The Blue Ridge Project: A Dark Suspense Novel (The Project Book 1)

MYSTERY:  Detective Andrea Nox returns to the Beacon City Police Department to help solve the murder of a well-known and well-liked politician and his son. The event is the latest in a string of grisly murders. Journalist Robert Duncan is in town to visit his terminally ill mother in the hospital. She has been keeping secrets. Frank Mortimer has presumably been a lifelong resident of Beacon. His family is monetarily well-off, but mental illness runs through it. Of course, the three have more in common than just their geographic location but in the interest of leaving that discovery to the reader, less is more.

The author can easily paint a picture in the mind’s eye in regards to the characters’ traits, actions, and surroundings. The story magnetically pulls the reader in, capturing their interest with pertinent information metered from prologue to epilogue. Could another device be used in tandem with social drinking to push the plot along? In the second of three parts, the reader begins to slot puzzle pieces into place as pasts are revealed for protagonist and antagonist alike, giving them depth. This book is not for the faint-hearted, the steam rating of three stars is for a single alluded-to one-night stand after having had one too many.

This story delivers what the headline promises: a darkly suspenseful tale, highly recommended for those readers who thrive on a story’s unpredictability and have a strong constitution.

Heather R. Nielsen