4 stars out of 5
Over the last year, I have found myself a big Christy Barritt fan after devouring "The Worst Detective Ever" series (my personal favorite) as well as a book each of the "Squeaky Clean Mysteries" and the "Lantern Beach Mysteries" (will definitely devour the Lantern Beach Mysteries at some point since the first book was enjoyable). Christy Barritt has a knack for writing books that are clean, suspenseful, humorous, quirky, quick, and downright entertaining. My only complaint in reading some of her books is that she tends to recycle character types (goofy, clumsy heroine; handsome, rugged hero) and settings (the beach, though I love beach settings!) in a way that make each unique series bleed together and feel a little too similar. So I was very excited when I saw the "Fog Lake Mysteries" series coming out and early reviews revealing that it was more gritty than previous works. And for that, I definitely agree.
The Fog Lake Mysteries are definitely darker and grittier and Edge Of Peril features a sadistic serial killer preying on a small mountain town (not a beach, haha!). I enjoyed the Harper character as she didn't possess the goofy, clumsy characteristics of other Barritt heroines (which, while enjoyable, can sometimes cause some eye rolling). I also enjoyed Sheriff Luke, though once again we are treated to a romance between the heroine and the hunky, rugged law enforcement hero (sigh, deduct half a star). And of course, they hate each other at first which is how all successful real world relationships begin!
Another thing that added to the depth of this book was many references to spiritual and faith aspects. I found that they were not heavy-handed and added realistically to the storyline. Christy Barritt successfully inserts many faith-filled quotes that I appreciated such as: "There’s always hope. It may not seem like it. But in those times when it seems impossible, we’ve got to hold onto that truth even more.” I also felt like the overall writing in Edge Of Peril was crisper and of better quality, and this is coming from someone who is a huge fan in her writing style! She easily adapts a darker, grittier style that didn't sound forced or cliched. It didn't have the humor of other books like The Worst Detective Ever series, but that humor would not have fit in this style of writing.
I ended up rating this 4 stars out of 5, deducting half a star for another book series where the romance is cliched (see above) and deducting another half star since I figured out pretty early on who the killer was. But all in all, and even with guessing the killer, I still enjoyed the writing style, the atmosphere of the small mountain town, the characters, and the satisfying ending (minus the romance and epilogue ending). So this is definitely a series I will continue to read and hope more come soon.
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