book review

I finished the Cape Refuge series by Terri Blackstock. I read this series several years ago but recently decided to read it again. It's a good read. Each book centers around a separate mystery, but the books definitely need to be read in order, since the characters are developed along the way.

Two bodies, one spear gun, and a murder suspect. But did Morgan Cleary’s husband really kill her parents?

A brutal double-murder has struck fear into the heart of the peaceful Cape Refuge community. The crime weapon belongs to the victims’ son-in-law, but Police Chief Cade remains unconvinced that his best friend took the lives of Thelma and Wade Owens. The Owens’ ministry, a halfway house, shelters individuals far more questionable than Jonathan Cleary. Now people are concerned that it may house a murderer who could strike again.

Shattered by her parents’ deaths, Morgan Cleary struggles to keep Hanover House running while her husband sits in jail. Her sister, Blair, is no help. Blair wants no part of her dead parents’ ministry or their Christian faith. She wants to sell the house — until her determined search to find the true killer uncovers some startling findings. A lethal race against time ensues for Morgan, Blair, and Cade, with far more than Hanover House at stake.

First a dead stranger. Now a missing police chief. Did Chief Cade run off to elope? Or has he met with foul play?

The body in the morgue had no ID. No one knew who he was or where he came from when he walked out in front of Chief Cade’s car. And when Cade learns that the victim had a recent gunshot wound, finding his identity becomes even more urgent.

Then Cade himself vanishes. Authorities discover the victim’s name, and learn that the person Cade was last seen is the dead man’s wife.

Speculation abounds about Cade’s relationship to the woman and his part in the victim’s death. His disappearance makes him look even more suspicious.

Blair Owens doesn’t believe the rumors. Something has happened to Cade, and she’s determined to find him. Saving Cade’s life will take faith in a God Blair has always doubted — but He may be her only hope.

The man Lisa Jackson loved most may have betrayed her. Another used deception to manipulate her. But did one of them kill her?

Morgan’s miscarriage sends her into deep depression. She turns to her friend Lisa Jackson, who has suffered multiple miscarriages, and who truly understands Morgan’s grief.

But Lisa has suddenly disappeared, and her husband Ben is certain she’s met with foul play.

When a psychic’s tip leads police to Lisa’s body, Police Chief Cade is convinced the seer had inside knowledge. Then Cade learns of the letters Lisa received from a woman claiming to be Ben’s lover. Blair Owens–in her new role as newspaper reporter–begins searching for the woman who wrote the letters. Could Lisa’s death have anything to do with Ben’s affair?

Meanwhile, Morgan and her husband begin seeing Lisa’s fertility specialist. As Chief Cade hears of what the doctor is telling his friends, he begins to wonder if Lisa’s death could be tied to her long quest to bear a child. Does the clinic hold any clues?

A Cape Refuge teenager is dead . . .Then another body is found . . .Will Sadie Caruso be the next to die?

When a famous myster writer moves to Cape Refuge, ex-con Sheila Caruso–mother to Sadie and Caleb–is thrilled to get a job working for him. But when a teenage girl is found murdered, Sheila discovers that a scene in one of the eccentric writer’s novels matches the crime scene. Exactly. Then a second dead girl is discovered by Police Chief Cade and Blair Owens. And when this murder mirrors a scene in another of the writer’s books, Cade is drawn into a web of trickery and deceit. Shockingly, evidence turns up in Cade’s truck–evidence that points to Cade himself as the number one suspect!

Cade tries to clear his name, but when eighteen-year-old Sadie Caruso disappears, tensions mount to a fever pitch. Can Cade find the real killer before Sadie winds up dead? Is the author a demented killer or a hapless victim? And what does Sadie’s own mother have to do with the crimes? Secrets are uncovered while lessons are learned about the sins of the fathers being visited upon their children. Will the consequences of Sheila’s poor choices in life be fatal, or is there redemption and mercy for her and her children?

I really enjoyed this series. I hope you do, too!