A chilling murder, an elusive killer, and a family mystery that hits too close to home . . .After finding the body of her best friend on the icy shores of Lake Tahoe, Aspen Adams refuses to stand by and watch as the local sheriff’s department begins their search for the killer. Launching her own investigation, she’s soon confronted with a growing array of secrets-both about the friend she thought … thought she knew and about many of the people in her own life. As fragmentary clues and escalating dangers threaten to derail her, she must also cope with the disturbing behavior of her deadbeat sister and troubled teenage niece.Determined to overcome her personal demons over past failures, Aspen is driven to unravel the conflicting evidence and a shifting range of suspects to bring the killer to justice, even as a family trauma unfolds that threatens to upend her life. And as her investigation inexorably leads her to a shocking discovery and taunts her with a solution that is just out of reach, Aspen realizes that the killer wants nothing more than to see her and her niece dead . . .
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A fantastic first book in a phenomenal series. I admit, I read this series out of order, and now it all makes sense. Aspen is a strong willed, no nonsense woman who fights tooth and nail to get to the truth. She is a loving, caring person who takes in her niece Candace when her mother Rosie, Aspen’s sister, temporarily drops her off with no advanced warning. Aspen searches for answers to who murdered her best friend, and why. I didn’t figure out who the killer was until it was revealed. The story is riveting, and takes the reader on a fast paced thrill ride. I highly recommend this book and this series!
Desolate Shores by Daryl Wood Gerber is billed as suspense but it is really one step beyond a cozy, which is not a bad thing. Aspen Adams is an ex-child psychologist, current process server/PI-in-training and she has just discovered the dead body of her best friend, Vikki, lying on the beach. Still recovering from the unsolved murders of her parents years ago, she can’t find it in her heart to trust the police, so she sets out to investigate on her own. Her aunt Max, for whom she works, is directing her search for the murderer. Her friends Gwen and Karen are relatively supportive, although Karen is a member of the police force and constantly worried about being showed up and Gwen has her own issues. To compound matters, Aspen’s drug-addicted sister drops off her daughter, Candace, to spend a week with Aspen, or so she says.
This is totally a character driven story and that character is Aspen. She definitely has a past and her own hang-ups but between Candace and Vikki she holds it together admirably and continues to investigate. The whole thing takes place in Lake Tahoe, in the winter, and the characters in the scenario continue to surprise Aspen as she searches for a murderer and learns about Vikki’s life. She is an excellent character and I found myself thinking about her when I was away from the book. The mystery was excellent and well plotted. It wasn’t until the end when both Aspen and I figured out who the murderer was. Apparently this is to be a series: excellent idea. If you are not intrigued by gruesome murders this is the book for you. It may have been gruesome but Gerber did not go into minute detail. I enjoyed it. I recommend it. Hope you like it, too.
I was given a free ARC of Desolate Shores. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #desolateshores
I received a copy if this book from NetGalley and the publisher and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s action packed and full of twists and turns. The characters all have secrets that draw you in. I highly recommend it.
Daryl Wood Gerber has a hit with her new Aspen Adams thriller. From the very start I was pulled into the story and it just got better and better. Aspen finds a friend murdered and she then has to wrestle with her past while trying to find who murdered her friend. She is a strong determined woman, who won’t let anything get in her way to find the killer.
This is a spine tingling page turner that has you wrapped up in the mystery right up to the end. It is just enough suspenceful tension that makes it a great read. I like the setting at Lake Tahoe and the characters are interesting and complex. Aspen grows as she unravels the mystery which appeals to me. If I found anything I didn’t like it might be that there wasn’t enough background on characters to start with but really as you continue to read you get the information.
I really look forward to the next book in this series.
