Tittle           : Dead Man's Leap (Batavia on Hudson Mystery #2)

Author        : Tina DeBellegarde

Pub Date    : April 05, 2022

Pages          : 266

My Rating   : ★★★★

The Summary

Rapid water... Body parts, secrets...

While searching the attics of her neighbors for items to donate to the charity rummage auction, Bianca St. Denis and her friends discover both secrets and priceless items. Each year, the sale is held at Leonard Marshall's old inn, but the key to his past is in his basement. When a mysterious antiquities dealer moves to the area, he upends Leonard's meticulously ordered existence by forcing him to make a difficult decision that is rooted in the past.

The river rises and tempers flare as a storm pushes the residents of Batavia-on-Hudson to seek refuge. Because of the tension created by the close confines, Sheriff Mike Riley has his work cut out for him. Bianca once more finds herself working with Sheriff Riley to solve a mystery as the floodwaters wash up a body. Are they looking into a tragic drowning or anything more sinister?

In the novel Dead Man's Leap, the burden of secrets, the relief of renunciation, and the risk of thinking we can move past our history are all explored.

My Review

Another intriguing mystery book.

I had a feeling when I picked up this book for the first time that it would be cozy reading and that you should pair it with your afternoon tea, and I was right.

Although this is the coziest mystery book I've ever read, there's still a sense of suspense as we wait to see what will happen next. I do get confused occasionally, but it's probably because I haven't read the first series of this book. Each character's characteristics in this story nicely complements the others.

The writing is so soothing and the slow burn pace is so wonderfully done that I occasionally find myself nodding off, but don't worry, it won't take long.

I really appreciate it when a novel is set in a tiny village, especially in the countryside, and the author is able to make the readers feel like we are a member of that group. It gives you a nice vacation from our reality.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.