Circle of Vengeance by Ramona Richards is this week’s Reader Friday. Here’s the first line: The littlest girl squealed, the high-pitched sound rocketing over the water to the twenty-foot walkabout anchored less than a hundred yards offshore.
Oh, my, this is a good book! But first the photo and Scripture verse. Delores Topliff shot the photo on her return trip to Mississippi from Minnesota, and when I first saw it, I wanted to use it on my blog. 🙂 Together we found the perfect (to me) verse for it. I love taking fall photos, and now that I’m starting to get over the flu, maybe I can take a couple before the snow flies.
Now for Circle of Vengeanceby Ramona Richards. Here’s the cover and back copy:
Revenge is best served cold–and this family has been waiting decades to dish it up.
Twenty-five years ago, a body was discovered in the Turney family barn–and folks around town were all too ready to believe that killing blood ran through all the Turney’s veins. Every member of the family came under suspicion, their reputations crumbled to pieces, and with no convictions, no one could be cleared.
Daughter Jill, now a Chicago lawyer, is ready for this case to be solved and for her broken family to be repaired at last. Who better to find the answers than cold-case P.I. Star Cavanaugh? But as Star begins to dig into generations-old secrets, the killer resurfaces to make sure none of those skeletons leave the closet–no matter what the cost.
As the danger mounts, Star again joins forces with police chief, Mike Luinetti, and begins to uncover truths that the whole town has kept hidden. But becoming the target of the determined killer isn’t the way Star wants to find the answers. It’s a race to solve the case before it becomes a matter of her life or death.
Readers will love jumping back into the Star Cavanaugh Cold Case series as their favorite plucky heroine drives her vintage Airstream home straight into the heart of another town’s mystery.
My take:
I read this in August in view of writing an endorsement for the book–talk about being glued to the page! Here’s my endorsement:
“Circle of Vengeance, Ramona Richards’s second book in the Star Cavanaugh Cold Case series, was impossible to put down. I stayed up until one a.m. to finish it. Anxiously awaiting the next one.”
Star Cavanaugh is a private investigator who is independent and gutsy. She reminds me of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone. Once again, Star is investigating a cold case, this one from twenty-five years ago. Richards alternates between the past and the present, giving the reader clues about the past murder. At the same time, she ramps up the suspense in the present. The relationship between Star and Police Chief Mike Luinetti heats up as Richards adds more layers to the story along with attempts on Star’s life. Someone doesn’t want her investigating Genevieve Marshall Eaton’s death or the disappearance of her five-year-old daughter just before her marriage to Nicholas Eaton.
Richards layers in the secondary characters, fleshing out their stories and drawing the reader deeper into the twenty-five-year-old murder and even older kidnapping of the young girl. It is a book you won’t want to put down.
You can find buy links here.
Leave a comment about Circle of Vengeance or the first line of the book you’re reading. And I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library!
Circle of Vengeance by Ramon Richards is this week's Reader Friday. It's a book you don't want to miss! Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a November drawing for a book from my library! Click To Tweet
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Comments 38
Delores, thank you for sharing that photo with us. It’s absolutely beautiful, and so reminiscent of my time in MN. I love that verse you and Pat chose to go with it.
Having read the first book in Ramona’s Star Cavanaugh Cold Case series, I’m glad she has a new one. I’m looking forward to reading it.
“Colt Kingston was in worse shape than he thought. One good look at himself in the mirror said that he probably shouldn’t be climbing at seven thousand feet, where the air became a whisper in his lungs, where his heart had to work double time, and where every movement turned his muscles into a fist.” Is the opening of “Sundown” by Susan Warren. This is a very good book, and the next in the 3rd in the Sky King Ranch series. All exciting books.
Author
Susan May Warren writes a great book, Tim. She and Rachel Hauck are one of the reasons I’m published. They are such awesome teachers. I think you’ll love Circle of Vengeance !
What a beautiful and peaceful picture, Delores! Thank you for sharing it. The Scripture fits perfectly, Pat. Good choice and teamwork.
Circle of Vengeance, by Ramona Richards, just got added to the “to be bought” pile, as did Sallie Jo’s mention of Savage Run!
I’m reading the third book, Honor’s Refuge, in Hallee Bridgeman’s, Love and Honor Series. Fantastic series.
