annieb123's Review of Shadow Ridge

by M E Browning

Death is one click away when a string of murders rocks a small Colorado town in the first mesmerizing novel in M. E. Browning's A Jo Wyatt Mystery series.

Echo Valley, Colorado, is a place where the natural beauty of a stunning river valley meets a budding hipster urbanity. But when an internet stalker is revealed to be a cold-blooded killer in real life the peaceful community is rocked to its core.

It should have been an open-and-shut case: the suicide of Tye Horton, the designer of a cutting-edge video game. But Detective Jo Wyatt is immediately suspicious of Quinn Kirkwood, who reported the death. When Quinn reveals an internet stalker is terrorizing her, Jo is skeptical. Doubts aside, she delves into the claim and uncovers a link that ties Quinn to a small group of beta-testers who had worked with Horton. When a second member of the group dies in a car accident, Jo's investigation leads her to the father of a young man who had killed himself a year earlier. But there's more to this case than a suicide, and as Jo unearths the layers, a more sinister pattern begins to emerge--one driven by desperation, shame, and a single-minded drive for revenge.

As Jo closes in, she edges ever closer to the shattering truth--and a deadly showdown that will put her to the ultimate test.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Shadow Ridge is the first book in a new police procedural series by M.E. Browning. Released 6th Oct 2020 by Crooked Lane, it's 296 pages (print version) and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is a well written modern procedural with an ensemble cast. Detective Jo Wyatt is a strong and intelligent female with a surprisingly balanced sense of self worth and confidence considering the casual sexism she endures from neanderthals on and off the job. Her team includes a cross section of small town investigative personnel. The story revolves around the apparent suicide of a local software games developer and the statistically unlikely number of deaths of people in his gaming orbit.

The characters are well rendered, three dimensional and believable for the most part. The disparate plot threads intertwine more closely as the book progresses until they merge about 3/4ths of the way through. One of the biggest standouts for me with this book was the expert way the author managed to explore perception. Motivation from one character's perspective which seems perfectly logical to -them- may not appear so to other characters and the author's ability to highlight both viewpoints (for example Jo vs. Quinn) was exemplary.

The clues are found and sifted and the denouement is satisfying and well written I did see it coming, but it was satisfying nonetheless. TI'm looking forward to more adventures for Jo and co.

Four stars. Very well done.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Shadow Ridge

by M E Browning

Reviewed by annieb123 on Oct 9, 2020

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