Death is one click away when a string of murders rocks a small Colorado town in the first mesmerizing novel in M. E. Browning’s A Jo Wyatt Mystery series.Echo Valley, Colorado, is a place where the natural beauty of a stunning river valley meets a budding hipster urbanity. But when an internet stalker is revealed to be a cold-blooded killer in real life the peaceful community is rocked to its … community is rocked to its core.
It should have been an open-and-shut case: the suicide of Tye Horton, the designer of a cutting-edge video game. But Detective Jo Wyatt is immediately suspicious of Quinn Kirkwood, who reported the death. When Quinn reveals an internet stalker is terrorizing her, Jo is skeptical. Doubts aside, she delves into the claim and uncovers a link that ties Quinn to a small group of beta-testers who had worked with Horton. When a second member of the group dies in a car accident, Jo’s investigation leads her to the father of a young man who had killed himself a year earlier. But there’s more to this case than a suicide, and as Jo unearths the layers, a more sinister pattern begins to emerge–one driven by desperation, shame, and a single-minded drive for revenge.
As Jo closes in, she edges ever closer to the shattering truth–and a deadly showdown that will put her to the ultimate test.
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SHADOW RIDGE (Jo Wyatt Mystery Book #1) by M.E. Browning is the first book in a new mystery/police procedural series featuring a female detective in a small Colorado town. I am a fan of the Mer Cavallo mystery series by this author written under the name of Micki Browning, so I was looking forward to reading this new book and I was not disappointed.
Detective Jo Wyatt is called to the scene of the apparent suicide of Tye Horton, a young and talented video game designer. Quinn Kirkwood called in the death when she went to pick up a joint project the two were working on. Jo is suspicious of the prickly young woman and she soon learns Quinn was one of a small group who beta tested a previous game for Tye.
Now, one by one the small group is either committing suicide or having lethal accidents until only Quinn is left. Jo’s investigation leads back to a suicide the previous year of the D.A.’s son. As the pieces come together the trail leads to a killer who is interested in their own twisted revenge.
I am a fan of this author’s writing. The mystery/crime is tightly plotted with a mix of perspectives and the characters are fully fleshed and realistic. Quinn’s perspective on the gaming community and Jo’s lack of computer savvy add not only plot points and interest, but a realism to all those not involved in that world. Jo not only has to deal with the case she is working on, but a messy personal life and sexual discrimination in her small police force. Jo’s complexity is what I am always looking for in a lead character and what keeps me coming back for more.
I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to many more books in this series.
Jo Wyatt’s father wanted a boy. And she wanted to be just like him when she grew up, a cop. But she’s a woman cop in a man cop’s world and it isn’t easy. Her soon-to-be jerk of an ex-husband received a promotion she should have gotten. When she’s called to a death scene which her ex, their captain, and the coroner are all too quick to declare a suicide, she has doubts. Like where’s the cat? There was a cat dish but no cat at the scene. Soon she takes a snarky college student with baggage of her own under her wing and Jo learns there is so much she needs to know to solve the mystery. She’s not a quitter.
The story is paced perfectly, always moving forward yet giving the reader enough description to feel the scenes. In short, a page turner with a few laugh-out-loud moments. Jo’s a complicated woman in flux personally and professionally but she doesn’t feel sorry for herself. She gets the job done. I’m looking forward to the next in the series!
It’s been a while since a book so completely grabbed me and held on. Shadow Ridge is a well written and tightly crafted police procedure with heart. I love the setting and the characters. Can’t wait to hear more from Jo and Squint.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to SHADOW RIDGE, the first book in M. E. Browning’s Jo Wyatt’s Mysteries. Great characters, lively dialogue and authentic police work by a real retired police captian work together to give us a fast-moving, entertaining mystery. I look forward to Jo Wyatt’s next adventure.
Title: ℎ
Author: ..
Number of Pages: 296
Genre: P ℎ
Publication Date: 10/6/2020
Rating: (4.5 stars)
This is the first book I have read from this author. Thank you @crookedlanebooks for the #gifted copy. This has one of the most chilling covers I have ever seen.
