Dani Bennett is a skilled potter and artist living in Montana with her uncle Keith. She’s complied with the man’s instructions not to seek publicity, or use social media, although she isn’t sure why. Dani as a child was a FATAL WITNESS to the shooting of her parents, but she’s blacked out the memories. One day the world comes calling. The romantic suspense story accelerates, with danger and desperation.
Senior citizen Mae Richmond has tried for a quarter century to find her missing grandchild Danielle and solve the cold case murders. She spots a young woman who resembles her late daughter in a magazine featuring pottery – her daughter’s skill. Too much of a coincidence, so she asks her friendly local police officer to contact Dani. Mae is an excellent character.
Mark Lassiter is a K-9 officer working out of Pearl Springs, Tennessee, near Chattanooga. He retired from the Army after some years working as a sniper. He’s familiar with the historical case and would like to solve it. Reuniting the family members seems like a great idea… but Mark is not prepared for the lengths someone will go to to keep secrets hidden.
The story keeps looking back to when a jewelry store was robbed of a delivery of diamonds, so not alone deaths but major theft are on someone’s conscience. The diamonds never surfaced, so have they been hidden all this time? If so, anyone could seek to profit. The folks in Pearl Springs are a mixed bunch, some pleasant, some unruly, and some just keen to mind their family’s business. Quite a few suspects emerge.
As always in a K-9 tale, the dogs are a significant part of the story, with a Hungarian Puli called Lizi as Dani’s companion and the highly trained Gem, a German Shepherd, considerably extending Mark’s reach. While the main characters occasionally utter a prayer for everyone’s safety, and the romance barely gets further than a kiss, I notice many firearms throughout the tale, so FATAL WITNESS may not be suitable for teens.
Patricia Bradley has written one previous book in the Pearl River series, called Counter Attack, and some of the more interesting and dynamic characters such as a female journalist no doubt appear. She has also written other thriller series and certainly knows how to write a suspense scene. I enjoyed the blend of age groups and the fact that when a woman has ideas, the men all listen.
As a child, artist and potter Dani Bennett witnessed the brutal murder of her parents. With no memory of the incident or her true identity, she was forced to take on a new name and a new life, hidden away in Montana for the past 25 years.
Mae Richmond has spent the same stretch of time searching for her granddaughter, who went missing the night her daughter and son-in-law were murdered. Convinced the woman she saw in a pottery magazine feature is the woman she's been searching for, she enlists the help of K-9 officer Mark Lassiter of Pearl Springs, Tennessee, who tracks Dani down.
Skeptical but curious, Dani sets out on a journey to uncover the secrets of her past and reclaim her true identity. But someone close to her is determined to keep the truth of what happened all those years ago hidden.
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