DEAD EVEN by Annelise Ryan

A broken pool cue is probably not the death expected for hotshot Montgomery “Monty” Dixon. After all, Monty’s face is plastered on signs all over the county as his fame as a wealthy realtor is well known in Sorenson, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, someone had it in for Monty, and it’s up to Medicolegal Investigator Mattie Winston, her husband Homicide Detective Steve Hurley, and the rest of the team to uncover the culprit.

DEAD EVEN is the 12th book in the Mattie Winston Mystery series and while the mystery itself stands on its own merits, the marital struggles between Mattie and Steve will be best understood if one is familiar with the characters already. I love that Annelise Ryan keeps her characters and their relationships realistic, as she does an excellent job at conveying the all too realistic struggles with keeping a home clean and maintaining intimacy towards one another while juggling the duties of such difficult and time-consuming jobs.

DEAD EVEN has suspects aplenty as Monty’s wealth leaves several relatives as easy suspects. Annelise Ryan takes us on quite a few twists and turns as we follow up on the various leads right along with Mattie and Steve as they seek justice for Monty. The mystery is well done as the guilty party isn’t readily evident, particularly not with multiple folks having motives and blown alibis. However, I have to admit that I love the relationships in the Mattie Winston Mystery series even more so than solving the murders because Annelise Ryan makes her characters relatable. I also love that Bob Richmond, one of the main characters in Annelise Ryan’s Helping Hands series, makes a couple of appearances as well.

DEAD EVEN is yet another stellar mystery from Annelise Ryan! Relatable characters, realistic scenarios, and a darned good mystery all work together to make DEAD EVEN well worth reading! Dig into a Mattie Winston Mystery… you won’t regret it!

In Sorenson, Wisconsin, a local bigshot is found with a pool cue through the heart—and Mattie Winston must untangle a web of lies to sink a killer . . .

In her previous career as a nurse, Mattie Winston’s job was to keep death at bay. Now, as a medicolegal investigator, she’s required to study death intimately—to figure out causes and timing, and help deduce whether it was natural or suspicious.

In the case of Montgomery “Monty” Dixon, a well-to-do Realtor, there can be little doubt: Broken pool cues do not embed themselves. Monty’s body is found in the game room of his lavish house, the walls adorned with photos of Monty and various celebrities. But as Mattie and husband Steve Hurley, a homicide detective, both know, money and connections can’t protect anyone from a killer.

The first suspect is Monty’s wife, Summer, who claims to have been at a cooking class at the time. When that alibi is served up as a fake, Summer moves to the top of the suspects list, but is soon joined by Monty’s ne’er-do-well son, Sawyer, who has racked up gambling debts he hoped his dad would pay off. Monty’s twin brother is engaging in shady financial deals. An affair, a Ponzi scheme, a disputed inheritance . . . there are as many motives as suspects, and soon Mattie and Hurley have turned up other, possibly related deaths.

Balancing a high-profile case with the demands of their increasingly stressful household isn’t easy. It’ll take all of Mattie’s skill—along with a lucky break or two—to stop a killer from racking up another victim . . .