Grave Mountain: A totally gripping and addictive mystery thriller
Detective Madison Harper Book 7
Wendy Dranfield
417 pages
Bookouture
published April 5, 2024
About the book
The young girl trembles with fear as she stares at the gun pointed in her direction. She knows there’s no point in screaming. No one will hear her on the mountain. As thunder breaks overhead, she silently prays that someone will at least find her body so she can be returned to her parents.
Detective Madison Harper’s heart aches when she attends a local support group for families of missing people in Lost Creek, Colorado. She wishes she could help them all, but one cold case in particular captures her attention. Five years ago, close friends Becky, Tasha and Stuart hiked the infamous Grave Mountain. But only Stuart returned. He claims they were separated by a storm, but the town has never believed him. Convinced Stuart is hiding something, Madison vows to find out what really happened.
Just as Madison reopens the case, her blood runs cold when remains are discovered on the trail where the women were last seen. And when more bodies are discovered, Madison suspects she’s dealing with a serial killer who has used Grave Mountain as a dumping ground for years. How many more bodies are they about to unearth?
Then, the case takes an agonizing turn when someone close to Madison is found brutally murdered. As she gets closer to cracking the case, a tip-off leads her back to the mountain, and she knows that if she’s going to catch the killer, she has to hike it alone. But as another storm closes in, Madison realizes she may have just walked into a trap that means she’ll never make it off the mountain alive…
A completely addictive and twist-packed mystery thriller that will have you holding your breath until the shocking final twist! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.
My Review
Would you go hike on a mountain named Grave Mountain? I would not, yet so many people go missing there and I have to wonder about them.
I’m such a fan of Madison and her boyfriend Nate. Both were wrongly imprisoned and Madison is now a cop, while Nate is a private investigator. I enjoy them working through their past and supporting each other. And when the two hit a bumpy patch, how they rebound from it. I am always going to root for a dog or cat in a book, so I love Brody, a retired police dog, even with a small part in this one.
It’s an intense and fast paced police procedural as Madison works to track down two missing girls from a cold case. As more bodies are discovered, it becomes a race to find a killer. The time Madison spends with the families of the missing girls are heartbreaking. I like this storyline where there is friction between Madison and her partner Adams and they are working on trust.
But back to the case. There were so many red herrings that I fell for. Every time I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong. Again. The case is a stand alone, that is easily followed, but I think this series is best read in order to see Madison and the team’s growth.
About the author
Wendy is the bestselling author of the Detective Madison Harper series and the Dean Matheson series, as well as two standalone thrillers: The Birthday Party and The Night She Vanished.
She is a former coroner’s assistant turned crime writer. Some of her books have been shortlisted for various writing competitions and awards, including the International Thriller Writer Awards.
You can find more information on her website.
Follow Wendy on Amazon for new book alerts (click the Follow button next to her profile pic).
The only social media Wendy uses is her Facebook author page: Wendy Dranfield Author.
Leave a Reply