#Book #Review ~ A Dark and Twisting Path (A Writer's Apprentice Mystery, Book #3) by Julia Buckley @BerkleyMystery #CozyMystery

About the Book:

Writer's apprentice Lena London is happily working on a new collaboration with her idol and bestselling suspense novelist and friend Camilla Graham, but her joy is short-lived when a dark cloud descends upon the quaint town of Blue Lake, Indiana...

Lena's best friend, Allison, is in a panic. On a walk in the woods by her home, Allison discovers the body of her mail carrier, an argumentative man who recently had a falling out with Allison's husband. Lena quickly realizes that Allison has nothing to worry about as the murder weapon points to a different suspect altogether: Lena's embattled boyfriend, Sam West.

Sam was cleared of his wife's murder when she was found alive, and now someone is trying to make him look guilty again. Surveillance video of a break-in at his house shows a shadowy figure trying to incriminate him by stealing the weapon from his desk. Lena and Camilla work on a suspect list, but a threatening note and a violent intrusion at Graham House prove that the devious killer has decided to write them into the plot.

Amazon

Print Length: 300 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ASIN: B077CRJ71C

My Review:

A Dark and Twisting Path is another fantastic book in the Writer's Apprentice Mystery series. Having picked up almost where book 2 ended, Lena is living the dream as a co-author to her favorite author, Camilla Graham. Sam is still helping investigate the disappearance of his ex-wife, Victoria's, daughter. The baby is still missing after being kidnapped by Victoria's ex, Nikon and now Sam is the target of a murder set-up.

During the continued investigation into the kidnapping, Lena's bestie Allison, finds their mailcarrier dead in her backyard. Evidence is eventually revealed as to why he may have been killed, especially when the murderer tried to incriminate Sam in yet another death. Fortunately, Sam has a surveillance system and was able to record the break-in and subsequent theft of the murder weapon.

I love Lena's character and her love and affection for everyone around her. Her relationship with Sam has been taken to the next level and they are so cute together. Lena's relationship with her mentor, Camilla, is one of mother/daughter (at least to me) and there is genuine affection between them - and with Camilla's guy, Adam. A new character is introduced and I love how this new person fits right in with everyone in Blue Lake. I love the extra dark tone in which the last few chapters of the book were written and what it means for the rest of the series.

The twists, turns, and red herrings kept my mind actively trying to put the pieces together of this mystery. I didn't feel like there were any dull or slow moments as we spent more time with Lena, Sam, Cliff, Belinda, Doug, Allison, John, and of course, Camilla and Adam. It wasn't until almost the very end that I was able to put the pieces together and have the "ah ha" moment right along with the characters.

My review copy is my own paperback.

My Rating: