Julie Hall is finally adjusting to her new career: locating dead bodies with dowsing rods. The crime scene is drenched with blood, but the body is nowhere to be found. When a grieving mother requests Julie’s help tracking the body of her missing daughter, Julie is hesitant. Not only do the circumstances sound disturbing, the job is in her hometown, a place steeped in upsetting memories and … upsetting memories and unresolved trauma. But her interest is piqued, and she takes the case, knowing she’ll have the support of her FBI agent boyfriend along the way.
Soon, Julie finds herself exactly where she doesn’t want to be–trapped in the dangerous spotlight created to keep the story in the media. And as she digs deeper into the mystery of the young woman’s death, she uncovers secrets about her own past she thought were buried forever.
And don’t miss the first installment in the Bodies of Evidence series. A Grave Calling is available now from Wendy Roberts and Carina Press!
This book is approximately 73,000 words
Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Deborah Nemeth
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Wow! This series is rockin’ with adrenaline. In this book Julie is trying to start her life anew. After everything that happened 15 months ago who could blame her. Her life seems to be on track with a new house, FBI boyfriend and actually making a business out of her talent. But when a distraught mother asks for her help to find her daughters body, things are not always what they seem and the prime suspect is someone from her past.
Can Julie find the missing girl? Can she uncover the truth and deal with the past that seems to be popping back up?
I tell you these books are amazing. They keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. I was biting my nails and there were definitely some “oh shit” moments! The adventures that Julie goes on are something else. She is a very brave and strong woman. She deals with some really heavy stuff, that a normal person would buckle under that kind of pressure. I am also loving the chemistry between her and Garrett. He is a sexy alpha male who is very protective. It makes me laugh at some of his antics.
In this book though Wendy introduces a new character Tracey. She is a new friend for Julie, where she has no friends. It is a budding new relationship and I hope to see more from Tracey in the next books. She seems to be someone who Julie can use in her life to help her balance the crazy.
We also find out the long asked question, “What really happened to Molly Arsentault?” Julie’s mom.
I am a big fan of Wendy Roberts. I started out reading her books The Ghost Duster Mysteries. Her books have a strong female characters with unique abilities. I like that aspect of her books. This aspect makes for great storylines with wonderful plots that keep the mystery. Her books hold the reader’s attention, flowing smoothly at a steady pace and are highly entertaining.
I am so in love with this series and can not wait to see what adventures Julie gets into next.
*ARC provided by Netgalley & Carnia Press
This second installment in the series isnt as dark and suspenseful as the first book but it was just as enjoyable to read.
Julie Hall is now running her own business – Divine Reunions – where she helps to find deceased loved ones with her dowsing rods. She’s bought a house away from her previous life and lives with her dog Wookie.. She is still dating FBI Agent Garrett Piece but he still lives and works in Seattle an hour away. So they don’t get to see each other everyday but he is very much in her life. I really like Julie and Garrett’s relationship – he is 20 years older than her but there is nothing icky about it.. The both suffer from heartbreaking past and they fill the broken in the other.
This book didn’t pick up exactly where the first one left off but it felt like a continuation of where that book ended. Julie is still struggling to stay sober, still trying to keep her grandfather’s voice out of her head and is continue to heal mentally from the years of abuse from her grandma. She is trying to live as stress free of a life as she can while helping to find the missing bodies of those who ask for her help.
She really wants nothing to do with a woman who just shows up her house asking for help in finding her daughters body. But when Julie realizes that the daughter had been dating a guy she had a crush on in high school her curiosity is piqued and her investigation uncovers a lot of things dealing with Julie’s past.
I got the impression by the end of the book that this may be the last of the series. If so I am happy where it ended but would love to have more stories of Julie and her dowsing rods and her hunky FBI agent.
After her life is set in a spiral and everything goes south Julie starts her business finding bodies. She is seeking help with her issues surrounding her grandparents and trying to find a new normal. Garrett is still part of her life although she is trying it on her own. The relationship is more defined in this read and so is her purpose as she finds herself knee deep in another mess. Yup you got it she finds herself caught between a murderer and the body. While it’s not as crazy as the first occurrence it is just as emotional.
I like this authors style and even though I wanted to shake Julie for some of her decisions I have to say it’s a great read. She gives closure and wraps everything up by the end of the book but this bow aint a pretty one, but we do get an hea.
I was a little lost that when I started this book because it was the second book in the “Bodies of Evidence Series”. I wished I had read Ms. Roberts’s first book “Grave Calling” it would have helped me understand Julie Hall a lot better. I started to give up and read the first book in series but I was already engaged in the storyline of this ones so I didn’t want to give up and start over. I’ll just read it later, that’s a promise.
I was a fan of Ms. Roberts’ earlier series “Ghost Dusting” several years ago and I was glad to see she has another winner out.
I liked Julie Hall a lot, she’s gone through Hell to get to her life back on track and there were just enough hints sprinkled throughout the book that I could gather enough information without having read the first book to get a grasp some of her past history to know that she’s a survivor but I’d love to know more about what makes her tick.
Julies finds dead people or graves with divining rods, she’s made quite a name for herself in Washington State, as well as all over the world. She get’s tons of requests from people from all over who want her to find their lost loved ones and bring them home so they can put them to rest. She’s a private person and would just like to work around the Pacific Northwest and live with her Rottie, Wookie and have her hunky FBI lover, Garret nearby. She’s media-shy, to say the least.
When an elderly lady shows up on her front porch one morning asking for her help in finding the body of her 25-year-old daughter, Julie’s torn, she knows this is a no win situation but she’ll consider taking the case. When she starts looking into it the case she learns some things that make her decision for her, so she accepts.
This is a great mystery, with twists and turns that will keep you hanging on until the end. It’s a fast read and I’m looking forward to the next book in series. There are some new things coming Julie’s way and I can’t see what Ms. Roberts’ has in store for her.
Disclosure: I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The review above are my own words and opinions regarding this book.
A Grave Search by Wendy Roberts
Bodies of Evidence #2
I have been eagerly waiting to see what will happen next in this series. The main character, Julie, has had so many trials and tribulations that I want her to have “good” things happen in her life and…perhaps a few do in this book BUT a whole heap of not so good happens, too.
Julie has moved from the place of her painful childhood, she has set up house in a new home, she has created a thriving business using her divining skills and she still has her older FBI boyfriend Garrett Pierce. She is still dealing with the problem of alcoholism and the PTSD that is an outcome of the childhood abuse she survived. She does what she can with her copper dowsing rods to help families find and burry their deceased loved ones.
In this book she is asked by a mother to locate her daughter – a young woman that has been missing for some time. Julie is not terribly interested in the case until she realizes that the young man accused of murdering the daughter is someone she knew in school. With one thing leading to another she does become involved and eventually finds a whole lot more than she was bargaining on. She finds several bodies, helps in some investigations for bodies and finds out something major about her own past that begins to put a few puzzle pieces of her own life in place.
I enjoyed the voice telling this story. I enjoyed getting to know Julie/Delma better. I was thankful that Garrett was still there to support, care for and love this fractured but not broken heroine. I am eager to read more of the series and will say that having read book one made this book richer. Why? Because I knew the backstory of the heroine and about the people mentioned that she knew in book one and all of that and her previous experiences were more easily remembered and applied to this book.
I will definitely be reading book three when it comes out and want to thank NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4.5 Stars