Synopsis

Dawn Andersen and her parents are horrified when her carefree Aunt Amy is found stabbed to death on the beach, the second woman to be murdered in the small oceanside town of Manatee Beach. The police have arrested a homeless man for the murders, but is he the real killer? Dawn, 25, makes the biggest decision of her life when she decides to leave her routine existence in Ohio to move into her aunt’s cottage a block from the ocean in South Florida. From the first night that Dawn arrives in Florida, the feeling of uneasiness never leaves her. There’s the strange man next door who always seems to be watching her. Married neighbors who were infatuated with her beautiful aunt. The nosy, the too friendly mailman. A hooded figure who’s been lurking outside her house at night. As Dawn learns more about her aunt’s life in Florida, she becomes convinced that the murderer is closer than she ever imagined, that her aunt’s killer is actually somebody in the neighborhood.

Review

This mystery/suspense novel will have you looking at your neighbors and wondering if they are who you think they are, or if there is something evil lurking beneath the face they present.

Dawn is a character that many will relate to her desire to adventure out on her own and out from under the watchful eyes of her parents.  While her parents only have her best interests at heart, sometimes they (and many parents) don’t know when to step back and let their children take a chance.  Now there is more to that story between Dawn and her parents and a secret is revealed near the end, but it is one the reader will probably figure out before the announcement but the details will be unknown until the reveal.

Throughout the book, I felt like I was in Manatee Bay from the descriptions of the town, the beach, and even the neighborhood.  The characters had a depth to them, even the minor characters like the mail carrier and the homeless men.  I am always glad when an author does a story justice by drawing in the reader and making them feel like they are living with the characters.

The mystery is who killed Amy and another young woman in this sleepy town in Florida? The author does a wonderful job of weaving in possible motives and peppers possibilities and red herrings throughout the novel.  There are several suspects but the actual killer surprised me in the end.  Once I thought about it, I saw the motivation of this character but this character never crossed my mind to suspect.

This novel also reminds us that everyone is different and we should give people the benefit of the doubt before casting aspersions on their character.  In this novel, it is one of the neighbors, Jerome, that had a head injury as a child and is not like everyone else.  It is a shame that so many assume he is bad or evil because he is different when that couldn’t be further from the truth.  I admired the way some of the neighbors stood up for him and gave him a chance.

Overall I enjoyed this book and plan to look into her other works.  We give this book 5 paws up.

Excerpt

It was midnight by the time Dawn circled the cul-de-sac on Coral Court to the last house. Amy’s little cottage didn’t have a garage, or even a carport, so Dawn pulled into the short driveway and turned off the engine. She sat in the driver’s seat for several moments, wringing her hands and trying to calm herself. Seeing that headline had totally unsettled her. The article didn’t say much, just that the murder was similar to the other two. The victim had been bludgeoned and stabbed to death on the beach. The police didn’t come out and say it was the same murderer—since the homeless man they thought did it was locked up in their jail. They just said they were continuing their investigation, words she and her parents had heard more times than they could count.

But Dawn knew. Amy’s murderer, and the killer of those two other women, was still out there somewhere. Somewhere not too far away. Who knew where he was right now? She was only one block from the beach. And here she was, alone after dark, just like her aunt and those other women had been.

The neighborhood was completely dark except for a couple of dim porch lights.

“Not even a street light,” Dawn thought nervously.

Not only was there a murderer on the loose, one who killed women at night in the dark, but her mother’s fear of a neighbor thinking she was breaking in popped into her mind. What if one of them shot first and asked questions later? She’d heard of that happening before. Florida had a Stand Your Ground law. Did that count for a neighbor’s house? She wasn’t sure. She tried to calm herself. You’re not moving to the Wild, Wild West, for God’s sake. This is Florida, beautiful Florida. Just relax. Everything will be fine.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she should do. It finally came to her that the best thing would be to leave the inside car lights on with all the doors open so if anyone saw her, they would realize she was unpacking the car. She timidly stepped out of the Honda, and immediately perked up as the cool sea air hit her face. A steady breeze rustled the palm fronds of the trees on the block, and she could hear the repetitive breaking of waves on the beach in the distance.

Clicking on the flashlight, Dawn hurried up the walkway as fast as she could, stepped onto the porch, and started looking for her keys. She thought she’d put the key chain in her pocket, but it wasn’t there. Where was it? Oh God, was it still in the ignition?

She stumbled over the bottom porch step as she rushed back to the car, keeping the beam on the flat stones of the walkway. At the car, she snatched the keys out of the ignition and turned to start back to the house when she heard a deep howl that sounded like a wolf or a coyote. A shiver went down her spine. Her imagination was starting to get the best of her. She realized it was just a dog, but from the sounds of it, a very big dog.

It howled again, louder this time, and she cringed.

She couldn’t tell where the howl was coming from—she just hoped the dog was penned up and not roaming around free. Moving as quickly as she could up the walkway, she froze when she saw the silhouette of a man standing in the middle of the road. A tall man. A huge, hulking man. “What if he’s the killer,” she thought in a panic. Her pulse sped up, and she tried to move toward the house. But her feet felt frozen to the walkway.

The man had something on his head that was shining out a beam of light, like a coal miner’s hat. She couldn’t see his face or his features, just his enormous size. He looked like he was seven feet tall. The dog stood at his side. She could see its yellow eyes shining in the dark. It was built like a pit bull or a Rottweiler, and it was growling now.

About the Author

Judy Moore is the author of the popular thriller, “The Mother-in-Law,” as well as three mystery novels: “Somebody in the Neighborhood,” “Murder in Vail,” and “Murder at the Country Club.” She has also written numerous novellas, including the Christmas anthology “Christmas Interrupted,” which contains three novellas: “Airport Christmas,” “The Holiday House Sitter,” and “The Hitchhiker on Christmas Eve.” She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida and worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine feature writer, and publications editor for several years. A former tennis pro, Ms. Moore’s writing background also includes sports writing, and athletes from various sports are sprinkled throughout some of her novels. A lifelong resident of Florida, she currently resides in Vero Beach.

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