5-STAR REVIEW: ALL WE BURIED by Elena Taylor

The Description

The Sheriff Bet Rivers Mystery Series: Book 1
Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Interim sheriff Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers has always had one repeat nightmare: a shadowy figure throwing a suspicious object into her hometown lake in Collier, Washington. For the longest time, she chalked it up to an overactive imagination as a kid. Then the report arrives. In the woods of the Cascade mountain range, right in her jurisdiction, a body floats to the surface of Lake Collier. When the body is extricated and revealed, no one can identify Jane Doe. But someone must know the woman, so why aren’t they coming forward?

Bet has been sitting as the interim sheriff of this tiny town in the ill-fitting shoes of her late father and predecessor. With the nightmare on her heels, Bet decided to build a life for herself in Los Angeles, but now it’s time to confront the tragic history of Collier. The more she learns, the more Bet realizes she doesn’t know the townspeople of Collier as well as she thought, and nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

The Review

A floating dead body challenges Bet Rivers to demonstrate her investigative skills as interim sheriff.

Author Elena Taylor kicks off a promising series in All We Buried. While the story unfolds as a police procedural, it is multi-faceted, thanks to the character development.

Bet’s character is conflicted by a sense of family obligation and a desire to build a career on her own terms. Returning to her hometown and slipping into her father’s role didn’t factor into her plans.

The discovery of a dead body challenges Bet to dig deep for answers in a quest that will uncover buried secrets. For someone who might be looking for an opportunity to head back to life in LA, it could be an easy out. However, Bet won’t turn her back on the family legacy, even if it means poking into the town’s history.

All We Buried takes readers on a journey as the new sheriff in town embarks on an action-packed investigation full of twists.

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About The Author

Elena Taylor spent several years working in theater as a playwright, director, designer, and educator before turning her storytelling skills to fiction. Her first series, the Eddie Shoes Mysteries, written under the name Elena Hartwell, introduced a quirky mother/daughter crime fighting duo.

With the Bet Rivers Mysteries, Elena returns to her dramatic roots and brings readers much more serious and atmospheric novels. The series introduces Collier, Washington, with its dark and mysterious lake, tough-as-nails residents, and newly appointed sheriff with her sidekick Schweitzer, an Anatolian Shepherd.

Elena is also a senior editor with Allegory Editing, a developmental editing house, where she works one-on-one with writers to shape and polish manuscripts, short stories, and plays. If you’d like to work with Elena, visit www.allegoryediting.com.

Her favorite place to be is at Paradise, the property she and her hubby own south of Spokane, Washington. They live with their horses, dogs, and cats. Elena holds a B.A. from the University of San Diego, a M.Ed. from the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.