Shattered Sanctuary
by Nancy Mehl
Series: The Erin Delaney Mysteries #1
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Genre: Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance
Grappling with the aftermath of a tragic incident that altered her life, ex-police officer and bestselling mystery author Erin Delaney finds solace in the tranquility of a cabin nestled deep in the Smoky Mountains. But her restful stay is shattered when cries pierce the night, hinting at a lurking presence haunting the woods. When local police chief Adrian Nightengale seeks her help with a carefully arranged murder scene, she is thrust back into the world of crime solving. As they delve into the investigation, Erin’s intuition reveals chilling truths about the killer’s motives and strategically perfected methods.
Joined by the enigmatic Kaely Quinn-Hunter, a former FBI behavioral analyst, Erin not only embarks on a quest to stop the merciless serial killer, but also confronts the revived ghosts of her past. In a race against time, Erin must defeat her own demons while outmaneuvering a cunning killer or risk becoming the next victim in this deadly game of cat and mouse.
My Review of Shattered Sanctuary
Do you love contemporary Christian suspense novels? I do, and Nancy Mehl’s Shattered Sanctuary kept me turning the pages well into the night!
Erin Delaney is a best-selling mystery author – one who rarely leaves her house. She’s also an ex-cop who faced a huge, traumatic event while on the force. While writing her novel, she’s become online friends with Kaely Quinn-Hunter, ex-FBI behavioral analyst, who has helped her immensely in “getting things right” in her novel. As a Christian, Kaely’s greatest hope is that her friend Erin comes to know Christ as she does. Mehl naturally weaves faith throughout the book. It never seems preachy or forced.
Knowing that Erin has become very reclusive, she suggests a girls trip to a cabin in the small town of Sanctuary. Erin, arriving before Kaely, finds the cabin to be a beautiful, peaceful retreat. However, that peace is quickly shattered when a body is found in the woods nearby, and police chief Adrian Nightengale, knowing Erin’s background, seeks out her help.
Shattered Sanctuary captured my attention right from the start. I love watching shows and reading books in which profiling plays a big role. It’s fascinating to me how agents take in a murder scene or scenes and develop an accurate profile of the perpetrator. This fits right in there with great profiling without any graphic descriptions.
The way Kaely profiles killers is a bit different, but I thought it was really interesting. There’s a series before this one (that I have not read) that features Kaely, and I’ll definitely be checking it out. Mehl is wonderful at making her characters very realistic, and she doesn’t hide their flaws. I thought that the main characters had a lot of depth, and I also appreciated how the side characters fit in.
I highly recommend Shattered Sanctuary and can’t wait for the next Erin Delaney book! If you love reading Christian suspense with well-developed characters, you’ve got to read Shattered Sanctuary by Nancy Mehl. 5 stars!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Leave a Reply