From Goodreads: What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life would end up being a new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see was another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer wore the expression of a child bursting to tell his secret. This covert would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes, and lead him to the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery and an investigation that will unfold like one of her famous mystery novels. Soon after she moves to her new lakefront home in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. For some unknown reason, a strange man calling himself “Pay Back” begins stalking her. When Katrina is found strangled all evidence points to her terrorist, who is nowhere to be found. Three months later the file on her murder is still open with only vague speculations from the local police department when Mac Faraday, sole heir to his unknown birth mother’s home and fortune, moves into the estate next door. Little does he know as he drives up to Spencer Manor that he is driving into a closed gate community that is hiding more suspicious deaths than his DC workload as a homicide detective. With the help of his late mother’s journal, this retired cop puts all his detective skills to work to pick up where the local investigators have left off to follow the clues to Katrina’s killer.

_______________________

Carr is an exceptional writer, keeping the reader glued to the pages as her murder mystery unfolds.  I was drawn into the story from the very first page as it jumps directly into the action with Katrina’s murder.  What I really enjoyed about this novel, aside from the thrill and suspense it created, is that Carr created every character with a purpose.  There are no space filling characters within the novel at all; each person somehow connects back to the murder in some way and plays a vital role in figuring out the truth behind the many murders that ensue throughout the novel.

I really enjoyed the character of Mac Faraday.  Faraday, having come into millions of dollars, is thrust into the midst of a rich life, yet he doesn’t allow such extravagances to go to his head.  He is an extremely likable character with a nose for detective work, refusing to give up, even when it seems the trail has run cold. 

Even Gnarly, Faraday’s inherited German shepherd, plays an important role within the story, which surprised me as I hadn’t realized his importance within the novel prior to certain events that unfold within the story.  Carr’s ability to tightly knit together her characters and storyline, along with love, betrayal, mystery, and intrigue, is a testament to her sheer writing capabilities. 

Carr not only kept my attention throughout the entire novel, but also kept me guessing the identity of the murderer known as “Pay Back.”  It seems that everyone is a suspect in this novel, and I must admit that, in the end, I was shocked to find out who the real murdered was.  Carr’s talent for creating mystery and suspense is evident within her writing and I am excited to begin the next novel in the series, Old Loves Die Hard, as I cannot wait to find out what happens to Mac Faraday next.  Five stars.