In this gripping second novella in the Widow’s Island series, bestselling author Melinda Leigh delivers a chilling tale of murder in the Pacific Northwest.Deputy Tessa Black gave up her career as a detective with the Seattle PD and returned to the Pacific Northwest island she calls home to care for her ailing mother. Tessa thinks her mother’s illness is the worst thing she’ll face—until she … face—until she responds to a routine call in the state park and discovers a local man harpooned to a sign.
As the murder investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that the victim harbored secrets. Together with her FBI agent best friend, Cate, and park ranger Logan Wilde, Tessa must connect the pieces before the murderer strikes again. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she finds herself—and the ones she loves—in harm’s way.
Pressure mounts as Tessa attempts to juggle the current case with her search for the truth behind her childhood friend Samantha’s disappearance twenty years ago. Can Tessa find the murderer and uncover answers about Samantha without jeopardizing everything she holds dear?
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From the first page, you are sucked into the murder mystery and Deputy Tessa Black is pulling you along for the ride. The book is full of well developed characters, an intense mystery, a sense of violence. Tessa’s mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s and this only adds to the many things on her plate. There is the chance of a romantic relationship developing, but that’s just a blip on the radar and does not take away from the mystery that needs to be solved.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series!
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
What can I say: I love everything Melinda Leigh writes. That said, I really enjoy this series. It’s easy to get lost in the stories and forget the real world for a little bit
THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH THE AUDIOBOOK AND EBOOK VERSIONS
Suspenseful and thrilling. Great action scenes and it tugs at your emotions as well. Very well written and the narration was perfect. I recommend this book.
Deputy Sheriff Tessa Black is back home on the island after she gave up her job as a detective with the Seattle PD. Home now to take care of her mother who has early onset Dementia, she’s exhausted from juggling her mother’s care, raising her younger half sister who’s a teen, and her job as a deputy.
Having just wrapped up a murder investigation, she’s hoping that things return to normal, but luck’s not on her side. Responding to a call about someone screaming, Tessa discovers the body of a man harpooned to a sign. After discovering that the man, artist Dante Moreno, isn’t who he claimed to be, she has to unravel all his secrets to find out who he really was, and who wanted him dead so badly that they actually harpooned him.
Tessa’s got help from her best friend, Cate Wilde, an FBI agent back home on the island recovering from being shot while on the job, and Cate’s older brother Logan. Logan’s back on the island after he left the military and he’s now the island’s forest ranger.
This is such a good series. I’m completely sucked in and I don’t want to leave Widow’s Island or the surrounding area. I love the story arc, the characters, and the writing. You can feel the breeze blowing and smell the salt in the air. You’re immersed in the town, the characters, and the story. This is the second book in the series, and I recommend you read them in order. These are not standalones, and you will be missing vital information if you don’t read them in order.
**I borrowed this story using my Kindle Unlimited subscription
We are back on Widow’s Island and this time we get to know Tessa Black better. She has returned to the island from Seattle PD to help take care of her mother who is suffering from dementia and help raise her younger sister. She is called out when an islander hears screaming late at night and calls on Logan who has also returned after his stint in the military and suffering from PTSD and now working for the Forest Service. What they find is a local artist who has been harpooned. This one was fast moving and full of twists and turns to find the killer of the artist. We also get to know more about Tessa and Cate and their missing friend, Samantha. Really enjoying this series.
Thanks to the Kindle Unlimited Weekend Read-A-Thon (Dec. 27 – 29), I was able to make time to read the second book in the Widow’s Island novella series. A Bone to Pick is by Melinda Leigh this time, and I was excited to dive back into one of her books/novellas.
This time readers get to follow Deputy Tessa Black and Park Ranger Logan Wilde in the second novella in the series, and I adored both of these characters. Tessa Black used to be a detective with the Seattle PD until she decided to go back home to Widow’s Island to take care of her mother that is suffering from Dementia. Logan Wilde used to be in the Army until he decided not to re-enlist and he wanted a job that didn’t involve with death. Unfortunately, both characters will have to investigate a gruesome murder on the Island, which includes a local man being harpooned. They will get help with Tessa’s best friend, Cate, who was introduced in the first book. She’s an FBI agent who can assist with the murder and also help Tessa take care of her mother. Both Tessa and Logan will learn that the victim of the killing has his secrets that may have been the reason why he was murdered. Who is behind it all, though? Could it be someone on the Island or someone visiting?
I loved the suspense in this novella, and I loved how Tessa kicked butt in this book too. Melinda always writes some kick-butt heroines in her stories. The novella is short, but Melinda Leigh does a fantastic job of keeping readers, like myself, on the edge of my seat. I love everything she writes and needs to find more time to catch up on her books, as well as Kendra Elliot. These two authors are fantastic with their story-telling and making me fall for their characters.
I highly recommend reading this series by Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot, and I’m going to make time to read the next two novellas so that I can catch up. I want to find out more about the biggest mystery of them all that involves a friend of Tessa and Cate’s that disappeared twenty years ago, Samantha. If you haven’t read the first novella, then I highly recommend you do soon.
