I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Jaymee Ballard had a difficult childhood, from her abusive father, to being forced to give up her baby for adoption. She’s been in poverty and desperately trying to save the money to afford a lawyer to help her get her daughter back. She lost her best friend 4 years prior and now her boss it dead. Does her misfortune ever end? Will she give the police the information her friend is too afraid to? I enjoyed this book very much. I felt really bad for Jaymee. Can you imagine losing your child, best friend, everyone closest to you? As Jaymee, Nick and Cage investigate the latest murder, they find more than what they bargained for.

This was an amazing book! It had me drawn in from the very first page. This story had so many twists and turns that the end will surely surprise you. I think Jaymee was a great main character. She had been through so much but never gave up. The description of Roselea is so beautiful; I can just imagine those southern mansions. This was a very engrossing mystery, one I highly recommend.
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Jaymee Ballard trusted only one person in Roselea,Mississippi with the secret of her lost daughter. When that person is brutally murdered, it leaves her with heartbreak and a slew of unanswered questions. This eerie similarity to a murder of one of Jaymee's close friends years ago causes her to realize her past has come back to haunt her and may cost her own life. A tightly woven plot with many monsters to be unmasked. I couldn't put it down. ( )

This was the first book I have read by this author. For those into the mystery genre, it is my understanding that she has other series with other very memorable characters and that this book kicks off a new series with new characters. Well, if this book is anything to go by, I will be keeping a keen eye out for other books by this author.

I had just finished reading a book that I LOVED. Five stars, not able to be put down. So I was on that book let down – readers know: the one where after a really great book, you poke around at your book list and your book pile and feel like nothing you read next is going to live up to the one you just finished.

So there I was, poking, grumbling and mildly cynical. I chose this book because the genre was completely removed from the last book. Two and a half hours later, I was thinking, I have to put this down – well, one more chapter!

Set in Roselea, Mississippi in the modern day, it still works as a steamy, southern gothic mystery. Jaymee Ballard comes from a dysfunctional and ultra religious evangelical family. She has been exiled from her family because of an illegitimate child which has been adopted out.

Because of this, she has taken up residence in a run down trailer park and makes a living cleaning antebellum homes that are on show and working at the local diner. Through her close friendships and connections, she has decided to save her money and try and find the daughter that she reluctantly put up for adoption.

Hate me because....that's all you're getting!! What follows is an intense search with all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. In the great southern gothic tradition, nothing is as it seems. The towns high rollers have dark secrets. The citizens who comprise the upper crust and establishment have some of the darkest things going on beneath their veneer. Those who are the town outcasts, are actually some of the best characters.

This book never stopped delivering right up to the end. In fact, just when you think its resolved, BAM! One more punch to make you sit up and take notice. I loved it and that is saying something when you can put good books back to back like that. You will not be disappointed. ( )

Thrown out by her family, pregnant and only seventeen, Jaymee had no choice but to give up her child. Now she is trying desperately to find her daughter and get Sarah back. Then her friend and employer gets murdered.

It's not the first murder in her life, and maybe not the last. Who is killing everyone who tries to help Jaymee? Will she find the killer before it's too late? Will she find Sarah?

This is a deep mystery set in the south. If you like fundamentalist religious aspects and family politics, you'll like this gritty story. ( )

I don't often have this reaction to books, but it must be said. Oh. My. God. Holy. Mother... And add all other surprised reactions. Even Gone Girl didn't shock me as much as this one did. I really didn't see it coming. I really didn't. I thought it was someone else. Whether this was through lack of decent foreshadowing or just really awesome foreshadowing (I must go and read this again soon), I have no idea. Regardless, in either case this book was awesome enough it doesn't matter. It shocked me and rattled me to the bones while keeping me completely engrossed and thrilled with the mystery all the way through. Wow. Just wow. ( )