Review: Mist and Malice: A Haven Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall

Mist and Malice: A Haven Thriller  by Rachel Howzell Hall picks up within hours of the conclusion of the preceding novel, Fog and Fury. Several of the ongoing storylines from the first book are resolved here in this second read. There are also ongoing repercussions from that book that are part of the background to this read.

 

And while former LAPD Homicide Detective Alyson “Sonny” Rush  needs a break, working as a private investigator in the small town of Haven, California, means the cases keep coming. She works for her godfather, Ivan Poole, who now has a missing person’s case for her. Sonny Rush is now about to be on the hunt for Emiliano Rivas. He has been missing almost three months, since around Memorial Day, and his wife, Araceli Rivas, has finally come to them for help.

 

They are a young couple and money is tight. He is also undocumented so the police have been little to no help. She has no idea if he simply abandoned her or if something bad happened. He didn’t have a work permit. On the plus side, she claims that he has no criminal history. He did have a job at a local construction site. According to her, he is very well liked there. All she really knows is that he left one day to go get a propane tank refilled and never came back home.

 

She provides a couple of leads and Sonny begins to work the case while also dealing with a previous unsolved case of hers, and various other issues, personal and professional. She has a lot going on, besides the missing person’s case. A case that gets darker as she scratches the surface. Before long, as they say, she is deep in it, and the lives of her mom and her are very much at stake.

 

As Sonny very quickly learned soon after moving to town, Haven is no Heaven, no matter what some would claim.

 

This second book in the series is another good one. About half of this read is devoted to the current missing persons case and about half is devoted to tying up numerous situations/storylines from the first book. The result is an entertaining read that gives a lot of answers to readers of this series. Mist and Malice: A Haven Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall is a good read while also providing a satisfying conclusion to the series. It also provides a possible way forward should the author continue the series.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4uPx7bP

 

 

My reading copy came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026