This is the first book in the Jo Wyatt series. We are taken to Echo Valley, Colorado where it’s natural beauty meets a budding hipster urbanity until an internet stalker is revealed as a cold-blooded killer in real life rocking the city to its core.
This was easily one of the best police procedural thrillers I have ever read, because of the pacing. I love how I was hooked from the start, being thrown into an atmosphere I haven’t been in before. The story was complex with all of it’s details, yet was easy to follow along and not get confused. The writing of this author is phenomenal, seeing she takes her expertise and puts it on display in a beautiful manner. I can’t wait to read more books by this author in the future. If you are a fan of police procedural books, pick this one up and let me know what you think!!!!
In Shadow Ridge, Author M.E. Browning introduces us to Detective Jo Wyatt, a twelve-year veteran officer who lives in the fictional town of Echo Valley, Colorado. In just her opening chapter, she establishes the crime scene, introduces Jo’s partner, the medical examiner, Jo’ dispatcher/best friend, and her soon-to-be ex. All this, establishing the police detective’s professional and personal conflict, while maintaining great pacing.
Browning creates gritty damaged characters and chooses the world of gaming as a backdrop for crime, while builds upon a cold winter setting, which is almost an antagonist in itself. Police procedure, with a protagonist bent on justice, no matter who she goes up against, readers will cheer the camaraderie between Jo and her partner, the twists and turns, and feel for women tackling a man’s world.
So much growth potential, I look forward to Book two. Different and worthy of the dollars I spent on the hardback version I heartily recommend Shadow Ridge.
Echo Valley, Colorado is a breathtaking river valley perfect for nature lovers, but in Shadow Ridge, it becomes a place of sudden death. Detective Jo Watt investigates an apparent suicide, and when it becomes a homicide her suspicions rest on gamer and college student, Quinn Kirkwood. But Kirkwood has her own problem: an internet stalker. Welcome to the world of gaming, where expert female players are often terrorized. But is there a connection between Kirkwood, the stalker, and the young man who was murdered?
I could not stop reading this story told in several points of view. The plot was expertly structured, and just when I thought I knew who the killer was, I was hit with another twist or turn. M.E. Browning hides clues throughout the story. I dare you to find them. She is a master of police procedure, which is quite apparent from the first scene to the last. Her characters are deeply drawn, and she delves into their motives, life experiences, and feelings. I have not read such an intricate mystery, perfectly plotted, in a long time. It left me thinking about the characters long after I finished the book. I highly recommend it. I received an advanced ARC from Netgalley.
Jo Wyatt is a highly skilled police detective in small town Colorado. Any female who has worked in a male-dominated profession will recognize the fine line she walks between obeying her bosses and standing up for what she believes. She navigates the office politics much better than I would under the circumstances!
Luckily Jo’s partner is a good guy she can trust, because everyone–including her family and best friend–seems to have their own agendas. She starts investigating one suicide but maybe it’s not as clear cut as the initial scene implies. She becomes a big sister figure to Quinn Kirkwood, who seems pretty unlovable but could use a friend and mentor.
Shadow Ridge is unique because it has grit and heart. Jo is smart and tough, whether climbing a tree or acing the sergeant’s exam. At the same time, she cares about the people around her and tries to help them instead of jumping to judgments and conclusions.
Micki Browning is a retired police captain turned gifted author who had me engrossed from beginning to twisty ending. I loved the authentic details of the station and mundane tasks of small town policing, knowing they all came from her real life experiences.
Shadow Ridge recently won the Colorado Book Award for Mystery with good reason. I’m excited for the next installment, Mercy Creek, coming October, 2021. Pick this one up and you won’t regret it!
