Review: The Good Stranger by Dete Meserve

Title: The Good Stranger

Author: Dete Meserve

Series: Kate Bradley Mystery, #3

Published: May 2020, Lake Union Publishing

Format: ARC E-copy, 284 pages

Source: Netgalley via Publisher

Summary:

From the bestselling author of Good Sam—now a Netflix
feature film—comes another Kate Bradley story about the nature of
generosity and finding unexpected connections with strangers.

TV reporter Kate Bradley arrives in Manhattan ready to take on a
challenging new position as a national news correspondent. When a
massive power outage plunges New York City into darkness, the disaster
she expected to cover takes an unexpected turn. Someone is leaving
thousands of mysterious gifts throughout the city, and the only clue to
the giver’s identity is the occasional note from “A Stranger.”

Together
with handsome TV series host Scott Jameson, Kate must make sense of
these random generous acts, which quickly escalate in scale and capture
the attention of viewers across the country. In early-morning stakeouts
and late-night surveillance, they crisscross the city hunting down
leads, but the elusive Stranger is always one step ahead.

Menacing
letters and videos addressed to Kate threaten to derail the
investigation, but she’s determined to uncover the identity of the
benefactor. The closer Kate gets to the truth, the more clearly she sees
that even the smallest act of generosity can bring about powerful
change. And it just may take her own selfless act of kindness to solve
the feel-good mystery of the year.

My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Dete Meserve, though it is the 3rd book in her Kate Bradley Mystery series. While I usually like reading series in order, I had no problem picking this one up and reading it as a stand-alone…and I found it to be the perfect book to read right now in light of all that is going on in regards to the pandemic and the way we have all been feeling – that message of kindness just hit me in the right spot.

Right from the start, I knew I liked the character of Kate and as the book progressed, I really came to appreciate everything about her. No matter what was going on, no matter what her new boss was saying, she knew she wanted to give this story about “the stranger” doing random acts of kindness its due. Even when she starts receiving menacing and threatening letters, she’s not about to let this go.

I loved this book. With all that is going on in the world right now, to read this book was so refreshing. It put such a smile on my face, knowing that there are good people out there, that it doesn’t take much to do a little good and that you never know how a little bit can go a long way.

This may have been the first book I’ve read by Dete Meserve but it definitely won’t be the last. I will absolutely be picking up the earlier books in this series and I hope this one isn’t the last – I would love to see this series continue on.

Books in this series:

1. Good Sam
2. Perfectly Good Crime
3. The Good Stranger