Deliverance from Evil: Keller County Cops Book 4

Tessa likes her unconventional life, working part time in a mortuary and studying mortuary science, until she is called to work on the body of Dempsey Spencer, her stepfather.  A man she despised, he had just gotten out of prison the month previous, for sexually abusing her as a child.

Upon examining, Dempsey’s bright red face, Tessa’s boss questions the cause of death and suspects cyanide poisoning. He decides to send the body to the morgue for an autopsy. The morgue agrees and sends Detective Cash Starkey to investigate the case. Cash unnerves Tessa with his stoic stare.  Still, for some reason, she feels she can trust the tall handsome detective.

Dr. Madeline Glazer had helped Tessa testify against her stepfather when she was a child. Tessa is relieved that Dr. Glazer has just moved nearer to her but at the same time, her stepbrother, Stuart, tries to reconnect with her. Then Tessa's old college roommate is killed. Why are people form Tessa’s past being killed and why are others suddenly trying to reconnect? As Detective Starkey and Tessa struggle to uncover the growing mysteries, they seem always one step behind the murderer.

Although the romance is predictable and the murders are numerous, Melanie Atkins takes the reader on an exciting, fast paced ride!  Atkins deftly fills out the personalities, allowing the reader to know and understand each of the characters, then pulling the reader into the intriguing murder mystery.  Even though the book is only 134 pages long, it doesn’t disappoint, leaving one anxious to read the next books in the Keller County Cops series!

Rose Mary Espinoza