The Accidental Detective: Book 1
Publication Date: April 7, 2022
She’s pursued the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home?
Injured in a bombing, war correspondent Kate Tessler returns to her hometown in Arizona to recover. For the first time in her life, she’s starting to feel her age of nearly fifty despite living like a teenager again: staying in her childhood bedroom with only a cat for company, trying to understand why her sister resents her so much, and running into people who still refer to her as Kitty. The hardest part? Seeing her once-sharp and witty mother stuck in an Alzheimer’s unit.
When an old friend asks her to investigate suspicious deaths at the nursing home, Kate limps into action. Is a self-appointed “Angel of Mercy” killing patients to end their suffering? Are family members hastening their inheritance? Is an employee extorting money and removing the witnesses? Kate uses her journalism skills to track clues, but the puzzle pieces simply won’t fit.
If Kate can’t uncover the truth quickly, her mother could be next on the killer’s list.
Something Shady at Sunshine Haven by Kris Bock grabbed me from the first page to the last.
Kate was injured in a bombing due to her job overseas as an investigative reporter, and she returns home to heal, regroup and spend time with her parents. Her mom is in a nursing home for Alzheimer’s and memory loss, and Kate doesn’t know where life will lead her to next.
But there’s more for her back home than she anticipated as she connects with friends and tries to solve a crime or two allegedly taking place at Sunshine Haven—the nursing home where her mom is currently living.
Bock introduces Kate to us a little at a time, and I liked how she and her dad were reconnecting. The story had a wonderful flow and kept me in the grip of the mysteries waiting to be solved. There are twists and turns to the story and lots of investigations, meetings, secrets, crimes, coverups, misunderstandings, injuries, and lots of details to piece together.
Kate is good at what she does and rallies those she’s asked to help her in her investigations. She puts together quite the team, and their ages run the gamut from young to old. We get to see how her mind works and her thought processes to gather the information necessary to figure out whodunnit.
There is closure as the crimes are solved, but the story ends a bit too abruptly for me. Even though this is the first book of The Accidental Detective series, I thought there could have been a smoother ending. I look forward to reading more books in this series and seeing what Kate and her family are up to next. I liked the title and the cover and thought it fitting that Kate is called the accidental detective!
Ms. Bock is a new-to-me author, and I will be back to read more of her books if this showcases her caliber of writing. If you like mysteries that keep you guessing with characters that span the ages, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven might be a book and series you’d enjoy.
Kris Bock writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance, many with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for her newsletter. You’ll also get a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café and a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels
Kris is also writing a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Follow the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for our romantic comedy newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin.
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Thanks! Great to be here and many thanks for the review.