#Review - Stillwater Island by Gregg Olsen #Mystery #Thriller

Series: Detective Megan Carpenter #4
Format: EBook, 360 pages
Release Date: December 7, 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher
Genre: Mystery / Thriller

“Mommy, I’m scared.” Marlena’s precious boy lies with his little arm thrown over her thigh. It’s pitch-black, and she can hear seagulls. She realizes they must be near water, and a new panic rises in her.

At 2 a.m. one icy winter morning, in the smart suburbs of Jefferson County, local father Ben Parker reports his wife Marlena and their little boy missing.

Rushing to the impressive family home, Detective Megan Carpenter finds the halls adorned with pictures of the beautiful, stay-at-home mom and their bright-eyed son. But that’s not all she finds…

A bottle of prenatal vitamins in the bathroom cabinet reveal that Marlena is pregnant. Why didn’t Ben mention this in his panicked call to the police?

Digging deeper into their seemingly perfect marriage, Megan’s fear begins to grow. The couple are separated, there’s talk of an affair, and the neighbors report loud fights. And then, Megan tracks a young woman believed to be Ben’s secret girlfriend, only to find her lifeless body in a secluded wood.

Ben’s watch lies in the undergrowth, and Megan’s team think she’s cracked the case, but she’s sure something’s not right. Ben’s family has wealth including a private island, and connections in high places. Is someone trying to block their investigation?

As Megan starts to wonder if the answer lies on the Parkers’ closely guarded island, just offshore, a shocking revelation makes her question everything. With a killer on the loose, can Megan find the missing pieces to the most complex case of her career and bring Marlena and her little boy home alive? Or will it be too late to save them?

Stillwater Island is the Fourth installment in author Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter's series. When Marlena Parker and her 4-year-old son Bennie go missing, Jefferson County Police Department gets the call. With partner Ronnie Marsh, who is a woman who has shown the depths to her character and her abilities, has become like family for Megan. Especially since her brother Hayden hasn't exactly been open to forgiving her for what she did in the past.

Ben Parker is the husband and father of Marlena and Bennie. The husband is the one to call it in, but turns out the parents are separated and there's a history of domestic violence and accusations of cheating. I have heard of a whole lot of grumblings when it comes to Megan's laser focus on Ben being the villain of the story. In real life, the husband, or boyfriend of the missing area almost always considered primary suspects until the evidence proves other wise. To make matters more twisted, Sheriff Tony Gray, Megan's boss, is Marlena's uncle.

Ben's not especially a good person. Almost no one likes Ben, including his filthy rich father, who literally owns an entire island. When Ben's girlfriend turns up dead, the case against Ben grows even stronger. Who else would have the means and opportunity to pull of this sort of operation? One of the saddest parts of this story is that Bennie is an innocent, and he has asthma. To top things off, Megan finds out that Marlena is expecting another child and time is of the essence to find Marlena and Bennie before it's too late. 

As police procedurals, nothing is what it seems, and it is an adventure to find out who has abducted a mother and her young son. Is Ben really the abductor, or has someone done a great job of setting him up? There are so many enjoyable twists and turns and interesting characters. They dynamics between Megan and Ronnie have grown leaps and bounds over the course of the past 3 installments. I am looking forward to knowing more about Hayden and his past since the author drops hints about what he was doing in the military.

*On a side note, the publisher changed the title of this book from Vanishing Point to Stillwater Island which makes zero  sense. Literally no part of this book takes place anywhere near Stillwater Island.

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#Review - Dark Falls/Silent Ridge by Gregg Olsen #Mystery #Suspense

Series: Detective Megan Carpenter # 3
Format: Kindle, 280 pages
Release Date: December 4, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher
Genre: Mystery / Suspense

One bath wall is a mural of a brilliant-yellow sunflower. The theme carries over to the shower curtains, but the yellow vinyl is spattered with red blotches. Propped against the mirror is a South Kitsap High School photo of a teenaged girl.

Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to horrifying crime scenes, but when she arrives at the home of a woman whose body has been brutalized, Megan is shocked to discover that she knows the victim. Monique Delmont helped Megan when she was in danger years ago. And the killer has left a disturbing calling card… two laminated photographs of a sixteen-year-old high school girl – Megan.

Someone is taunting her in the worst way possible and Megan is convinced she knows who is responsible. She just has to find him.

With the help of her new partner, Deputy Ronnie Marsh, Megan begins to unravel the clues that will lead them to the killer including links to three female murder cases from nearly twenty years ago – one of which was Monique’s daughter.

But to protect those closest to her, Megan must continue to hide the dark truth of her past, even if that means lying to her team about her connection to Monique.

When two photographs of a teenage Megan are found at her boyfriend’s place in Snow Creek, she knows the killer is circling and ready to strike again.

Can she get to him before he finds her? And will she pay the ultimate price for trying to keep her terrifying past buried?

