Library's review
The mystery itself becomes more and more unbelievable as the story progresses, and Blackburn commits the capital sin (to me) of having the killer be someone who isn't really part of the ongoing story. There's no way for the reader to guess whodunit because we never meet the perpetrator until they've already been identified by the investigators.
The investigation seems to careen from unlikely occurrence to unlikely occurrence. The sheriff instantly approves all extra expenditures involved, and cheerfully approves of his main investigator getting romantically involved with the woman who is the killer's repeated target. There's not even a token scene where someone suggests that he might be too personally involved to be a good detective. Instead everyone, including his fellow cops, plot to make them into a couple.
In fact, no one ever disapproves of anything anyone does, because it turns out they are all proselytizing Christians who think nothing of interrupting a murder investigation with pages-long ruminations on why Jesus lets bad things happen to good people. Novels without conflict between characters are bloodless, boring things.
And of course, it wouldn't be a "Christian" novel without evil Muslims, in this case the family of the heroine's sister-in-law, who are furious that she converted to Christianity and married outside their faith. So furious, in fact, that the heroine's brother takes a job in Europe to keep his wife away from her family, and cannot return to the States to support his sister while her life is repeatedly threatened BECAUSE HE'S WORRIED HIS WIFE'S CRAZY MUSLIM FAMILY WILL KIDNAP HER. Not that we get to meet them, or the sister-in-law, or allow them to present their side of things because no non-Christian characters are allowed speaking parts, I guess. And I mean that seriously: Everyone in this book is an outspoken Christian. They say grace before every hastily grabbed sandwich in the middle of the investigation and no one is made uncomfortable. There's not even a token agnostic who can be converted by the end of the book, let alone a Jew.
I am not against characters expressing their faith within the construct of a mystery. But there's a difference between the nuanced way Margaret Maron portrays her characters' strong Christian faith in the Deborah Knott series (coincidentally also set in North Caroline, so it's not a cultural difference) and the way Blackburn shoehorns God onto nearly every page.
So yeah, I didn't much care for this one. It was an Early Reviewers pick, and nothing in the ER description mentioned the proselytizing aspect. Being blindsided by that probably made me react more strongly than I would have otherwise, but ultimately this is just not a very well-written or -plotted mystery.
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Description
After a harrowing experience with an obsessed patient, oncology nurse practitioner Leigh Weston needed a change. She thought she'd left her troubles behind when she moved home to Carrington, North Carolina, and took a job in the emergency department of the local hospital. But when someone tampers with her brakes, she fears the past has chased her into the present. She reaches out to her high school friend turned homicide investigator, Ryan Parker, for help. Ryan finds satisfaction in his career, but his favorite way to use his skills is as a volunteer underwater investigator with the Carrington County Sheriff's Office dive team. When the body of a wealthy businessman is discovered in Lake Porter, the investigation uncovers a possible serial killer--one with a terrifying connection to Leigh Weston and deadly implications for them all. Dive into the depths of fear with an exciting new voice in romantic suspense. Award-winning author Lynn H. Blackburn grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go until the final heart-pounding page.… (more)