Thank you to the author for the advanced copy of Devils at the Door in exchange for my honest opinion.
Publisher: Severn House
Published: December 5, 2023
Summary:
A suspicious drowning throws New York State senior investigator Shana Merchant’s life into turmoil in this taut, thrilling small-town mystery – perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware.
Sixteen-year-old Henrietta used to be happy. But that was before her family hit the national news. Before she – and the whole world – knew she was related to one of New York’s most prolific serial killers.
Senior Investigator Shana Merchant readily agrees when her brother asks her to take in his troubled, rebellious daughter for the fall semester. Doug’s convinced that spending a few months in Alexandria Bay with Shana will straighten Hen out.
But when Hen arrives, Shana’s not so sure. She can’t help but distrust the strange and manipulative teen, who binge-watches bloody movies and roams the house at night, taking things that aren’t hers.
Soon, though, Shana has more to worry about than missing heirlooms when she’s called to investigate the suspicious drowning of a local teenager, only to discover her niece at the scene of the crime.
What happened that night on the dark, uninhabited island of Devil’s Oven? With Hen and her new friends not talking, and a community determined to keep their secrets dead and buried, Shana knows it’s a race against time to uncover the truth before her niece is upgraded from key witness to prime suspect.
My thoughts:
This is the fifth book in Tessa Wegert’s Shana Merchant series and I cannot tell you how much I love this series. It really is the perfect combination of police-procedural and psychological thriller, with a locked-room mystery thrown in…and I just love it!
While these books can be read as stand-alones, I highly recommend reading this series in order. Yes, each book has a self-contained case, but besides the amazing character development that has been a critical part of these series, there are also a few main threads that continue to carry over from book to book and that continues with this latest one.
In this latest installment we see Shana and Tim trying to move on from all that has transpired to date…and they think things are going well until Shana’s niece comes to stay with them and they soon realize they couldn’t have been more deceived. Nothing has changed and the town is still focused on Bram.
One of my favorite aspects of this series has always been the character development and we continue to see that here. Shana is one complicated character who has already been through the wringer, but in this book, we see her take on the new role of caretaker. This brings a whole new dynamic to her relationship with her fiance as things are not easy with her niece, Hen. It makes Shana question a lot.
This book kept me glued to the pages and guessing as to what was going on. I loved all the twists and turns that it took and was quite surprised at all the revelations that popped up along the way. I also loved how the author included the fascination we have with serial killers – the “cult” that Henrietta finds herself involved in, one with an interest in dead serial killers, rang with shades of truth to it.
I do hope this isn’t the last of this series…I need more Shana, especially with that ending!
Books in this series:
- Death in the Family
- The Dead Season
- Dead Wind
- The Kind to Kill
- Devils at the Door
