Book Review: At Dead of Night

Reviewed By: NH Storm

[4 stars]

At Dead of Night Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Linda Amey
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character Amateur Sleuth Thriller
Series: Blair Emerson # 2
IUniverse, 2002, 286 pages

Eleven years ago, Brandi was snatched from her fenced in back yard, while her mother, Blair Emerson went back into the house for only a minute. Riddled with guilt, a shattered marriage, Blair pays the kidnapper the ransom money for the return of her daughter. Now, as funeral director in small Texas town, Blair struggles to rebuild a normal life for Blair who believed that her kidnappers were actually her parents. Brandi is driven by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the results of her childhood trauma. Blair is driven by her own compulsion to keep her daughter safe at all costs.

During a routine death call, Blair inadvertently becomes a witness in an arson investigation when a young boy runs in front of her car. The consensus of this quiet town points to an environmentalist who will stop at nothing to prevent the destruction of the earth. Blair reports the accident to the police, but doesn't mention that the boy looks like Kenny, her father's best friend's grandson who is wrestling with secrets from his own past; a past that involves his no good mother and her current boyfriend.

Meanwhile a stranger is stalking Blair and Brandi, watching their every move and searching their cabin.

Ready for a roller coaster ride? Linda's book starts of with a hook and never lets go. She can change directions faster than a rattler. You'll wonder how she can tie all the sub-stories into the main story but she does very nicely. Linda writes with knowledge and compassion regarding psychological disorders, funeral procedures, and small southern towns. Although her books details live in Live Oaks, Texas, it could very well be about any small town in America.

Hopefully, this is not the last we see of Blair Emerson and Brandi. I'd suggest before starting "Bury Her Sweetly", that you have the other two books available. You wont want to stop!

NH Storm

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, NH Storm