The first line of the prologue is, “Missy huddled with three-year-old Lola between the nightstand and the bed, praying her little sister would stay asleep.
Author
Wow! Hallee has a great opening line in this one! I think you’ll really enjoy Circle of Vengeance!
Love the picture! First line: is from C.J. Box’s Savage Run — On the third day of their honeymoon, infamous environmental activist Stewie Woods and his new bride, Anabel Bellotti, were spiking trees in the forest when a cow exploded and blew them up.
Author
Sally Jo! Wow. I love that first line and am off to get that book!
Always love the photos & Scripture. First line: “Paige had never expected ‘someday’ to happen so quickly.” His Road to Redemption by Lisa Jordan
Author
Thanks, Lisa! Love Lisa Jordan’s books, too. She was at every Deep Thinker’s Retreat with me!
looks intriguing
Author
It is, BN!
I have heard good things about this author’s books. I need to check them out. I am reading Like the Wind by Robin Lee Hatcher.
Prologue
Bethlehem Springs, Idaho
A strong March wind buffeted Olivia Ward’s back as she climbed the steps to the deck of her friend’s cabin.
Author
Love Robin’s books, too, Gloria! And I think you would really enjoy Ramona Richards’ books!
Good morning, your photo is beautiful and the verse is beautiful, Thank you for sharing them. This book sounds very intriguing and it also looks very intriguing, thank you so much for sharing about it. Have a great day and a great weekend.
Author
Thanks, Alicia! You have a great weekend too!
There was only one thing that Lexie Slayton disliked more than her brother’s sarcasm, and that was being the center of attention.
Unbreakable by K.J. Rowe
Author
That sounds good, Gail. I haven’t read anything by K. J. Rowe…but that needs to change.
Oo, Circle of Vengeance sounds delightfully tangled with the past and the present, romance and family, justice and danger. Good review! Amazing photo, too!
Author
I think you’d enjoy the book, Vera! And I’m glad you enjoyed the photo and verse!
That photograph is so beautiful!
Author
Thanks, Megan!
Great picture! I’m wondering if I should have gone to Minnesota a few weeks ago instead of New England to view fall foliage. The verse is a great one and fits so well.
I’m sharing the first few lines from A Model of Devotion by Mary Connealy.
Jilly Stiles always came back to the mansion on Nob Hill. She was alone, and that never happened. Two sisters. A very attentive mama. Servants. When had she ever been alone in her life? Right now.
This is the third book in The Lumber Baron’s Daughters series. I enjoyed the first two. This one is starting out as a winner as well.
Author
Sounds like a great book, Edward. Delores took the photo near Cape Girardeau, MO, I think. Were the leaves pretty in New England? I’ve always wanted to make that Fall trip!
We saw some beautiful foliage. We went up through PA to Rochester, NY, and over to Lake George, NY. From there we drove north to cross Lake Champlain by ferry to Vermont. The foliage varied from place to place. I think the most consistent fall foliage was in Vermont, but we got into New Hampshire after dark and crossed on into Maine. We went all the way to the northern end of US Rt. 1 at Fort Kent, ME. Much of the foliage in Maine seemed to be slightly past its peak. But we enjoyed the trip.
Edward, I made that same trip back in 1976. I can’t recall the month, but the fall colors were so beautiful. I think the only state I missed that trip compared to yours was Maine. I also didn’t use the ferry to cross Lake Champlain. God’s beautiful creation was on vivid display everywhere.
It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
Author
It is, Diana!
That book sounds super!
Author
It is super, Paula!
The picture is beautiful! Thank you, Delores, for sharing it. The book sounds really good. I’ll have to check it out. Hope you get well soon.
Author
Thanks, Erika! I am feeling better, but it takes most of the morning to just get started. lol
“Go! Protect her!” she’d said. Protect her, he would. From Mary by Shannon McNear.
Author
That really sounds intriguing, Joan!
Circle of Vengeance sounds interesting. Love the photo and scripture. Perfect.
Author
Thanks, Lucy! And Circle of Vengeance is very interesting!
Gorgeous photo for the scripture, Pat!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts for Circle of Vengeance. Sounds like a page-turner
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Thanks, Caryl! And Circle of Vengeance is a page-turner!
This sounds soooo good. I’ll need to read the first one first. I really like to read stories where the main character is in several books of a series like this.
Author
I think you’ll enjoy both, Toni!