Shadow Ridge is the first in a series featuring detective Jo Wyatt. I tend to like crime drama/procedural series, so I was looking forward to finding a new one to follow. This one had potential, but it just didn’t draw me in like I hoped. I struggled to connect with any of the characters, including Jo. Not that she’s unlikable, I just didn’t find her or the story particularly exciting or interesting. I don’t know if it’s because this is the first in the series and maybe the author was trying to introduce the setting and characters or maybe this story and main character just didn’t work for me, but I struggled all the way through this book. The pacing felt stilted and the dialogue felt choppy more often than not, which again, could go back to me not connecting with the story. I glanced through what others had to say about this book., and it’s plain to see that I’m in the minority here – more like the odd woman out, I suppose – but it is what it is. It’s clear that this book has a following, but I’m not part of that audience.
Detective Jo Wyatt is called to investigate when the body of Tye Horton is found in his home. Everyone assumes it was suicide .. all except Jo who suspects it was murder.
Tye was the designer of a cutting-edge video game … one that a lot of people were interested in. Quinn Kirkwood is the woman who reported the death. She, too, has caught the eye of someone for nefarious reasons.
This was not the first death related to this video game. A beta tester was killed in a car accident .. or was there something more to it? And now Quinn is receiving threatening notes and emails … is she targeted to be next? Or is she a suspect?
While some are scoffing at Jo’s suspicions, only her partner seem to have her back.
Wyatt is a talented, determined detective. The daughter of a retired policeman and the almost ex-wife of another cop, Jo has found she has to prove over and over again that she is as good as the boys in blue. The latest slap in the face is when her ex-to be is given the promotion that Jo deserved ,, and should have received.
This is a well-written mystery with superb character development. I enjoyed how the professional lives and personal lives are blended to give a full picture of the characters. It’s action-packed with the suspense starting on the very first page and increasing until the very last page.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Tenacious and unpretentious, Jo Wyatt lives in Echo Valley, Colorado… her hometown. The town where her mother died of cancer, and where her retired cop father never approved of her. She’s a detective on the police force that just passed her over for promotion, bestowing the sergeant’s position on the less-qualified man she’s divorcing.
If that isn’t enough to qualify for a long rest in a quiet place, Jo’s latest case is a suicide that feels “off” to her. Why would a young video game designer with a bright future kill himself? Though her suspicions are brushed off by Cameron, her soon-to-be-ex… and just about everyone else, Jo can’t let go, especially when she locks horns with Quinn, a foul-mouthed classmate of the victim with a chip on her shoulder, and the person who found his body.
This well-written, slow-burn mystery was character-driven for me with each one well-developed even if they only appeared for a scene or two. Backstories unfold throughout the story and everyone carries scars from the past. Quinn’s just took my breath away. I cannot even imagine.
Jo Wyatt is a protagonist to get behind. Despite the barbs and obstacles thrown in her way and a ton of emotional baggage, she pieces together a psychotic plot of murder and revenge just as another life is about to be taken. Go, Jo, go!
Can’t wait for Jo’s next case! Hope to see more of Squint, her boss, and Aiden, her “friend.” Can live without Cameron (jerk face), and Everett, the nosy reporter.
If it sounds like I’m already invested in these characters, good!
Enjoy!
Trading scuba gear for hiking boots and the deep blue sea for terra firma, Browning has created another gritty and compelling character in Jo Wyatt. Like the award winning Mer Cavallo series, Jo is another female protagonist who is genuine and believable in both scope and style. In Shadow Ridge Browning displays her talent for developing characters that are either likable or despised, and uses her gift for witty dialogue to hold the reader’s interest throughout the book. She guides the reader through the labyrinth of the investigative process without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail or divergent goals. The plot could have very well been ‘ripped from the headlines’ and leaves the reader with a sense of fairness and closure. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next in the series.
A fascinating mystery with a dedicated female detective who will not close the case until she is satisfied that justice has prevailed. Detective Jo Wyatt is called to what looks like a suicide, but things just don’t add up. Friends of the deceased are involved in online gaming, including Quinn Kirkwood who discovered the body. Jo doesn’t know whether to believe Quinn as she has a surly attitude against cops, especially Jo. When Quinn starts receiving threats and other gamers are targeted, can Jo solve the case and keep Quinn safe? When the case seems to involve those in local government, her mentor Detective Jessup “Squint” MacAllister may be the only one in the department that has her back. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
This book has everything you could possibly want in a police procedural mystery. Appealing, life-like characters. Snappy dialogue. A plot as twisty as the icy Rocky Mountain roads, and as dangerous, too: one slip, one wrong turn, and you might find yourself tumbling over a sheer cliff, plummeting toward death . . .