 

 

Dark Ridge is the third installment in author Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter series. **Slight Spoilers** Dark Ridge begins with the viewpoint of a killer who we learn is female. The killer, who burns with hatred towards a woman named Rylee, knows all about Detective Megan Carpenter's past and what she did to her serial killer bio-father and his psychotic wife before faking her own death. In return, the unnamed killer targets those closest to Megan including a woman named Monique Delmont, an advocate for victims of violent crimes, who helped her disappear and change her name, as well as Dan, Megan’s would-be boyfriend.

After arriving at a murder scene and witnessing a very dark scene right out of Silence of the Lambs, Megan's past and present collide when photographs of her at work and as a high school student are found at the gruesome crime scene. The victim is a woman Megan had taken into her confidence and whose daughter had previously been murdered by the same serial killer who stalked Megan. Megan ends up partnering with recently promoted Deputy Ronnie Marsh who was previously kidnapped and injured but is extremely effective when it comes to research.

As the investigation progresses, Megan becomes more and more sure that a person connected to her serial killer/ biological father is likely stalking her. Could it be the same person who murdered Monique’s daughter? Readers have known from the beginning of this series that Megan is living under borrowed time. She been constantly stalked by an unknown person named Wallace and takes to keeping a gun fully loaded under her pillow. Her brother Hayden has shown up with no rhyme or reason for his visit in Port Townsend after being discharged from the military.

Hayden, who she tried to protect, joined the Army, and has never forgiven her for what she did. Hayden has anger in his veins for being left behind and Megan ignoring their mother who is in prison. It was only a matter of time before Megan has to deal with Hayden’s issues. Megan is a dedicated and intuitive investigator who seems to leave bodies wherever she goes. Megan also has an incredibly dark and tangled past which we learned from the tapes she listens to whenever she needs help keeping her head straight.

Her past is unknown to her colleagues and virtually all her friends, including Chief Ronnie Marsh who she thinks of as a father figure. She believes that if Marsh found out the truth, she would lose everything, again. Megan has been living under an assumed name ever since she killed her serial killer bio-dad and his psychotic wife and then decided to make people believe she was dead. If Megan reveals her past and her connection to the murder victim, will anyone be able to trust her again? Stay tuned.

One of my wishes is that Megan's frequent reminiscing over past events would come to an end. Just when things are getting good, Megan takes a step back to her past which is filled with not so pleasant situations. Megan needs to look into her future and find out why Hayden is really here, and whether or not Wallace is really Hayden, or someone living in plain sight. Megan finally begins to understand that she doesn’t have to do everything on her own. Having Ronnie as a partner has major advantages as to the lone wolf approach she normally takes. 

Not a standalone book, this is firmly part of a series that needs to be read in order. This book is also being sold as Silent Ridge via Amazon and elsewhere thus the two titles of this review.

 

 

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#Review - Water's Edge by Gregg Olsen #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Detective Megan Carpenter #2
Format: Kindle, 315 pages
Release Date: May 28, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thriller / Police Procedural

The young woman’s body is lying with her arms stretched out to each side. Her lips slightly parted. Her face untouched by injury and her hair spread around her head like a fan. A redhead. Just like the others.

When the body of Leann Truitt is found in a secluded cove in Mystery Bay, Detective Megan Carpenter is one of the first on the scene. The victim has tell-tale marks on her wrists, ankles and neck where she has been bound. But that’s not all. Next to Leann’s body lies a puzzling clue – an unusual symbol scratched into a rock.

With rookie Deputy Ronnie Marsh under her wing and the investigation underway, Megan starts to receive disturbing messages. Someone knows about her traumatic past. They know what she did.

Determined to stay focused, Megan soon makes a chilling link between Leann’s brutal killing and the unsolved murder cases of two other women – all redheads with the same marks on their bodies, the same symbol carvings found at the crime scenes, and most shockingly, all had been pregnant.

The killer stalks his prey, kidnapping and torturing them in a very exact and methodical pattern. And he is not finished yet…

When the body of another woman is found bearing a striking resemblance to the other victims, Megan must crack the clues fast if she is to catch the twisted soul before they strike again.

Megan might be closing in on the killer, but someone is watching her every move. Can Megan hide the secrets of her past threatening to destroy her future? And can she protect herself and Ronnie before they both find themselves in terrible danger? 

Water's Edge is the second installment in author Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter series. The author returns to Jefferson County, Washington for this follow up to Snow Creek. So, from the outset, let me say that this story actually follows several storylines. One storyline is that someone knows who Megan Carpenter was before she was a cop. Someone is apparently stalking her and sending her creepy messages about knowing what she did last summer. Oops! Sorry, I meant to say they know what she did years ago that readers are now seeing thru flashbacks. 

 

I'm eager to discover who this stalker is once and for all. I don't want this creepy stalker to remain behind the scenes as a way to keep the readers coming back for more. Now that - that is out of the way, Megan ends up with a partner in this installment. Reserve Deputy Ronnie Marsh is a female cop making her rounds before she ends up with a permanent assignment. So far, she's rotated through the morgue, and Marine Patrol under a Captain they call Marvel. Megan and Ronnie are put on the mystery of a floater found off Marrowstone Island.

