The USA Today-bestselling author of With a Vengeance “has created a charmer of a protagonist in Zoe Chambers” (Kathleen George, Edgar Award-nominated author of the Pittsburgh Police Series). A relaxing trail ride turns tragic when Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe Chambers discovers the body of a popular county commissioner in her Pennsylvania woods. Inconsistencies surround the horrible … Inconsistencies surround the horrible accident, but before she can investigate further, she’s pried away by a plea for help from her best friend whose son has been deemed a person of interest in a homicide over a thousand miles away. When he vanishes without a trace, his mother begs Zoe to help clear him and bring him safely home. The task takes Zoe out of her comfort zone in a frantic trip to the desolate canyons and bluffs of New Mexico, where she joins forces with the missing boy’s sister and a mysterious young Navajo.
Back at home, Vance Township’s Chief of Police Pete Adams must deal not only with the commissioner’s homicide, but with an influx of meth and a subsequent rash of drug overdoses in his rural community. Bodies keep turning up while suspects keep disappearing. However, little else matters when he learns that half a continent away, a brutal killer has Zoe in his sights.
“New York has McBain, Boston has Parker, now Vance Township, PA (‘pop. 5000. Please Drive Carefully.’) has Annette Dashofy, and her rural world is just as vivid and compelling as their city noir.” –John Lawton, author of the Inspector Troy Series
“I’ve been awestruck by Annette Dashofy’s storytelling for years. Look out world, you’re going to love Zoe Chambers and Pete Adams.” –Donnell Ann Bell, bestselling author of Buried Agendas
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A rare warm Sunday in November sends Zoe to the stable for a trail ride through her area of Pennsylvania. However, that trail ride ends early with the discovery of County Commissioner Dale Springfield’s body. It appears he fell off his horse in a tragic accident, but Zoe doesn’t think that explanation quite makes sense.
However, her hopes of being involved in the investigation get sidelined when her best friend, Rose, demands Zoe’s help. Rose’s son has disappeared in the New Mexico desert, and the police think he is a person of interest in a murder. So Zoe joins Rose in New Mexico. Can she help find Logan and figure out what really happened?
Since this series really has two main characters, Zoe and police chief Pete Adams, we are able to follow the progress on both cases even though Zoe is a thousand miles from home. However, that makes the beginning of the book slow since, just as one story is picking up the pace, we have to slow down for the other to be set up. My patience was rewarded with a satisfying resolution and several tense scenes. The divided focus keep some of the supporting players a bit thinner than they might otherwise be, although Zoe and Pete are still as sharp as ever. Since Zoe is a paramedic and deputy coroner, this series is a bit darker than my usual choices. As long as you expect a more traditional mystery when you pick it up, you’ll be fine. This is not the book to jump into the series with, but fans will certainly be glad they read it.
This entry in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series is a little different than previous books. There is the death of a county commissioner that may be accidental, a teenage drug overdose, and then Rose’s son Logan is missing in New Mexico and his girlfriend has been found dead. And that is just at the beginning of the book! The suspects are numerous in both cases that Pete is working and he is being pressured by the DA to close the case of the county commissioner. Zoe goes to New Mexico with Rose and is trying to help her as much as she can. The story was intriguing and I didn’t want to put this book down until I reached the end. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
No Way Home is an incredible book. This book is suspenseful and engaging. The mystery is complex and has so many twists to keep you guessing until the dramatic and exciting concussion. I love this series and look forward to reading the next book.
I have been listening to the audio version of this book and love the mystery and the narration of it. This is a fantastic series that has made it very quick to one of my all-time favourites.
I absolutely loved No Way Home. This fifth book in an awesome series brings great mystery, fantastic adventure, witty humor, just a touch of sweet romance and real danger together into the perfect blend. No Way Home maintains the outstanding quality of writing and the heart touching characters of each of the earlier books. Fan of Annette Dashofy’s Zoe Chamber Mysteries have been anxiously awaiting No Way Home and they will be thrilled with the book. New readers are sure to love it almost as much as those of us already attached to the main characters.
