Following Every Last Secret (reviewed here) and Every
Broken Trust (reviewed here) Chief of Campus Police Skeet Bannion is back in Every
Hidden Fear. Secrets have a way
of coming back home to roost and that certainly is the case with the return of
Ash Mowbray.
Back in the day he had been what would now be termed
“a troubled teen.” Unfortunately for many of the residents of Brewster,
Missouri the return of Ash means huge problems. Secrets long thought buried in
the best of families as well as the worst are now vulnerable to the light of
day as Ash has come back home seeking payback for so many slights and flat out
wrongs. There is a scale to everything, but for Ash nearly everyone is guilty
of horrendous crimes. On a daily, if not minute by minute basis, while publicly
telling secrets he is also unleashing hatred and scorn on everyone in his wake.
That appalling public behavior wasn’t the plan
wealthy investor Walter Lynch had in mind when he teamed up with Ash. The plan
was to get city approval to build a new shopping mall in the a wealthy area of
Brewster. If the mall is actually built it will probably destroy the small businesses
on the town square. It is certainly
understandable why some, faced with the almost sure death of a business they
have worked their entire life building, would take the threat of a new mall
very personally.
The battle lines have been drawn hard between those
who want the mall and the potential economic growth it could bring and those
who believe it will ruin the quality of life in this small university town
located twelve miles from Kansas City. The last thing those opposing the new
development want is for Brewster to become nothing more than another bedroom community
for their monolithic neighbor. Walker
Lynch and his hired gun Terry Heldrich are still an unwelcome presence as far
as Skeet is concerned. The behavior of Ash who has escalated the anger on both
sides by the second with his insults and poisonous comments has made the battle
even more personal for many.
Ash has good reason for at least some of his anger. He
came from a rough upbringing and knows very well how far his parents had to go
to survive. He also knows how some of the women in town sought him out more for
the bedroom possibilities than for his skills on the football field or mowing
their yard when he was a teen in high school. Everywhere he goes Ash is vocal
about his allegations concerning the past conduct of many in the town while
also making sure that everyone knows his intent, in the name of progress, is to
tear down the old power structure.
With Ash around nothing is safe and nothing is
sacred. That means many locals have multiple good reasons to want Ash dead and
not just the parents of a teenager named Noah whom Ash has loudly and very
publicly proclaimed is his son much to the shock of Chelsea and her husband
Norman. Before they can really deal with
their shock and the implications to their son and their family, Ash is found
dead on a nearby golf course and Noah is the primary suspect. For
many, he is the only suspect as their minds are made up that he did it even if
he swears he didn’t.
Thanks to the wisdom of her Cherokee grandmother and
her own grudging unwillingness to leave a case outside of her jurisdiction
alone, Skeet Bannion starts digging into what really happened the night Ash was
murdered. Once she starts, she soon learns far more than she ever wanted to
about many of the folks involved while hunting for a very clever killer.
Cherokee heritage and the often very painful legacy
of secrets have long been hallmarks of this excellent series. They are present in great detail here in this
complex and multilayered novel. Third in a series that must be read in order
due to ongoing character and secondary storyline development, Every
Hidden Fear by Linda Rodriguez is deeply nuanced and rich in details as
it moves along steadily for nearly 300 pages. Continued character development
caused by the passage of time and previous events is always present in this
book and series as is the meaning of family in all its many forms. The mystery
itself is complex with many facets and numerous suspects with several of them among
Skeet’s friends. Every Hidden Fear is another very good read from an award
winning author and a book well worth your time.
Every Hidden Fear: A Skeet Bannion Mystery
Linda Rodriguez
Minotaur Books (A Thomas Dunne
Book)
May 6, 2014
ISBN# 978-1-250-04915-5
Hardback (also available as an
e-book)
296 Pages
$26.99
Material supplied by the author
in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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