Love this series!
Great characters in a fantastic setting! The community feel of these books increases with each episode and that just feels good.
Another great mystery!
A great sequel to “Close To The Bone” although you don’t need to have read the first to be able to enjoy the second. This series gives you a wonderful description of “Widow’s Island” and brings it and its residents to life. A nice mystery with just a touch of romance thrown in.
In yesterday’s review of CLOSE TO THE BONE, I explained the following about the Widow’s Island series:
If you are familiar with [Kendra Elliot], this might not be news to you, but she writes in tandem with another author, Melinda Leigh (my review of her first Widow’s Island book is coming tomorrow). The Widow’s Island series is a new one for them, but they’ve done these tandem series in the past (I’ve added one called the Rogue River series to my TBR pile….because it wasn’t big enough already…). For this series, Kendra Elliot penned CLOSE TO THE BONE, Widow’s Island book one, and Melinda Leigh wrote A BONE TO PICK, Widow’s Island book two (Melinda wrote book three and Kendra wrote book four, both of which are coming in October 2019).
A BONE TO PICK is the second Widow’s Island novella. Instead of following FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde, Melinda Leigh’s installment follows Cate’s best friend, Dupety Tessa Black. Tessa is much softer than Cate and immediately likeable. She’s got a lot on her plate juggling her own life and job while taking care of her ailing mother. But she handles it with grace and warmth even when it has run her ragged. Much like her series counterpart, Tessa is whip smart and sweet as pie, and I found myself rooting for her immediately.
The mystery of the day in this book surrounds the discovery of an especially gruesome murder scene and the resulting investigation. Due to the location of the body, Tessa ends up investigating with Cate’s super-hot brother Logan. I will say, this book is a little heavier on the romance angle than the first book was, but the mystery is still what’s front and center in the plot. In addition to the mystery and romance plots, this book also deals with the difficulties of caring for someone with an illness that causes severe deterioration of their mental faculties. I know we’re not supposed to call it a burden but it’s the truth. Not only is it painful to watch someone you love slip away, but taking care of them yourself is a lot to take on for anyone, especially when you’re not a trained medical professional. Over the course of the story, we see Tessa learn that it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not required to shoulder everything alone.
Overall, I loved A BONE TO PICK and this series (and both authors!) has officially been added to my watch list. As I mentioned in my review of CLOSE TO THE BONE, if you read R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series as a young teen, the Widow’s Island series is a great adult equivalent. A BONE TO PICK fits that statement soundly and I cannot wait for Melinda’s next installment in October. The story moves swiftly and keeps you glued to the page to the very end. I will warn you, keep a tissue with you because you’ll probably cry at least once while reading. lol
The second book in the Widow’s Island novella series, written by Melinda Leigh, meshes perfectly with book one, written by Kendra Elliot. As a writing team, alternating books in a series, you can’t get better that this dynamic duo. I mention in all of my reviews that dialogue and character development are critical for my enjoyment of a story, and these two authors never disappoint. Crisp dialogue and well rounded characters are a specialty of wordsmith Melinda Leigh, making for a riveting read.
Book two finds Tessa struggling with both a murder and a mom whose failing health has brought her home to Widow’s Island after spending her career as an officer with the Seattle PD. Investigating the death of a man found harpooned to a sign in the local state park, Tessa teams with her best friend Cate, a Special Agent with the FBI, and Logan Wilde, a man who came home to Widow’s Island with de4mons of his own to face. Can they solve the mystery of who he really was? And will anyone else be targeted by the killer?
Totally enjoyable read!!
This book follows on the heels of Close to the Bone and really shouldn’t be read unless you’ve read that book. However, my biggest complaint about this story is that the ending was entirely too abrupt! It just felt like the story was going along, the investigation was only just beginning, then BAM! We’ve suddenly got this bad guy coming out of nowhere setting a fire and just revealing themselves so that there’s practically no suspense or mystery angle to the story! There also seemed to be very little romance between Logan and Tessa, though I did like the snippets of info that we got on Cate’s romance. While I liked that this was part of a larger series, and am eagerly awaiting the next installments of the books, this wasn’t one I was impressed with overall.
Great read. Wonderfully written.
This is an excellent second novella in the Widow’s Island series. Like it’s predecessor, this story had intrigue, suspense, murder and hints of romance. It gives you the feel of island life, has appealing characters that you can relate to and a plot that kept my attention. The stress and emotional pain of slowing loosing ones mother to Alzheimer’s comes through well and you can literally feel Tessa’s heartache and fear. The trauma that Logan went through and his ability to cope with his PTSD draws you to this strong, kind man and you really want him to find happiness. Even though each novella in the series is complete and can be read as a stand-alone, there are threads that connect the books together. I look forward to reading the next books in this captivating series
Great Suspense
A local artist is found harpooned to the picnic grounds sign it takes a big twist to who did it. Tessa gets assistance from Logan, who is a friend and a park ranger, and her fellow officer. When they find out who and why s interesting. But Tessa is also dealing with gets mom’s dementia.