Review: Mercy Creek by M.E. Browning

Author: M.E. Browning
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication date: October 2021

The late summer heat in Echo Valley, Colorado turns lush greenery into a tinder dry landscape. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, long buried grudges rekindle.Of the two Flores girls, Marisa was the one people pegged for trouble. Her younger sister, Lena, was the quiet daughter, dutiful and diligent--right until the moment she vanished.

Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn't runaway and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. But as she mines Lena's fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half-lies that paints a darker picture.

As the evidence mounts, so do the suspects, and when a witness steps forward with a shocking new revelation, Jo is forced to confront her doubts, and her worst fears. Now, it's just a matter of time before the truth is revealed--or the killer makes another deadly move. 

Mercy Creek is the second book featuring detective Jo Wyatt.  This takes place months after the first book.  I think it could be read as a stand alone novel. This time around Jo and her partner Squint are looking for a missing girl.  Jo has a personal tie to the parents of missing Lena. 

I enjoyed this one as much as the first book.  I still love Jo as a character.  She goes through lot of growth in this book.  I was totally on board with her career decision in the end. She goes through a lot in this book. This was definitely a more disturbing mystery.  I kept wavering on what I thought really happened.  But I don't want to spoil anything, so that's all I'll say.  I definitely recommend this one and I can't wait to see what Jo is up to next.

Review: Shadow Ridge by M. E. Browning

Author: M. E. Browning
publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: October 2020

Echo Valley, Colorado, is a place where the natural beauty of a stunning river valley meets a budding hipster urbanity. But when an internet stalker is revealed to be a cold-blooded killer in real life the peaceful community is rocked to its core.

It should have been an open-and-shut case: the suicide of Tye Horton, the designer of a cutting-edge video game. But Detective Jo Wyatt is immediately suspicious of Quinn Kirkwood, who reported the death. When Quinn reveals an internet stalker is terrorizing her, Jo is skeptical. Doubts aside, she delves into the claim and uncovers a link that ties Quinn to a small group of beta-testers who had worked with Horton. When a second member of the group dies in a car accident, Jo's investigation leads her to the father of a young man who had killed himself a year earlier. But there's more to this case than a suicide, and as Jo unearths the layers, a more sinister pattern begins to emerge--one driven by desperation, shame, and a single-minded drive for revenge.

As Jo closes in, she edges ever closer to the shattering truth--and a deadly showdown that will put her to the ultimate test.

Shadow Ridge is the first book in the Jo Wyatt mystery series.  Jo is a detective in Echo Valley, Colorado.  She is called to an apparent suicide, but she thinks there is more behind the man's death.  Soon she is sucked into the gamer world all while trying to prove herself in her precinct.   This is a new to me series.  I was pleasantly surprised as how much I enjoyed it.

I really liked Jo as a character.  She is a smart woman who has her issues, but isn't over the top  tortured.  She stuck to her convictions even though it may have cost her peace among her fellow police.  I also liked her partner, Squint.  He was a great mentor and he faith in Jo was solid.  As for the mystery, I was intrigued and thought the plot was well laid out.  The solution was a surprise. The epilogue was a very satisfying.  I flew through this one and have the next book on hold already.  I look forward to another mystery with Jo.