odd jobs around town. Beth's father vanished when she was young, and her mother has spent years looking for him. Beth, raised mostly by her police-chief grandfather, worked for the department as a secretary, though her math and analytical skills sometimes pressed her into service as a crime-scene tech. Now she carries burner phones to keep in touch with her doctor and the detective back home who's working her case. Unable to remember everything that happened to her, she thinks her kidnapper's name is Levi Brooks but can't picture his face until she starts having flashbacks. Curious about the death of Benedict local Linda Rafferty, which could be murder or suicide, Beth takes up Gril's offer to be his consultant and also run the local newspaper, giving her a chance to research Rafferty's death as she searches for Levi Brooks. In the process, she discovers that she's far from the only person in Benedict with something to hide.
A page-turner with an unusual location and a coda that provides more questions than answers.