And Then There Was You

Everything I've read by Nancy Naigle, I've loved.  Imagine my surprise when I get an email from her publicist inviting me to read and review her newest novel.  And it was a welcomed invitation!

Taking place primarily in Chestnut Ridge, Virginia, near the North Carolina border, this is a book about overcoming adversity in the best way possible.  It's about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again after everything has been taken from you.  This is a book about finding help in unexpected places, of feeling alone but finding you never were alone, and especially about restoring what the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25, if you are curious about the reference).  

Natalie was taken to the cleaners by a con artist.  The detective assigned to her case finds something in Natalie that compels him to want to know more.  He tries so hard to get a date with her to find her quite gun-shy.  At a loss for what to do about living arrangements, Natalie remembers that her husband has a hunting cabin in Chestnut Ridge.  So she packs up her few belongings and heads for the hills.  On the way she meets several characters who add color and light to her life, and eventually finds that she isn't as alone as she believed she was.  The detective, Randy Fellowes, still keeps in contact with her even though the case is seemingly at a dead end.  The breakthrough comes when Randy meets a detective from North Carolina who is investigating a similar case in his own jurisdiction.  

From the beginning it is not easily discernable if Natalie will have a love interest, or whom it will be.  There are two contenders for the role.  There are a few characters in the book who are throw-away characters that don't seem to have much of a role in fleshing out the plot, they are just there as place-holders--mentioned a couple of times and then disappearing from the warp and weft of the plot. The book is not easy to put down once you get caught up in the story.  I am so glad I was invited to read this offering by Nancy and hope to read her future novels. 

Four Strong Stars. 

St. Martins Press provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.