Title: In the Darkest Hour by Anna Carlisle
Gin Sullivan Mystery Series Book Three
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 266 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Anna Carlisle’s third chilling Gin Sullivan mystery, is perfect for fans of small-town suspense and authors like Chevy Stevens, Lisa Jackson, and Julia Maynard.
Former medical examiner Gin Sullivan thought she’d put her troubled past behind her—but a deadly web of drugs, depravity, and murder threaten to consume all she loves.
Small-town secrets don’t stay buried for long, and no one know that better than former Chicago medical examiner Gin Sullivan. On extended leave from her job, Gin is back in her hometown of Trumbull, PA, settling into a quiet life with her old high school sweetheart, Jake Crosby. But the demons of Gin’s past are lying in wait—and when Jake’s estranged mother turns up dead in a local motel from a heroin overdose, life in Trumbull begins to unravel one thread at a time.
Dead set on revenge against the dealer, Jake brings in local high school student Jonah Krischer to face justice. But Trumbull police chief Tuck Baxter has to contend with the boy’s father, a prominent physician who threatens legal action over the unconventional arrest—even though Jonah admits to stealing his dad’s prescription pad to sell phony opiate prescriptions for cash. And when Jonah offers to lead police to a body in exchange for leniency, the stiff turns out to be one of the doctor’s own patients. Is there a killer on the loose in Trumbull?
The race is on to find the truth in Anna Carlisle’s In the Darkest Hour, the third hair-raising Gin Sullivan mystery.
Review:
In the Darkest Hour by Anna Carlisle is a perplexing mystery. Although this newest release is the third book in the Gin Sullivan Mystery series, it can easily be read as a standalone. However I do recommend the previous novels as well.
Gin Sullivan has settled into live back in her hometown. She works as a consultant with the medical examiner’s office, she is a volunteer at the local school and she is living with boyfriend Jake Crosby. But the unexpected death of Jake’s long estranged mother, Marnie Bertram, casts the future of her relationship in doubt. Jake takes justice into his own hands when he tracks down the dealer who sold his mother the drugs that led to her fatal overdose. The dealer, eighteen year old Jonah Krischer, then provides information to Police Chief Tuck Baxter in exchange for immunity. He gives details of a body he found by a local hunter’s cabin and Tuck enlists Gin’s expertise in assessing the body in situ. Protocol demands Baxter turn the case over to senior homicide Detective Bruce Stillman and his partner Liam Witt. Tuck doubts the case will be a high priority so he and Gin work together to try to solve the puzzling mystery.
Gin is not one to go along with Jake’s vigilante justice so she immediately phones Chief Baxter to take charge of the situation. Unable to convince Jake there are better ways of dealing with his grief and anger, she is hurt by a decision he makes without any input from her. In need of a distraction, Gin teams up with Tuck to try to identify the corpse they discovered. Unable to talk to Jonah, who has since lawyered up, Gin reluctantly agrees to Tuck’s plan to question someone who might be more involved in the case than they are admitting. She does uncover some very intriguing information but will her empathy for the possible suspect cloud Gin’s judgment?
After Gin figures out the identity of the dead man, she warily works with Detective Stillman who is just as abrasive and offensive as always. Together they make an absolutely stunning discovery that just adds to their confusion about what is going on. Gin continues working on the case of her own and she makes some very ill-thought out choices that put her in the path of a very sick and twisted killer.
In the Darkest Hour is a fast-paced and confounding mystery with a socially relevant storyline. Gin’s insight is key to solving the mystery but she still makes rather impetuous decisions that place her potentially dangerous situations. With clever red herrings and misdirects, Anna Carlisle keeps the perpetrator’s identity and motive for the crimes concealed until the novel’s tension-filled conclusion. Old and new fans are sure to enjoy this well-written addition to the Gin Sullivan Mystery series.
