DEAD LAST

Maddie Arnette stops in the middle of running a marathon to help a woman who has fallen and is shocked when she whispers "My husband is trying to kill me."

Maddie is a television reporter for a small North Carolina television station. After the death of her husband, she traded her crime beat for feature reporting, hoping it would cause less stress and give her more time for her 10-year-old twins. But her curiosity, coupled with memories of her own mother, compels Maddie to investigate and help Suzanne. Suzanne claims her husband, a doctor, is abusive and won’t give her a divorce. But Maddie’s investigation brings only more questions and inconsistencies. The author, herself a television reporter, gets the details about Maddie's job right and has fun with her “amazing animals” beat—though there's perhaps a bit too much about these stories. The prose is serviceable, the dialogue is credible, and Maddie is likable and believable.

While not gripping, this debut shows enough promise to encourage readers to follow along if it turns into a series.