Today is the day Caroline Fardig fans have been waiting for! Her new book, Bitter Past, is available now.
Bitter Past: An Ellie Matthews Novel
Three years ago, criminalist Ellie Matthews was blindsided when a grisly homicide case suddenly became personal. She abandoned the danger and stress of crime scene investigation for a professorship at a posh private college and never looked back.
Now, Ellie’s pleasant world is shattered when she finds the dead body of a female student. The campus is in chaos, reporters are circling like vultures, and Ellie is trying her best to distance herself from the situation. Not an easy task when her closest colleague becomes the prime suspect.
After the college community is rocked by another suspicious death, Ellie’s mentor, Sheriff Jayne Walsh, convinces her to consult on the case. Partnered with quick-witted Detective Nick Baxter, Ellie reluctantly bottles up her personal demons and dives back into the world she left behind, racing to make sense of the evidence before the killer strikes again.
Review
I love reading mystery books. I read a lot of cozy mystery books, and I also read other mysteries. Though Caroline Fardig does write cozy mystery books, this one isn’t a cozy. It’s got humor and great characters, but it’s also got elements that cozy mystery books don’t.
Ellie Matthews is a great character who gets caught up in a murder mystery when her former boss asks for her help in solving a murder…the second murder of a student at the college where Ellie is a professor. Even though Ellie doesn’t want to be back working for the police, she is very close to the sheriff, so she agrees to help. Being back “on the force,” even temporarily, creates chaos in her life. But she is good at what she does and she loves that aspect of it. I really thought the author showed how conflicted Ellie was very well. I love the relationships she has with some members of the police force…even the strained ones. They feel very real. If Ellie got along with everyone she worked with, the book would feel fake and things wouldn’t work.
The author knows how to tell a great story, and she keeps you guessing for most of the book. I liked how the story flowed. It didn’t feel rushed, but it was a book I could read quickly. The characters are well-developed and realistic. The book ends with the mystery solved, but it leaves another mystery open….the one that caused Ellie to leave the force in the first place. I think mystery lovers will enjoy this book. If you have read the author’s other books, don’t expect this to be sweet and nice. It’s definitely not in the cozy genre, but Bitter Past is a great mystery.
About Caroline Fardig
CAROLINE FARDIG is the USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen mystery novels. Fardig’s Bad Medicine was named one of the “Best Books of 2015” by Suspense Magazine. She worked as a school teacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in that same town with an understanding husband, two sweet kids, two energetic dogs, and one malevolent cat.
Find out more at www.carolinefardig.com and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodr
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