 

Megan likes to work alone, but Ronnie is perhaps someone she can actually call a friend. Like everything else in this series, the locations are real. As Megan and Ronnie uncover the identity of the murdered victim, Megan soon makes a chilling link between Leann’s brutal killing and the unsolved murder cases of two other women – all redheads with the same marks on their bodies, the same symbol carvings found at the crime scenes, and most shockingly, all had been pregnant. 

 

In fact, each women has very familiar characteristics, including Red Hair, and each have the same build as Ronnie. Could Ronnie be next? The third part of this story really unravels Megan's past and who she was and what she did that sent her running and leaving her only brother Hayden behind to be raised by foster parents. Something she has regretted every day. Hayden has refused any contact with Megan. He's spent years in the military, but he suddenly appears at the very end of this story. I'm very curious as to how the author is going to resolve that issue. 

Megan's past is one that is truly dark but I truly believe those involved had what happened to them coming and much, much, much more. I could tell you why I said that but I think it would spoil the reason why she choose to be a cop and how she ended up surviving and being helped by Sheriff Gray. For someone who claims to have near perfect memory, I'm curious as to whom this stalker could be. Megan is still coping with secrets from her childhood when she had a different name. Can she cope with her memories and still solve a murder?  

 

While working the case, Megan makes her way through the tapes given to her by her college therapist, Dr. Karen Albright, finding out more about herself and why she sees the world the way she does. I think having the types around also gives readers a deeper understanding into a young women who did some bad things in order to protect herself and maybe it was also about revenge as well. She's very good at getting revenge on those who get in her way. One of the open questions is Megan's non-existent relationship with her mother. I think this needs to be addressed soon, especially with Hayden back in the picture. The author does a great job of worldbuilding and gives the reader a vivid sense of the place and people. You can actually research this area and find that every location the author mentions, actually exists.

 

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#REVIEW - Snow Creek by Gregg Olsen #Thriller

Series: Detective Megan Carpenter #1
Format: E-book, 280 pages
Release Date: November 18, 2019
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher
Genre: Police Procedural / Thriller

Footprints were scattered about like fallen leaves. She looked down into the ravine, and once more her lungs filled with fear. A body, blackened and motionless lay splayed out in the bushes.

Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to evil. Escaping the horrors of her old life, she’s vowed never to let anyone hurt her or those she loves ever again. Joining the small police force in Jefferson County’s Port Townsend, Megan is determined to get every victim of a crime the justice they deserve.

So when Ruth Turner walks into the Sheriff’s office claiming her sister Ida Watson has been missing for over a month, Megan’s instincts tell her that she needs to do more than just file a report.

Arriving at a secluded farmhouse in the hills above Snow Creek, she finds Ida’s teenage children alone and frightened.

Then a few days later, close to the Watson's home, the blackened body of a woman is discovered in an abandoned pickup truck.

Megan must unravel the disturbing secrets of the isolated Snow Creek community if she is to catch the killer.

But Megan has dark secrets of her own too…

Hidden in the back of her closet is a box of tapes containing every single recording of her therapy sessions with Doctor Albright over thirteen years ago. As Megan begins to play the tapes, she’s taken straight back to her terrifying childhood, back to the time she was a kid called Rylee, fighting to survive.

Can Megan finally confront the past she’s spent years trying to block out and will listening to her own painful story help her solve the complex case she is now entangled in?

Snow Creek is the first installment in author Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter series. The story is largely set in and around Port Townsend and Snow Creek, Washington. Megan Carpenter is a Detective for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. As the story opens, Ruth Turner claims that her sister Ida has been missing for over a month. Apparently, Ida and her husband Merrick were planning on going to Mexico to some orphanage but haven't been heard from since. 

 

Megan soon starts her investigation by doing a welfare check on Ida and Merrick's teenage children Joshua and Sarah. Something is really not right with not only Ida and her family, but Ruth's as well. The investigation into the Merritt's disappearance heightens when a burnt out truck with the body of a dead woman is found in a nearby ravine thanks to intrepid cryptozoologists searching for Sasquatch. With the mystery of Ida’s whereabouts solved, Megan has to figure out what happened to Wheaton.

 

With Sarah telling Megan that her father was abusive, Megan has even more to go on.The race is on to find Merrick and bring Ida’s killer to justice begins in earnest. But as further evidence is uncovered Megan starts to wonder if they’ve been focusing on the wrong person and someone else could be their killer. Between trying to put the pieces together or what is actually happening, Megan takes a journey back to her own troubled past. Not going to sugar coat it, but the more she listens to the tapes from her former psychiatrist, the more questions you will have.

 

Snow Creek is actually a pretty twisted story that makes you compare this book to Deliverance. Haven't seen Deliverance yet? Rent it! While Megan is trying to maintain a sort of dual existence between the past and the present, you get the feeling that she really had a whole lot of help hiding what happened to her in the past in order to become a Cop. Megan and her brother no longer speak thanks to her own actions. She doesn't speak to her mother who she hasn't seen in years, and I don't think she has any intentions of doing so any time soon. 

 

I definitely plan on continuing with this series as the book ends on a curious cliffhanger ending.

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