Murder in Black Falls!My thoughts on the book Cold River by Carla NeggersSynopsis From The Back Of The Book:Hannah Shay has finally shown the town of Black Falls what she’s worth. Her Three Sisters Café is a success, and she’s soon to become a prosecutor. When the café becomes an epicenter for investigators trying to pierce a violent crime ring that’s leaving bloody trails on nearby Cameron Mountain, Hannah suspects a man from her past is involved.Sean Cameron returns to the snowy cold of his Vermont hometown to unmask his father’s killer. Sean has the skills and resources to mount his own search, but he must convince the resistant Hannah to cooperate—because the killer is ready to strike again…and closer than anyone ever imagined.My Thoughts:A murder takes place in this small quiet town and sends shock waves through everyone it touches. The murder has been made to look like an accident and by the time the autopsy shows the truth many months have gone by. This passage of time makes it hard to piece together the truth of what really happened to Drew Cameron on the mountain the fateful day he died. Hannah Shay is one of the main characters in Cold River by Carla Neggers, and she plays sleuth by trying to figure out the truth behind Drew’s murder.Although I enjoyed this book, I did not find it all that suspenseful or thrilling. It turned out to be more of a romantic murder mystery. I do like murder mysteries so I found Cold River to be a good read.This is the second book in the Black Falls Novel series and perhaps if I had read the first book, Cold Pursuit, I may have had a different opinion of this book. I did enjoy the characters, at least the ones that played the greatest part in Cold River by Carla Neggers.The greatest lesson in this book is that there are those of us who believe that we are all on our own to deal with the ugly reality of life. That may not always be the case. If we would only just stop for a moment we might realize that there are people who are willing to help us or who have always been there helping in small ways we may not always see.My Rating:Because this book was touted as ratcheting up the suspense and tension and I did not find it all that suspenseful or that tense of a read I am going to give this book a rating of three ***, which means that there was some boring parts in the story but enough interesting events to keep my interest so not a bad read all in all. It was a good murder mystery with a bit of romance thrown in to try and sweeten the pot. There is some very vague plot development in [I]Cold River[/I]--the motives of the killer aren't well-defined because we don't understand what he does that causes suspicion among a group of people he kills. However, it was a fast read--somewhat repetitive when describing all the attributes--physical, emotional and intellectual--of the heroine. This book is preceeded by at least one book, [I]Cold Pursuit[/I] (and maybe [I]Cold Ridge[/I]), and is followed by [I]Cold Dawn[/I]. It takes place on a wildlife preserve, a resort's lands, and private acreage that surrounds these areas. It involves the rarest of rare butterflies, attempts to destroy their breeding grounds, a love affair gone wrong, a meddling and pouty teenager, etc. So, there's plenty of interesting things happening--especially when the murderer starts attempting to kill our heroine, a fearless female National Park Service Ranger. Adolescents and older readers because of general violence and an attempted rape. Opal
What do You think about Cold River (2009)?
Characters you feel invested in. Great book.
—SeadogCyborg
