Jennifer Graeser Dornbush: Walking on White

By Kelly Bridgewater

 The coroner’s daughter is back when a ferocious snowstorm buries Freeport, Michigan—and with it, a deadly secret.

When the frozen body of high school senior Ethan Quon is found wedged deep in a snowbank, medical examiner Dr. Emily Hartford is called in to determine how—and why—he died. What should be a routine case quickly turns thorny. The evidence is inconclusive, the timeline fractured, and the town’s citizens close ranks.

As Emily digs deeper, she uncovers a tangle of lies, betrayals, and half truths that ignite outrage among Freeport’s residents. Tensions explode when local teenagers begin receiving chilling text messages—apparently sent by Ethan himself. A dead boy is speaking, and the town is listening in horror.

As the investigation intensifies, Emily’s personal life begins to unravel. Her closest friend is leaving town. Her half sister, Anna, newly divorced, may take her children and move out of the Hartford home. And Emily is forced to rule on the death of a violent criminal killed during a struggle with Nick Larsen—the man she loves—which could determine the future of not only his career but his life with Emily.

Racing against time to uncover the truth before anyone else dies, Emily exposes long-buried family secrets, a dangerous teenage conspiracy, and disturbing sexual transgressions. In a town where lies spread faster than the storm, truth comes at a devastating cost. Emily must not only solve a murder but confront the truths she’s been avoiding about herself and the life she’s willing to fight for.

 

My Thoughts:

Walking on White by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is a riveting story that will keep readers flipping through the pages. Dornbush does a wonderful job at presenting the less likely character who helps Emily solve the mystery. If readers are familiar with the previous five stories, then they will see some familiar characters and see what is going on in their lives. As for the mystery, it kept me glued to the pages, and I knew who the villain was before it was shown but that happens to me a lot when I read suspense novels. I do like that the story happens with snow falling A LOT during the story. Dornbush does a good job at using the snow to create havoc in the story. Overall, Walking on White by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush was a exhilarating story that checked all the boxes for me.

I received a complimentary copy of Walking on White by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Jennifer Graeser Dornbush: What Darkness Does

 By Kelly Bridgewater

 Dr. Emily Hartford finds herself dredging the depths of Lake Isabella—and her own past relationship—in What Darkness Does, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Called in to investigate the body of a young mother found floating in a small Michigan lake, Freeport coroner Dr. Emily Hartford quickly determines that Samantha Browdey was murdered. Among the many questions circling this horrifying event is one that yanks hard on Emily’s heartstrings: Where is Samantha’s infant daughter? Working alongside police detective Isode Aditson, Emily becomes ferociously determined to find the missing baby, Brooklyn.

At the same time, Emily’s longtime boyfriend Nick Larsen has reappeared—after being missing, presumed dead, for over a year. But Nick has changed. Badly injured and severely traumatized, the ex-cop turned FBI agent is a different man, one who has endured unimaginable brutality and then buried his secrets deep. Nick has a long road ahead … but he’s not a patient man, and catching a sadistic killer seems like good enough therapy to him.

Emily has her doubts, but what’s clear is that a cruel killer’s reign of terror must be stopped, one way or another. Their foe is formidable, increasingly bold, and brutally reckless. To catch this monster, Nick must battle his own demons, while Emily puzzles together the mystery of Brooklyn’s whereabouts, in hopes of giving a grieving family a happy ending.

 

My Thoughts:

What Darkness Does by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is a thriller novel that I really enjoyed. However, as a word of caution, there are some scenes that are graphic and brutal to read and a couple of bad language words. One thing I enjoy about mysteries is discovering who the villain is. What feels cheap to me is when the author shows who the villain is. Personally, I like to see clues and see if I can find out who this person is before the end of the novel. What Darkness Does is a novel where early on, the readers will know who the person is and will watch him brutally hurt several people along the way. Even though I prefer to guess, the readers will have the chase of wondering if the villain will be captured and how. As for the heroine, Emily, it was nice to catch up with her again. This time, if readers are familiar with all the stories in this series, Nick takes on more of an important role in capturing the villain. I enjoyed the story and the chance to capture the villain because there were plenty of moments of action and suspense, which is the way I like my thriller stories. I do recommend this book, and I am excited that there are more to come.

