Murdered in Craven is a capably written series starter by C. Hope Clark. Released 30th Nov 2021 by Bell Bridge Books, it's 278 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This combines the feel of a modern PI procedural with thriller aspects. The main protagonist is a former FBI investigator and heiress who moves back to her family's pecan groves following the unsolved murder of her father. She's soon embroiled in more investigations which might shed light on her father's death.
The characterizations are very well rendered and the characters are three dimensional and believable. There are numerous dysfunctional family relationships described in the book and some of the background was uncomfortable to read. There were a few places in the narrative where I found myself kicked out of my suspension of disbelief because of presumably out of character behavior on the part of the MC. There was some dysfunctional and, frankly, squicky behavior between Quinn and the boys (non-biologically related sort-of siblings) with whom she was raised. There were also a few places where one would expect more meticulous investigation from an FBI agent and Quinn was sloppy/lazy.
Aside from those small issues, this is an engaging mystery with a strong protagonist and written by an experienced and gifted author.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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