I received an ARC copy to read for my honest opinion and review
I loved this suspense novel. I’ve read most of the cozies written by the author and have loved them, but this was the first suspense novel by her I’ve read. Her voice really transfers and I enjoyed the book very much. The setting in a Lake Tahoe ski area was new for me. The story was a little grittier than a cozy mystery, but it was clean and not depressing at all, as some gritty thrillers can be. I loved the main character of Aspen and am so glad there will be a sequel; I’m interested in knowing more about Aspen’s niece, Candace, and about a potential romance with Detective Shaper. The mystery was especially good–there were plenty of suspects, clues, red herrings and dead ends. I really enjoyed the resolution–I was able to figure out the murderer right before it was revealed. Very good twists! I was provided an ARC of this book, but the opinions are my own.
Aspen Adams has started her life over and is working as a P.I. for Aunt in Tahoe, she needed to make a change and so far things are looking up. While enjoying her morning job she comes across a body, the sad part is it turns out to be her best friend. Who would want to murder such a bright and sunny young woman and why? Aspen couldn’t think of any enemies that her friend might have had and she is truly puzzled as to why someone would have hurt her much less kill her. Aspen doesn’t have any faith in the police, they botched her own parents investigation, so why trust them when it comes to her friend. She decides that she is going to put her job to good use and figure out who killed her friend on her own. Aspen soon learns that her friend held many secrets and maybe she wasn’t at all the person that she knew and loved. As more and more comes to light Aspen knows that she will have to put the pieces together to figure out who the killer is. Meanwhile her good for nothing sister has dropped off her niece, leaving Aspen alone with a young girl that she doesn’t really know. Aspen soon starts seeing little things going on with her niece that makes her worry that she is hiding a secret herself. She wants so badly to bring justice to her friend but with this new obstacle in her way she doesn’t know if she will be able to. She loves her niece and wants to do what’s best for her but isn’t quite sure what that is. Follow Aspen as she questions all the people in her friends life hoping that with all the information she is given she will be able to find a killer. Can she deal with the problems her niece is starting to present? Can she trust the cops and what they are telling her? This was a great read that had me looking at everyone as a suspect, it truly had me guessing all the way until the end!!!
Desolate shores is the first book in a new series by this author. It is very well written with good characters that draw you into their lives and problems. It is a smooth and interesting read with a well designed mystery I found that I had to keep reading to find out what would happen.! Aspen finds her friends body and tries to investigate her murder as she doesn’t trust the police to get it right. she finds that her friend isn’t the person she thought she was as secrets come to light.I will look forward to reading more of this series. Well worth reading.
I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.
I believe that this was the frist book by Daryl Wood Gerber that I have read, I found it to be a very interesting read. I believe this is the first book in a new series, so I will have to read more to find out how this storyline continues. I enjoyed the chemistry between Aspen and Sergeant Shaper so look forward to seeing where they go in the future. This storyline contained so many different issues, not the least her neices health issues. Overall I found the book to be very well written, the characters had some meat to them which means they held my interest. I would certainly recommend this book to others.
If you are a fan of the cozy mystery series of Daryl Wood Gerber/Avery Aames, this is not a cozy, but a more gritty mystery story. The main character, Aspen Adams, left her therapy practice and returned to Lake Tahoe to work with her aunt as a process server. When she finds her best friend murdered, she realizes she has to help solve this crime. But then family problems intervene, and she finds herself the unexpected caretaker of her niece. Feeling like her life is spiraling out of control, Aspen continues to search for clues, but she may have just put herself in the path of a killer. This was an interesting mystery and a good start for a new series. The main character initially appeared to be a bit of a milksop, not really standing up for herself, like with her sister, or even in her friendship with Karen, detective for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. One other negative for me was in the beginning, the sentence structure was short and choppy and oftentimes overly detailed, such as “for the seventh time in an hour”, or “turned on the radio for the twelfth time.” But as the story progressed, the flow was better. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series, to see how this experience has changed Aspen for the better. Disclosure: I am voluntarily reviewing this book received from NetGalley and all opinions are strictly my own.