Reviewer: Casee Family Sins by Sharon Sala
Series: Death Comes to Eden #1
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: October 25th 2016
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 416
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Series Rating:
MURDER IN EDEN
Felled by a cowardly shot to the back, Stanton Youngblood has just enough time before he dies to leave a single clue to his killer's identity: the word Wayne, scrawled in his own blood.
That word means everything to his widow. Leigh Youngblood was once Leigh Wayne, but she left her wealthy family behind thirty years ago when she fell in love with Stanton, a betrayal the Waynes have never forgiven. Now she publicly vows to discover which of her siblings thinks money and power are enough to cover up a murder.
Back in town to find his father's killer, prodigal son Brody finds his search for justice comes with an unexpected ray of light. He's loved Talia Champion forever, but when she said she couldn't marry him, he left town and never looked back. This time it's Talia who needs him, and it isn't in him to deny her anything.
But the killer still has a score to settle, and if that means spilling more blood—so much the better.
First thing is first. Brody is Bowie. I’m not sure how they got that one wrong in every synopsis that I looked at. So now that is out of the way.
Leigh Wayne married Stanton Youngblood against her family’s wishes and never looked back. It’s been thirty years and she hasn’t regretted a single moment. When she is working in her garden and hears a gunshot from where Stanton would be walking, her intuition kicks in and she go tearing after the sound. She finds Stanton face down in the dirt, shot in the back with the name “Wayne” scrawled in Stanton’s writing. Leigh is devastated to lose Stanton, but before she can grieve, she is going to bring her family to justice.
Calling her four boys home (three live on the mountain, one with her, and Bowie lives away from home), Leigh starts planning what she is going to do. When the constable of both towns don’t start investigating the Wayne’s, Leigh begins the investigation herself and makes a promise to the constable of her town…he better start investiating or she will and she will bring him down with her family.
The Wayne’s are your typical “nothing can touch me” family. They believe they’re above the law. They don’t know who killed Stanton, but they know that it was one of them. Still, they’re above the law. When Leigh storms their house, they all realize that they’re not off the hook. Leigh isn’t going to rest until she finds out who killed her husband in such a cowardly way.
Bowie in the meantime has moved to the head of the family. He’s also realized the love of his life, Talia, turned down his proposal seven years ago not because she didn’t want to marry him but because her father was sick. So that whole romance is going on during the suspense. It was kind of weird. Thrown in as an after thought.
Then there was a gigilo, a gay Wayne, a Wayne aunt that was sharing the gigilo, Bowie and Talia that were finding their love again, and another Wayne (maybe the killer, maybe not) that tried to kill Bowie and Talia. All sorts of shenanigans. Honestly. What resonated with me the most was Leigh’s grief. She had been with Stanton for thirty years. She couldn’t sleep in their bed without him. She could barely look at places on their property. Her grief literally reached through the pages. It was devastating.
Rating: 3 out of 5.