Hush by Karen Robards

Author: Karen Robards
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date of publication: December 2014

When Riley Cowan finds her estranged husband Jeff dead in his palatial home, she's sure it's no coincidence. The police rule it a suicide, but Riley thinks someone's out for blood—specifically someone Jeff's father ripped off in one of the biggest financial fraud cases of all time. She suspects that someone is trying to send a message to Jeff's father: Tell me where the money is, or everyone you care about will die. 

Riley's in-laws might be billionaires, but she's afraid that not even their dirty money can protect her from an irate investor who will stop at nothing to get his hands on his misappropriated cash. Enter Finn Bradley, Philly-based FBI agent and Riley's love interest from way back when. Finn agrees to help Riley, and the two reignite sparks they both thought were extinguished long ago. But can they discover the killer's identity in time, before he resurfaces—and strikes again? 

Hush is the latest offering my one of my "go to" authors.  I think I have read just about everything she has written, so I usually know I will get a good read.  Hush was a fairly entertaining read. I did enjoy it for the most part.  I just didn't love it.  The premise of the story is that Riley finds her ex-husband dead having seemingly committed suicide.  His father has been recently exposed in a money  fraud scandal and they have lost everything.  Riley is convinced he was murdered because there are billions of dollars missing and someone desperately wants that money. Enter Finn Bradley, a government agent who also wants to find that money.

The reason I thought the book was just OK was I felt like it wasn't anything original.  The romance between the two was very rushed.  I just didn't feel the intense attraction between the two of them.  The one and only love scene in the book was less steamy than I know this author is capable of, so I was a bit disappointed there.

As for the mystery, I was surprised in the end.  So, there is that. I guess it boils down to not really liking any of the characters very much. Most of them make incredibly stupid moves that just keep getting them into trouble.  Especially, Riley and that got tiring after a while. I think most fans will like the story.  For me, I felt like the author was "phoning it in" and it could have been better.