Sara Mason’s new life solving missing person cold cases with love interest, Huxley Keane, includes accompanying him into the Vietnam jungle searching for his MIA brother and others. Their friend, Esmerelda, accompanies them. Her daughter was abducted along with Huxley’s brother. Scant remains are found and await identification.Sara has purchased a home on the island of Kauai for use by the … veterans who make frequent trips between the U.S. Mainland and Vietnam. The house is an R&R stopover. Sara learns that a six-year-old neighborhood girl went missing ten years earlier and strangely, dogs howl when taken high on the forest cliffs. Accompanied by a neighbor’s retired forensic dog, Sara wants to learn why dogs react in the forest.Someone wants the missing child cold case to stay cold. Attempts are made on Sara’s life. She almost dies after being run off the road and later pushed over a cliff. She is dazed and alone at night on a narrow ledge over a thousand foot cliffside. The attempts continue as Sara investigates the girl’s case. She accidently discovers skeletal remains. Surprisingly, the dog leads Sara and the police to a second disgusting site.
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Mary Deal has become one of those authors whose books always deliver strong story, memorable characters, and beautiful narrative that’s easy to read and highly engaging. The Howling Cliffs, the second book in her ‘Sara Mason Mysteries’ series is the sixth book I’ve read in the last two years from her growing list of works. Between the title and the cover, it’s no wonder I loved the book, but I’ve also been reading several books with tropical locations such as Hawaii in the last few weeks. I’ve apparently got a theme going…
Sara has had a hard life, but she is a survivor and will never back away from a challenge. Months after solving a major crime involving a serial killer in the last book, she heads back to Vietnam to search for MIA heroes for two close friends: Esmerelda, a widow whose husband was murdered in the first book, and Huxley, Sara’s potential future husband soon. Esmerelda’s daughter never returned from her medical mission. Huxley’s brother, a strong leader of his group, also disappeared. Both are surely gone, killed in action during the awful Vietnam War from decades earlier. After finding a few scattered remains, the crew heads back to California (and other places) to see if they can find a DNA match. Sara returns to Hawaii where she’s renovating a house for travelers to stay when going back and forth on missions to Vietnam. She’s also visiting old and new friends and recuperating from a tough few years. Only it’s gonna get worse.
Some neighbors welcome her. Some do not. She’s an outsider, a haole, not of Hawaii’n birth. But it’s one neighbor, an angry and distant young man who lost his sister to a predator ~12 years ago when she was a child, whom attracts Sara’s focus. She wants to solve the cold case, and in doing so, digs up several secrets and lots of dirt somebody wants to remain buried. Through a series of near-death experiences, Sara explores her neighboring town’s beautiful landscape, researches and investigates the case, and tries to understand what makes the weird noise coming from the nearby cliffs. The Howling Cliffs is part-mystery, part-chronicle of life suspense. We follow Sara through several key changes in her life as she decides what she wants to do next. She’s a strong female lead with solid intuition and a zest for helping others. Admirable on many levels, she’s also forgetful about protecting herself. We see her deal with a little bit of pain and remorse, but also her desire (and need) to find new friends, like her neighbor who helps in the search for the child killer from twelve years earlier.
Deal’s novels handle complex, emotional experiences and tragedies while keeping a tight grip on the plot. We easily bounce from the main mystery to all the sub-plots that weave throughout the book, knowing it will come together, and thirsting for what’s the surprise waiting for us in the end. The author’s own life experience and knowledge of various remote parts of the world make the dialog, setting, and descriptions not only real but vivid and lively. You believe you’re trapped in a jungle with snakes and danger. You think the mudslide has trapped you in its grip. You enjoy the entire ride and feel satisfied with the ending. I’m really excited that she’s writing a third book in this series, which will have a takeoff from a plot in this book. I love when an author keeps those connections, and I’ll be the first in line to get a copy when it’s released. Thanks for another winner, Mary Deal.
This is a really good thriller/ mystery. I highly recommend it. This book is the second one in this award-winning series that began with our Main character Sara Mason returning to her hometown, and finding a mystery about murders where the killer is stalking her. The Howling Cliffs could be read as a stand-alone book too, but I’d recommend reading both books. The Howling Cliffs begins with Sara Mason going a search mission for MIAS in Vietnam’s jungles with her fiance Huxley. From there,this Sara goes to Kaiau, Hawaii to establish a home for Veterans there. However, in Hawaii too she finds mysterious things going on, and murder. It looks like the killer thinks she knows too much and is out to kill her. The title comes from the area of cliffs where if a dog goes to, it will howl there. Could it be the dog senses something that we humans are not aware of? What I liked most about this book, is the way the author carefully develops her characters esp those of Sara Mason and her sweetheart Huxley. I also really enjoyed how Deal uses local color, tradition, and customs I’m telling her story..For example, in one part Sara is making a fruit salad of all kinds of tropical fruits. In fact, the only three I knew we’re star fruit, guava, and papaya. It reminded me of when I had the pleasure of going to Open International Market in the French Quarters. They had such an array of colorful fruits I had never seen before! Check this out for an edge of your seat read. I know you’ll enjoy it!
A very fast read, a great read.
As usual, this author starts off slow. Don’t let her fool you as she slowly builds the tension. Our heroine is in Vietnam with a group that includes her lover and an elderly friend from her hometown. Her love is looking for the remains of his brother, her friend for her daughter’s .remains. They find part of a gold chain and part of dog tag. Remains? Back in Hawaii where Sara has a second home, she learns her neighbor is strange. Maleko became that way when his sister Leia went missing. The mother has fled to the mainland and not heard from again, Of course, Sara begins to investigate. Then some huge black pickup truck runs her off the road and someone paints a threat on her house in blood. Is it Maleko or is it the skulking neighbor across the street? Then someone runs her off the road. She is almost recovered when she is shoved over a cliff. She vows to find Leia’s killer and the one who is trying to kill her. There is also the complication of another attractive male. Who tried twice to murder her? The off-centered vile tempered brother of Leia? The noisy neighbor who continues to watch her? The son of their guide in Vietnam? The man lives and works on the islands and his oldest son is a friend of Leia’s brother. Why hasn’t her mother kept in touch with the son? The suspense grows as you keep trying to flip the pages faster. Then a horrific accident happens and the neighbor’s dog insists there is another body buried. Will the murderer be caught? Will Sara’s friend ever discover her daughter’s remains? What of Huxley’s missing in action brother? This one will keep you up at night if you aren’t careful.
This is book 2 in the series but can be read as a stand-alone. It is also a great mystery read. I love the character of Sara Mason. She is a no-nonsense lady who seems to always find herself in trouble. You might say she gets what she looks for because as a person who tries to find those missing in action of course there is a great adventure. In this book, Sara finds herself not only looking for MIA’s but when she goes to Hawaii, Sara finds herself looking for a missing young girl. The author twists this mystery and blends it with a great adventure and an amazing backdrop for the tale