Zoe finds the body of a friend that turns out to be murder, but there are questions about several facets of the death that don’t make sense even for a murder. She is excited to be able to us her position as deputy chief coroner to participate in the investigation. That excitement is soon quashed when the danger of someone close to her pulls her across the country and into a world that is alien and where she feels helpless. Not a feeling she is used to nor one that she likes. I am already looking forward the the next book in the Zoe Chambers Mysteries series! Oh what an adventure Zoe and her followers have in store for them. It is a great book with fast paced action and danger that almost too my breath away at time.
Intriguing!! I love the characters and stpry-telling of this series. Drug overdoses, the death of the county commissioner, and the death of a young woman in New Mexico along with the missing son of Zoe’s friend, Rose, are all occurring. It turns out that the drug overdoses seem to be connected to the disappearance of Logan, Rose’s son, and Logan’s girlfriend’s murder. There seem to be a lot of suspects in the county commissioner’s death as well. Zoe is busy trying to track down Logan and a killer in New Mexico while Pete is back home trying to solve the rest. Pete then travels to New Mexico when Zoe ends up missing as well. Very intriguing and I had a hard time putting this book down. I highly recommend this series!!
I have always loved Annette Dashofy’s writing, but No Way Home paves the way to her gaining the title of Master Storyteller. As always, a murder consumes paramedic/deputy coroner Zoe Chambers and Chief Pete Adams, but in this case two crimes run parallel. Soon one turns personal forcing Zoe away from one she has a deep interest in solving. But her best friend’s son has gone missing in New Mexico, and, in truth, Logan is like a son to Zoe. Leaving Pete and a county detective behind to work the murder of a county commissioner, she arrives in Aztec, NM with no time for sight seeing because she is cast from observing investigator to an active participant, clearly fearing for her life.
Dashofy did her homework to write the NM subplot. She created a secondary character that I hope we see more of. “Ponyboy” is true hero material. I also loved that both plots intersected, and Zoe is just plain smart when it comes to defending herself and the ones she loves. Just when you think you can take a breath, Dashofy throws in another problem for her characters to handle. I’ve seen other reviewers call this cozy. I disagree. It’s a solid mystery and police procedural and I look forward to many more from this author.
Another great book. This was thrilling, suspenseful, scary and a fast paced thrill ride. I love Zoe and Pete. This writer is amazing. Fantastic series.
No Way Home by Annette Dashofy
What a great book! To echo Zoe — Wow! Double (triple) jeopardy, with so many suspects, so many crimes, and far too many miles between Zoe and Pete.
Loyalties are strong, as Zoe helps Rose, Allison, and Sylvia hunt for Logan, missing in Aztec, New Mexico. Welcome help comes from Billy Yellowhorse, whom I want to see in future books if possible.
Pete is working on a murder case and drug crimes in Monangahela County, Pennsylvania, unwillingly coordinating efforts with Wayne Baronick, who isn’t a bad guy really. Environmental issues connect with real world concerns and relevance.
One might think all the subplots and twists would be hard to follow, but the storyline flowed clearly as the puzzles got more intricate. I didn’t want to stop reading, but my tired eyes rebelled, so I read to a relatively safe place and finished the amazing adventures in the morning. Definitely a “go away world” reading experience . . .
Descriptions of New Mexico “she might as well have landed on the moon” were like a lovely virtual vacation, including perfectly capturing the generic motel room that could be anywhere. I remembered the stories of a teller from the Southwest who went to college in the East and felt uneasy there, too closed in and too green.
Temperature and time zone changes add more variables to the scene (and echoed for me the unseasonable 70-degree February weather here as I was reading and March snow today).
Nicknames I love: Medicine Woman and Pony Boy
New term learned: barn sour