The second collection of Falcon’s Bend Detectives Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent's cases, with Patrol Officer Amber Carfi.

AUTHORS: Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler   http://www.falconsbend.com
Mystery/Police Procedural Novella Collection

978-0-578-03109-5 (trade paperback and electronic)
Download: $5.99
Trade paperback: $15
Available now     http://stores.lulu.com/karenwiesner

Heat rating: Sweet

Word length: 287 pages

"Murder on the Heartstrings"

Lieutenant Pete Shasta takes his lovely wife Lisa on a romantic vacation, promising her no mysteries, no crime, and certainly no murder. But, not long after arriving in the middle of a blizzard that has shutdown the entire town below the luxurious inn, a body is found stuffed into a janitor’s closet. Lisa’s only resort is to join her husband in sleuthing so she can get back to her Valentine’s Day agenda.

REVIEW: I love a good mystery! A man and wife detective team even better. The two planned a nice quiet vacation, and instead are stuck in a winter storm and Pete is coerced into detective duty. Lisa, I feel your pain. Although there is a lot of information dump, with characters giving out too much through dialogue, I found this story to be enjoyable. There was a lot of"telling" rather than showing  me what was going on,which kept me from feeling involved in the story. Perhaps if Pete and Lisa had some time to explore their getaway before the murder, some of the description of the scene could have been shown. I loved how Pete and Lisa's different ideas meshed, and the confusion over who the killer was, was well played. Overall, a good read for a snowy winter afternoon.

Rating: 3/5

"Flashback"

In the midst of planning for the birth of his first child, Lieutenant Danny Vincent is called away because a person missing for seven months has suddenly, and suspiciously, dropped back from out of nowhere.Lucinda Staub was thought to be dead. Now that she’s returned, her husband Ryan wants nothing to do with her—even seems afraid of her—insisting she’d bested Old Scratch himself down in the swamp. Lucinda claims to have lost her memory…so how did she know how to get home? And why is she back now?

REVIEW: Of all of the stories in the collection, this is my favorite. The very first chapter will reel you in, and you won't want to stop until it's all over. Although there was still the show-vs-tell issue, it wasn't as obvious in this story.There is suspense and mystery combined with a hint of supernatural, making Flashback reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock. I loved learning the details along with Danny.

Rating: 4/5

"Double Take"

Victor Brooks, celebrated artist and owner of The Brooks Gallery in Falcon’s Bend, contacts local police about a missing painting. The very next day, two more pieces of art are stolen. Patrol Officers Amber Carfi and Warren Jensen stake out the gallery, hoping to catch an insatiable thief.

REVIEW:  Wow. For a small town, Falcon's Bend sure has a lot of crime. Some weird ones at that. In Double Take, we have stolen art. To Amber and Warren, it sounds like a serial crime, and they just know the thief will be back. I enjoyed the interaction between hero and heroine.Unfortunately, the authors told me about their relationship rather than invited me in to share. Although I appreciated knowing their history, I would have rather had it sprinkled in a little at a time rather than dumped in the first few pages.  The mystery itself was the focus of the story though, and I do like the way the authors kept me invested in the story. Double Take is a sweet story.

Rating: 3/5

"Retribution"

The subdivision FBPD investigators Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent live in becomes home to a very hot young mama…and their wives Lisa and Melody aren’t too happy about all the men in the neighborhood moonlighting as Peeping Toms. But it isn’t until the beautiful young woman disappears, leaving her two young children alone, that Lisa realizes crime is firmly afoot.

REVIEW: What a year the Falcon's Bend Police Department is having! Who says small towns are boring? A few typos and editorial issues, but that's the proof reader in me. I also am not a big fan of the internal dialogue that the authors use to tell us background information.In Retribution, Lisa plays a main role in her sleuthing.I liked the fact that she took charge. The ending wasn't what I expected at all. Well paced and a good length for a quick read.

Rating: 3/5

"Up In Smoke"

Lieutenant Pete Shasta is struggling to find the perfect Christmas gift for his perfect wife. His agonizing is interrupted when FBPD Dispatch receives a call from the neighbor of a local Christmas tree farm—which has just burned to the ground. Owner Mitchell Ferrara is officially out of business for the holiday season. But was the fire an accident…or the means to cover up evidence of a crime?

REVIEW: A very short case file, a tale of a hen-pecked husband and a psychotic wife. As other stories in this collection, I found the showing narrative distracting. I'd really like to visit Falcon's Bend some day. The citizens are awfully interesting! Up In Smoke is a good story, with a twisty ending thatI didn't expect.

Rating: 3/5

"Ghost of the Past"

After an exhausting day, patrol officer Amber Carfi is looking forward to dinner and going home to the love of her life, Warren Jensen, who’s been acting strange and secretive lately. When she stops at a local restaurant for take-out, she’s surprised when a woman at the counter pushes a note written on a napkin over to her. The hastily scrawled correspondence says that someone has been following her all day and he’s now in the restaurant.

Sixteen years earlier, Ericka Callister gave birth to a baby she didn’t want. Young and scared, she wrapped the baby in a pillowcase, then threw him into a dumpster before fleeing. She’s about to discover the hard way that mistakes have a way of haunting the guilty no matter how far they run and no matter where they hide.

REVIEW: Ghost of the Past is an eerie tale. I'm not sure if I ended up liking or disliking the story. Amber stumbles on a strange case of  a woman with a guilty conscience and a young man with a vendetta...or is it? The authors left it unresolved. Maybe it's leading up to yet another Falcon's Bend book? This one just confused me. At least we've tied up a loose end with Amber and Warren.

Rating: 2/5

Reviewed by Jade Ryan

Between The Lines Review