Review for A Promise Kept by K.S. David

                                                                   

A Promise Kept

By K.S. David
Promise, Book 1


Publisher: K.S. David
Release Date: February 1, 2015
Genre: Mystery/Female Sleuth
Length: 304 Pages
ASIN: B00T3JRS3Q


Buy Link: AMAZON 

About the book:


Quinn McGuire only wanted to lay her mother to rest. She planned to hustle out of Hayden County, Kentucky once it was all done. The town held nothing but bad memories for her. She’d never forget the echoes of children’s taunts calling her poor trash and whispers about her daddy's crimes.

With the exception of her best friend, Jack Lassiter, there was no one in Hayden she cared about - and she’d even been hiding from him for the last two years. But in less than 24-hours after her arrival, Quinn’s brother gets arrested for murder, derailing her plans for a quick exit.

Quinn has to find a way to clear his name, but shadows from her past threaten her efforts and her sanity. As she moves closer to the truth, she just may be putting herself in the path of the real killer.

A well-paced romantic suspense, A Promise Kept by K.S. David, tells the story of a small town full of secrets and the colorful and complex characters who reside there. A murder mystery with plenty of twists and turns, we learn about Quinn McGuire, a woman whose family is from the hills and treated as if they are “trash” by the moneyed families of Hayden County.  Filled with action, a friends to lovers romance, and a killer with the taste for murder, this is a story that will grab your attention from start to finish.

A criminal attorney whose cases have made national headlines, Quinn McGuire has returned to Hayden County to bury her mother.  Planning to stay just long enough to take care of her deceased mother’s affairs, Quinn has no intentions of sticking around a town where people called her “trash” and talked about her family.  When her brother Chayne, a famous novelist who came home for the funeral, is arrested for murder within 24 hours of their arrival, Quinn finds herself stuck in town and working to clear his name.  Forced to reconnect with Jack Lassister, her childhood best friend who she’s been avoiding for two years, Quinn’s past and her investigation to uncover the truth put her in the path of the real killer.

Ms. David does a good job developing both Quinn and Jack’s characters; I easily connected with both of them and recognized how even though they came from opposite sides of the “track” so to speak, she’s from the hills and grew up poor while he’s the only son of the wealthiest family in town.  At the core of who Quinn and Jack are, they share a desire to see all people treated equally, a desire for justice and the need to help others.  While Quinn does this by fighting to make sure everyone has received a good legal defense, Jack does it by being a good sheriff and making sure that his department is clear of graft and avarice.  While they’ve been best friends since childhood they do have some secrets from each other that they’ve managed to keep and it’s those secrets that ultimately not only bring them closer emotionally but help them eventually solve the crime.

The secondary characters are also well developed and I enjoyed getting to know Chayne, Quinn’s brother, and Lincoln Combe, a friend of both Quinn and Jack’s who is intelligent, funny and who manages to provide them with the first real clues to what the murder victim was doing that would have gotten him killed.  We also get to meet the newish district attorney, who continuously hits on Quinn even after she makes it clear she’s not interested, and one of Jack’s former girlfriends who may or may not have a motive for the killing herself.  The mystery is well done and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.  In fact there were several times I was sure I knew the identity of the killer and I was wrong every time.

Will Quinn and Jack solve the murder before the killer claims more victims?  Will Jack be able to help Quinn heal from the mistakes in her recent past and will their attraction finally turn into the love they both desperately need?  You’ll have to read A Promise Kept to find out.  I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of Ms. David’s work in the future.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclaimer:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest review.