I received a complimentary copy of What Darkness Does by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush from Blackstone Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Jennifer Graeser Dornbush: Frozen Lives

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Frozen Lives, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport.

Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah—the eleven-year-old son of her best friend, Jo—goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan.

To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up, and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s just the beginning …

For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, heedless of the damage in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind.

Emily solidifies her role as the coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily is determined to go the icy distance and end his killing spree.

 

My Thoughts:

Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush was a book that I could not put down. Dornbush showed who the villain is pretty early on in the novel. Normally, I do not like this when reading a suspense novel. But the way she crafted the novel, it was like watching a car wreck happen, and then stick around for the aftermath. You knew it was horrible, but you wanted to know how it played out. I wanted to know the villain’s mental issues. Why was he doing what he was doing? How long would the horrors happen before the rescue? Dornbush does a good job at leaving little clues and pushing the victims harder and harder. Emily and Brandon had to come to terms with where their relationship might be headed. If readers are familiar with the previous books, they would understand this plot line. As a word of Caution, there are some cuss words in the story, but they were spoken when a character was angry, so I just them and kept moving forward with the plot. It does help cement the anger of the person. Dornbush does leave the story in a cliff-hanger. Now I need the next book as soon as possible. I need to know answers to this ending. Overall, Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush was a wonderful suspense novel. I think it was the best book in the series. I recommend this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush from Blackstone  Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Jennifer Graeser Dornbush: Last One Alive

By Kelly Bridgewater

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Chicago, ready to move forward and leave the past behind, until an unexpected request for help sends her deep into an investigation -- and into the path of a killer.

Seventeen months after the Parkman case, Dr. Hartford has returned to Chicago to finish her surgical residency. But when she is contacted out of the blue by Solange McClelland, the only survivor of a decade-old triple homicide, Emily is compelled to dig deeper. She doesn’t know the details of the event but remembers it as one of the few cases her deceased father never solved.

On her thirtieth birthday, Solange opens a long-forgotten safe-deposit box and is entirely baffled by what she finds. Inside are not only painful reminders of a once-happy youth but almost four million dollars -- enough to pursue and finally solve the mystery of who brutally murdered her family. It’s been over ten years, and Solange has built a new life in Detroit with her husband, Joseph. But there are certain disturbing questions about her past that she is determined to answer. So she reaches out to the only one who might know something about her family’s deaths and their possibly erroneous death certificates -- Dr. Hartford, the daughter of Freeport’s former medical examiner.

Finding it impossible to believe that her scrupulous father made a mistake, Emily joins Solange’s pursuit of the truth, and as subzero temperatures blanket snow-covered Michigan, the two women pursue justice in two very different ways. But lurking nearby in the frigid cold is a crafty, unrepentant killer, determined to finish what he started long ago.

 

My Thoughts:

Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush has plenty of thrills and clue hunting for the biggest fans of suspense novels. As for the plot, the concept of being the last one alive when your whole family has been killed has been done before. Dornbush does a wonderful job at inviting the readers into Dr. Emily Hartford’s internal dialogue as she struggles with her career choices, relationships, and trying to solve the current mystery. Since this is the third novel with Dr. Hartford, readers will become more familiar with her personality, her work ethic, and her background. As a word of caution, there are a couple of cuss words in the story and Dornbush does have the characters have sex even though they are not married or even in a relationship. It is one sentence, so readers do not have to worry that they will see anything, but some readers might not want to follow a character that does that type of thing. As for the climactic moment, it felt like a little bit of a letdown. I wanted more. I wanted more explanation of some of the clues that were given. Overall, Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is suspenseful enough to keep the readers trying to figure out who the villain is with a familiar character.

I received a complimentary copy of Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush from Blackstone Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 stars

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