Tangling a Web of Deceit review
My latest novel, “Tangling a Web of Deceit” was reviewed by Barbara McIntyre of the Akron Beacon Journal March 3, 2024.
My books can be purchased in print and digital from any book dealer and Amazon at http://goo.gl/B7lKMs
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‘Web of Deceit’ untangled in Ohio detective novel
Barbara McIntyre
Special to USA TODAY NETWORK – Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls resident Laura Freeman’s 2014 Civil War-era ‘Impending Love and War,’ set in the fictional Darrow Falls but easily recognizable by its classic architecture and abolition-minded residents, was followed by five sequels, and then in 2023 by a contemporary detective story. Her latest, ‘Tangling a Web of Deceit,’ is also set in Darrow Falls.
Emily Stevenson is running on a canal towpath when she stops to clean her shoe and sees what appears to be a human hand in the water. She dials 911 and the county medical examiner’s office.
Emily has just finished a degree in criminal justice and an internship with the medical examiner, where she hopes to land a full-time job as a forensic investigator, and Officer Travis O’Toole is one of several candidates for a promotion to detective, so they both have incentive to work on the case. They also have hormones in overdrive.
After an initial confrontation, Emily and Travis team up, exchanging clues and saucy dialogue. She’s working nights at the hospital, backing up the computer system. Her co-worker, Doreen, relieves Emily for the third shift. Doreen talks constantly about her stormy marriage and her philandering husband Roger.
The dead woman, Christina, is dressed in skimpy clothes and the detective assumes that she was a prostitute. When her husband Ken is questioned, it’s clear that he’s hiding something.
The ‘web of deceit’ of the title grows increasingly tangled as Emily and Travis learn about the sordid lives of the two couples. Emily goes undercover to a beauty salon and a sleazy motel, and her new relationship with Travis gets steamier. It isn’t explicit, but it’s definitely R-rated.
‘Tangling a Web of Deceit’ (286 pages, softcover) costs $17.99 from online retailers.
