Crime and Paradise

It's early morning and Meredith and her two young children are told by her husband, Brian, to get up, get packed, he's bought a house "up north" and they are moving. And she does just that. "Up north" means she leaves California and winds up in snowbound Idaho. The house he's bought would be condemned most anywhere else. And the nearest town is over an hour away ... if the ramshackle car he has for her will even start. To say that Brian is manipulative and abusive doesn't tell the whole story. He's getting more violent by the hour. Brian has an agenda ... Meredith's grandmother has money .. lots of money. Doesn't seem to matter that Meredith has never met her grandmother and harbors a dislike of her because she refused to help her daughter ... Meredith's mother. When he doesn't let up, Meredith starts to think about how to kill Brian and leave this godforsaken place. So maybe dreams do come true. Brian is found murdered.. shot in the head and left by the side of the road. Being the prime suspect, the sheriff pays close attention to Meredith, but he can't quite convince himself of her guilt. But if she didn't kill him would did? This is a well written suspenseful mystery. I liked the characters, although I would have liked to see Meredith stronger, especially since she had small children to think of. Brian was extremely manipulative. There is just a touch of romance in the air with Meredith and the Sheriff. The ending came as quite a surprise. Many thanks to the author / Wild Rose Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The main female lead was so weak it's ridiculous.