Monday, September 25, 2023

Review: The Secrets She Learns by Jacqueline Diamond


 Genre: Mystery/Romance.

Description:

“Shocking secrets, unexpected love, a cold-case mystery—and a nosy beagle!

At the age of 50, nurse Anni discovers she has two half sisters, both of whom were hurt by a con man who has disappeared. Determined to bring her new family together and unravel the past, she hires a handsome P.I., and gets more than she bargained for. That includes his newly adopted dog, who isn’t shy about fostering a romance or digging up evidence.

Former police detective Jon, now in business for himself, is frustrated by the one who got away, a swindler who tricked folks including Jon’s own mother out of their savings. His new neighbor, appealingly warm-spirited Anni, is more than the perfect client. She’s also a woman who sends the barriers around his heart crashing to the ground.”

Author:

Jacqueline Diamond has written numerous books in multiple genres, primarily romances and mysteries, over her more than forty years as a published author.

For more, visit her website and like her Facebook page.

Appraisal:

Jacqueline Diamond writes books in many genres with romance and mystery being the two most common. If this and the other book I read by her are any indication she likes to combine multiple genres in her books. This one has both mystery and romance mixed together. The romance story thread is enough of the book that I don’t think it is out of line to put the book in the romance genre, but there are also multiple mysteries here. The primary mystery is trying to figure out what happened to the husband of one of the friends who are the focus of the story. He disappeared a few years ago and is wanted by the police who have been unable to find them. The group of friends who are the focus of the story also find out several things about themselves and their pasts that they had previously misunderstood. In spite of lots of things going on in the story it is well told and I didn’t have any issue keeping track of the several story threads. Each added to the overall story and kept things entertaining. A fun, intriguing read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Although this is the fourth book in a series it appears that the books can stand alone. While characters from the other books in the series were in this one, I didn’t feel as though I was missing things or unable to follow the story in spite of having not read the prior books.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

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