Thursday, September 27, 2018

The Cost of Betrayal by Henerson, Pettrey and Eason - A Book Review

The Cost of Betrayal: Three Romantic Suspense NovellasImage result for dani pettrey

The Cost of Betrayal consists of three novellas focused on betrayal. The first of which is Betrayed by Dee Henderson. Ann Falcon, a retired police investigator, unearthed a murder weapon in a box of miscellaneous dresser drawer items she had purchased at an auction. Looking into the case convinced her that an innocent woman was behind bars. Once she had convinced her husband, who ran the Chicago FBI office, of this they pursued the release of the wrongly convicted woman and justice for the victim. While this story is set in America rather than Europe, fans of Julianna Deering's Drew Farthering series will likely enjoy this story. It had a fresh plot and was well written. While I would like to comment on the ending, I will avoid the spoiler.

The second novella is Deadly Isle by Dani Pettrey. Tennyson Kent, better known as Teni, owened Talbot Island which had been passed down in her family through generations. Members of the community leased their property from her. While Teni had the best interests of all the residents at heart, it was impossible to please everyone. The stress this caused, however, was currently second to the stress in her personal life as her engagement was unexpectedly broken. That coupled with the presence of Callen, her former boyfriend, who had betrayed her and fractured her heart, was just the background noise to the clamor inside her head wanting to know who was responsible for her cousin's death and the attacks on her own life. Even with the restrictions placed on her by a novella's length, Pettrey fleshed out a wonderful mystery with characters one wants to root for, and others one wants to see taken down.

The final novella is Code of Ethics by Lynette Eason. It was great to be back with the St. John family, this time focusing on the only person in the family with a non-law related career. Fortunately, Ruthie has picked up a lot from her mother and siblings over the years, and could therefore handle herself in dangerous situations. After surgically removing a bullet from a police detective, Ruthie interrupts someone in his room with murderous intentions. Detective Isaac Martinez is no longer sure who he can trust as he investigates corruption within the police department. Knowing his life is in danger, Ruthie chooses to spirit him away from the hospital thus becoming embroiled in his case. As always Lynette Eason hits the mark.

The Cost of Betrayal with its three novellas based upon that theme is a good read. All three award winning authors live up to their reputations. I recommend this book to their fans and to those mystery fans who have yet to discover these talented writers. I thank NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review and received no monetary compensation.

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