Random Robbery? Or Something More?
Normally, I try to space out the authors I read by at least two months, even authors I love. This gives time for other authors to get on my reading list and it keeps me from burning out on authors I love. (Yes, it does happen.) But when Annette Dashofy’s publisher decided to release books three and four in her Detective Honeywell series about six weeks apart, I immediately knew I’d be reading them about six weeks apart. I wouldn’t be able to wait any longer than that. And No Stone Left Unturned was well worth breaking my self-imposed rule.
This series is set in Erie, Pennsylvania, and focuses on two characters. Detective Matthias Honeywell works for the local police, while Emma Anderson is a photographer who has just started working the crime beat for a local online news site. Matthias and Emma have recently started dating, and they are trying to navigate what that means for their jobs.
When Honeywell is called to the scene of a robbery turned shooting at a veterinary clinic, the case immediately becomes personal since he knows the man the robbers shot. But he can’t help but question what happened. It doesn’t feel like a true robbery but something personal. Meanwhile, Emma is on hand getting shots from outside the clinic. Given the connection Honeywell has to the case, Emma starts to dig into the background of the victim to try to see if she can uncover any leads to help. Will they be able to find the perpetrator before he strikes again?
As with the previous books in the series, Matthias and Emma share time as our third person point of view character. These changes are always obvious and do a great job of showing us the entire story as it unfolds. And yes, Emma does find some things to advance the story. Having said that, this book really focuses on Matthias and people from his world, letting us get to know them better. I appreciated that focus, and feel like I have a good picture of all the main characters in the series now. Because of the nature of the plot, we don’t get to know the suspects that well, but they are still strong enough to keep us engaged by what the mystery is uncovering.
And the mystery? Annette Dashofy is a master at unraveling a mystery, and this book is no exception. I followed along with everything the characters were thinking as they uncovered the clues and red herrings, but at the end, I was once again in awe at how everything came together. Meanwhile, there are enough twists to make the book hard to put down, especially when I reached the final third.
I will say, having read this book so quickly after having read book three, I enjoyed seeing the threads and character moments that this book built upon more clearly. There is something to be said for reading books closer together for that kind of thing. Maybe I should reconsider my approach to catching up on series.
Having said that, there aren’t any spoilers for previous books here. Any references to previous events are vague enough that you’ll be fine going back to read the earlier books if you haven’t yet. But you’ll want to read them all, so you might as well jump in with the first.
Do keep in mind that these are police procedurals, so they aren’t the light, clean cozies I often read. However, they also don’t go any further than they have to. And they are completely worth it.
While the main mystery is wrapped up here, we do get while I’m sure is a tease about the next book in the series. I’m already anxious to find out what happens to the characters in it.
No Stone Left Unturned is another page turner that will thrill Annette Dashofy’s fans. She is one of the best mystery writers out there today. If you aren’t reading her books, you are truly missing out and you need to fix that today.
Enjoy the rest of the Detective Honeywell Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
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