That’s a bit of an exaggeration. You won’t die from reading this book. But you’ll feel the increasing danger and wonder whether the characters will survive to the last page.
I’ll be honest. It took me a while to warm to Detective Jo Wyatt and for a while, I was afraid this would put me off the entire book.
For the first few chapters, I found her initial suspicious and (at points) hostile attitude toward Quinn off-putting. She’s a detective doing a difficult job amid her own heartbreak and disappointments. I sympathized with that. At the same time, it was hard for me, someone outside the police force, to understand why her first reaction to everyone is suspicion.
But by half-way through the book, I grew to like her. I understood that she is policing in Echo Valley, her hometown. That comes with advantages–she’s familiar with the people–and major disadvantages–she’s expected to ignore certain crimes because of the perpetrator’s identity. Once that clicked into place for me, so did Jo’s character.
All the characters are complicated people. Even the minor characters, such as Jo’s father, are developed. Browning has the ability to craft uncannily-life-like characters who drive the story with a building momentum. This gives Shadow Ridge an energy that is sometimes missing in more paint-by-numbers procedurals.
Browning makes great use of her own background in law enforcement. There are some tantalizing details about cop habits and behavior. The book feels like the author knows how homicide investigations work, and has dealt with the frustrations and fears, unknowns and unknowable aspects of any unnatural death. It struck me that Browning isn’t only concerned with the detective catching the bad guys, as is standard for police procedurals. She’s also concerned with the societal responsibility of a cop to see people as people.
I believe this is the first in a series. With such rich, deep characters and an intriguing setting, there’s plenty of material for future stories. I enjoyed Shadow Ridge a great deal and recommend it for all police procedural and mystery lovers.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Echo Valley, Colorado is a beautiful small town where homicide has only disturbed the serenity found there twice in the twelve years since Detective Jo Wyatt has been on the force. That’s about to change.
Called to investigate when a person performing a welfare check on her college classmate finds him dead, Detective Wyatt and Officer Cameron Finch find Tye Horton, 22, the victim of an apparent suicide. It looks cut and dried, but Wyatt’s instincts lead her to think there’s more to this than meets the eye. Her investigation will bear that out in spades.
The person who called in the report, Quinn Kirkwood, had been working on a project with the victim and became concerned when he didn’t show up for class. Quinn is a snarky young woman who doesn’t like to answer questions or let people get too close to her. She’s got her reasons to be defensive and on guard, but Jo also thinks she knows more about Tye’s death than she’s telling. When Quinn tells her that she has been getting threats via online and texts, Jo is hesitant to believe her, but research shows that she might be telling the truth. Is there a connection between someone stalking Quinn and Tye’s death?
Jo learns that Tye invented a video game and the beta-testers of that game were Derrik Walsenberg (son of the DA) who died by suicide last year, Quinn, and Ronny Buck. With two of the four involved with the game dead, and one being stalked, Jo is convinced that this is more than coincidence. The chief wants her to shut the investigation down, but her partner, senior detective Jessup (Squint) MacAllister believes she’s on to something and offers his full support. Together they follow the leads to an unexpected conclusion.
This is an impressive start to a new series. Browning’s characters are rich and full, each with flaws and redeeming qualities that bring them to life. The story line is well-plotted, the writing crisp and well-paced. Jo Wyatt is a wonderfully relatable protagonist who is dealing with so much more than just her caseload. Her father, retired from Echo Valley’s PD, always seems to have something to say about how she handles her cases and her soon to be ex-husband, Officer Cameron Finch, is being promoted to sargeant, even though Jo, who also applied for the position, has far more experience and commendations. The good old boy network is in full arrogant display throughout the book, but in an integrative way that promotes the storyline.
Engaging from the start, and with twists and surprises throughout, this is a very good read. I look forward to reading future books in this series!
My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions stated here are my own.