More Truth than Fiction

With Buried Secrets, Irene Hannon begins another series filled with heart-stopping suspense and heart-warming romantic drama.  Lisa Grant, police chief in small-town Carson, has barely transitioned from her high-stress job as a Chicago police detective when a construction crew in the village uncovers a skeleton in a shallow grave.  The county sends Detective Mac McGregor to assist with the case, and their mutual attraction walks on egg shells as they stumble through the getting-to-know-you awkwardness of a professional relationship — that might have potential for more.

There are no predictable, flat characters in this unfolding drama.  Even Tally, Lisa’s empathetic pooch, fulfills his role in exposing the soft under-belly of Lisa’s crusty office manager.  The forensic anthropologist grooves to Grateful Dead on the job, and just when you think you’ve got one character pegged as a weak follower, iron enters her soul.  Without moralizing or intruding on the narrative flow, Irene Hannon creates scenes of intense feeling that do not lead to sin, reinforcing for her readers that passion and purity can exist together.  Trust in God and prayer are part of the characters’ natural conversations and internal dialogue.

Clearly, much more than bones were buried underneath that cedar tree, and Buried Secrets explores the impact of unresolved anger and the outcome of a life in which people are regarded as a means to an end.  Step by step,  Mac and Lisa uncover decades of deception as the tension escalates, leading  to the final decisive showdown.

This book was provided by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my honest review.