From the Ashes
Sabrina Flynn
c. 2014
A Ravenwood Mystery, book 1
of a 3-book series
Historical detective, California
history, 1900
$4.99 eBook
$15.00 Print
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About the Book:
Atticus Riot
took a bullet to his head the day his partner was killed. Three years later,
Riot returns to San Francisco to put his ghosts to rest, but the abduction of
an heiress snags his attention. Two ransom demands are delivered, and the
husband of the abducted Isobel Kingston is hiding the truth.
The clock is ticking. Can Riot find Mrs Kingston in time, or will she
become one more regret among many?
My Review:
I have to admit I always pick
up review requests for self-published books with a jaundiced eye but I was more
than pleasantly surprised by Flynn’s book. I was enthralled and wanted to
immediately purchase the next two in the Ravenwood Mystery series posthaste, no
matter how large my review pile. And that’s saying a lot for me.
Of course it helps that I
love the era and genre, historical detective novels. Atticus Riot is a
wonderfully developed character. We’ve obviously come in the rebirth end of
things, for Atticus as well as the newest adventure he steps into. Thus, the title,
well-fitting for this first book in a series. Riot returns to San Francisco from
a sojourn in Europe to put an end to the former business he and his dead
partner ran, the Ravenwood Detective Agency, conveniently located just up the
block from Pinkerton’s. However, his manager, Tim, talks him into just one more
case before he officially retires. An heiress has been kidnapped.
Throughout the case Riot is
visited with the ghostly advice of his late partner, for whose death he cannot
forgive himself. He’s haunted by past cases where he hasn’t been quick enough
to prevent death and makes it a goal to see it doesn’t happen this time. As the
body count rises, however, Riot’s last case may become a lost cause.
There is so much rich history
in the era and area that Flynn could have easily lost us in detail. She does
introduce a quirky cast of characters who have taken over the Ravenwood mansion
and then drops them, but I hope we’ll see more of them in the future. The
pacing is perfect, and the twist is that the reader is treated to events of the
crime in a back-and-forth catch-up chase until one day time equals out.
Surprises, not exactly
cheat-the-reader moments but very subtle hints and clues will keep readers who
adore this type of fiction on their toes. Told in multiple viewpoints from Riot
and the victim’s points of views, well-researched. Near flawless writing shows
the care the author took with her book.
A review copy was provided
through VoraciousReadersOnly.com
About the
Author:
Sabrina
lives in perpetual fog and sunshine with a rock troll and two crazy imps. She
spent her youth trailing after insanity, jumping off bridges, climbing towers,
and riding down waterfalls in barrels. After spending fifteen years wrestling
giant hounds and battling pint-sized tigers, she now travels everywhere via watery
portals leading to anywhere.
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