Book Review: Swallow the Hook

Reviewed By: Dawn Dowdle

[4.5 stars]

Swallow the Hook Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
S. W. Hubbard
Class/Genre: Mystery Police Procedural
Series: Frank Bennett # 2
Pocket Books, Paperback, 6/04, 322 pages, $6.50

Frank Bennett is Chief of Police in Trout Run, Arkansas. He mishandled a case in Kansas. He took this job thinking it would be a quiet job. His wife is no longer alive and he’s not as close to his married daughter. Now he has another murder on his hands to investigate.

Mary Pat Sheehan, 28, lived with her parents and didn’t date. She is found dead in her car parked on the side of the road. Everyone is shocked when they find out she was had been pregnant and died from complications from giving birth. As Frank investigates, he comes across information into black market adoption scams. Apparently she gave her baby girl to a shady adoption agency. No one knows where the baby is now. Frank is determined to find that out and make sure she is safe. Plus he wants to prevent other girls from being taken in by these people and having their lives and the lives of their babies put into danger.

Frank finds that sometimes it is an advantage to live in a town where everyone knows everyone else and sometimes it isn’t.

The leader of Green Tomorrow, a radical environmental group, is murdered while in town. Many women of the community are members of this group and cause some problems with their protests. Frank begins to look into why this group has decided to try to close down Raging Rapids. It’s not a large attraction. How did they even hear about it?

Frank Bennett is a terrific character. I like the way he handles cases. Trout Run is a place I’d want to visit. Her descriptions are so well written that I feel that I’ve been there with each book in this series. I like how she intertwined the two story lines as well. Very well done. I highly recommend this book.

Dawn Dowdle

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Please visit Dawns website at www.mysteryloverscorner.com