Tarnished Remains: Shandra Higheagle Mystery

If you had a friend who became secretive after you found a dead body, would you be immediately concerned that they killed someone? Maybe they just know something that you don’t? Maybe they know who did it? But they won’t say anything. Would you be nervous, angry, confused or all of the above? The law specifies that men and women are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but most of the time—we all know that it works the other way around. Jager has an exciting second installment of the Shandra Higheagle Mysteries that will leave readers guessing until the very end. Everyone has a reason to want the victim dead, but who really did it?

Shandra finds a boot in her clay pocket up at the top of her mountain. After the boot, she found bones. And where there is bones…there is definitely a dead body. Unable to hold the confusion back of a dead body being buried on her property, she calls the detective to come out and take a look. With the whole team digging up remains and evidence of a homicide, Shandra’s ranch hand becomes very distant and jumpy like she is holding information back about the dead body. Knowing that Lil would never in a million years, kill another human being, she is once again stuck in the middle of an investigation. Can Shandra help the detective, who has also become a lover, and find out the secrets that Lil holds which will prove her innocent? Shandra knows that it may hit really close to home for Lil, but she is determined to find the connection and solve the mystery. For all they know, the killer has gotten away with murder for a very long time and is still out there, covering up their horrible secret.

Jager has a beautifully written mystery that will leave readers eager to continue the series alongside the main character, Shandra Higheagle. The character development is fantastic and the pace is steady. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, Thompson’s narration was a fairly accurate depiction of what I would expect from a radio or television broadcaster or maybe someone retelling a story in a different perspective; there seems to have been a slight lack of emotion and feeling to the story with this type of voice relay. The story was enjoyable nonetheless and easy to follow. If you are a reader of mysteries, you may want to pick up this story and give it a read. Since this is the second installment, readers are able to read this one as a standalone; however, it may be more enjoyable to start from the first installment.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a four-star rating to Tarnished Remains by Paty Jager.