Desolate Shores

Desolate Shores takes the reader to the Lake
Tahoe region. Description is deftly woven into
the story. The reader will feel as if they are right
there in the midst of the action.
Aspen Adams is living in Lake Tahoe. She had
been a psychology therapist but has given up
that job to work for in her Aunt’s detective
agency as a process server.
Aspen goes out for her morning jog. As she hits
the beach, she finds a dead body laying there.
It is the body of her best friend.
Under her Aunt’s tutelage to become a private
investigator, Aspen begins to investigate her
friends death.
Aspen is surprised to undercover some very
interesting and intriguing backstories of the
suspects plus of the murder victim she
thought she knew so well.
In the midst of her investigation, Aspen’s
sister shows up at her house to leave her
teenage daughter with Aspen. The sister is a
drug addict with lots of issues. Aspen will
discover how the sister’s behavior is harming
the teenage daughter.
The characters are all multifaceted with
interesting pasts, secrets, very colorful and
each comes with a distinct personality.
Tension, drama, suspense with plenty of chills,
thrills, twist and turns to keep you on the edge
of the seat from the first to the last word.
Writing that is captivating, power packed with
emotion make this a book to read.
I volunteered to read Desolate Shores. Thanks
to the Review Crew for the opportunity. My
opinion is voluntary and my own.

Desolate Shores is the first novel in An Aspen Adams Novel of Suspense. I enjoy Daryl Wood Gerber’s engaging writing style and the story proceeded at a peppy pace. Aspen Adams does not trust police after they failed to catch the man who killed her parents. She trained to become a licensed therapist and worked with teens until one of them took his own life. This caused Aspen emotional distress and led to her decision to make a big change. Aspen has been working at her aunt’s PI firm for the last eighteen months where she is learning the business. When Aspen finds her friend dead while jogging, she is determined to unearth the killer. With her Aunt Max’s guidance, Aspen begins digging into Vikki’s life. She is surprised by the number of secrets that Vikki kept from her. The mystery had several suspects, misdirection and good clues. There is suspense as the killer tries to stop Aspen from investigating. The takedown scene is fraught with tension. I like that all the details of who, what, when and why were answered at the end (no speculation or supposition). I would have liked a good twist because the killer was not a surprise to me. I knew the identity of the killer by the time I was a quarter of the way through the book. Aspen needs to work on her questioning technique because she is blunt and pushy. I liked how she shared case details with the police, and, to my surprise, they shared information with her. DS Nick Shaper is the lead detective on the case and the romantic interest for Aspen. Sparks fly between Aspen and Nick from the start. She does not feel he is giving the case his all in the beginning, but he grows on her. He helps that he is quite handsome. Aspen’s niece, Candace comes to stay with Aspen while Rosie, Aspen’s sister, spends time with degenerate boyfriend. I liked that Candace was not a picture perfect teen. She has issues and needs Aspen’s love, care and guidance. The author took the time to develop the main characters and provided lovely descriptions of Lake Tahoe. Desolate Shores is an intriguing romantic suspense with a deceased friend, a dangerous killer, shady suspects, a captivating cop, killer clues, and an unseasoned detective.