Hemlock Lake

Carolyn J. Rose

Five Star Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-884-2

$25.95

311 pages

Reviewed by Amanda Capper

Carolyn J. Rose is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I enjoyed Hemlock Lake every bit as much as The Big Grabowski, though the two mysteries have little in common other than compelling characters and believable action. Hemlock Lake is as dark as The Big Grabowski is light.

Sergeant Dan Stone is a proud and stubborn man. With a past he can’t face and a future he can’t imagine, all he has left is a job in Hemlock Lake, a town in the Catskill Mountains that forces him to do both; a town that knows about his wife’s accident, his brother’s suicide and his grief-stricken father. Now Hemlock Lake promises more pain as Dan pits himself against childhood friends in an attempt to find an arsonist who is threatening the future of the community.

Red herrings, dead bodies and romance show up to confuse our hero. Secrets are revealed and Dan feels progressively less in control, until a break in the case and what appears to be the final show down. But as Dan tries to tie up loose ends, he gets a phone call that proves all is not as it seems… and the deadly chase is on again.

It was past two a.m. when I finally put Hemlock Lake down and though I had to get up for work in four hours, I felt the book warranted the lack of sleep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3km35X8xeig

Copyright @ 2010 Amanda Capper

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION

I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content.  I was not expected to return this item after my review.