Blake Pierce's Book 5 in the Adele Sharp Mystery Series ratchets up the weirdness in the antagonist, escalates the connection between Adele and Agent Renee, jets them off to Adele's old stomping grounds in California wine country to find the killer, and allows the reader some touching, tear-inducing scenes, ending in the first chilling cliffhanger of the series.
Left to Murder requires Agents Sharp and Renee to travel within three countries including the USA where one killer is suspected of murdering three unrelated individuals somehow associated with the wine industry. The craziness lies in the process of their deaths. They are disposed of and discovered away from where they've been murdered.
Agent Renee is his usual obnoxious self except when he suspects Adele is truly upset. He offers his efforts at kindness to tone her down or to decipher what's bothering her, and sometimes she accepts his attempts gratefully while choosing to brush them off at other times. Together, under pressure as usual to get these deaths solved, they struggle to connect the dots between the victims to find some legitimate clues.
Before this case surfaces, Adele continues the search for her mother's killer, her tiny lead related to a favorite candy bar her mother always purchased at the same store. When she nearly loses it on a candy factory worker, she later faces the boss at DGSI about a complaint from the factory owner. She quickly tries to explain it away as a misunderstanding, but she receives a warning about her behavior representing DGSI.
Left to Murder challenges the two agents at every level of their skills, insights, attractions, and emotions. It's well-written, has a bizarre and creepy villain who often cites Bible verses out of context along with mythical gods, and concludes with truly touching moments and a terrifying phone call for Adele.
Profanity present.
Book 6 Left to Envy of The Adele Sharp Mystery Series introduces the strangeness of the identical murder of a young woman to that of Adele's mother and sends Agent Adele Sharp into a tailspin she never anticipated. Whether it's called PTSD or an emotional collapse, upon seeing the victim after rushing to the crime scene at the end of Book 5, Adele breaks, asks and receives time off, rushes to her father's in Germany where she holes up in her old room pretending to cope but not even coming close. Her panic attacks are riveting, and her psyche is fragile. She's asked Agent Renee for space, and she barely talks to her father who is genuinely concerned about her.
Finally, she receives a call from her dying mentor who wants her to take up a case in Italy. Her name has been requested to represent Interpol in the investigation. Adele's initial response is to refuse, having been unable to pull herself together, but knowing Robert is trying to get her to re-engage again because he's betting she can overcome her current state of anguish to return to a job, she forces herself to take the case and is soon on her way to Italy where the Sistine Chapel is the sight of an horrific murder. After studying the file on the plane, she notes this is the second murder of its kind, the first one discovered at Notre Dame.
Once again she has a country-hopping intricate killer who is somehow able to penetrate these two religious institutions and suspend posed victims in hard places while leaving obscure poems in his wake which in hindsight lead to the future murder.
Her partner for this investigation is an ultra-handsome, sensitive, courteous, and professional Italian from Italy's special investigative force who speaks more languages than she does and is far more suave and far less brusque than John Renee. This makes for some awkward feelings in Adele, but ever the professional, the hunter/bloodhound on a case, she's at odds with the consensus of opinions about the killer which proves to be a possible career-ending problem.
When Adele finally arrives home after receiving a terse text from John, he's outside her apartment door as he explains what's happened with her mother's killer or copycat killer. It's an ugly scene, and I confess I'm mad at Adele for her reactions. She's entitled to her shock, but her retaliation at John is not only a major disappointment, but her follow-up actions are a low blow and saddened me.
Now I have to wait until May for Book 7!
This is a really good and entertaining series with a strong female lead and a variety of well-developed characters. Villains are equally bizarre, interesting, and evil. These novels read quickly. I highly recommend the Adele Sharp Mystery Series.
Profanity present.
Father, please continue to bless and inspire Blake. Keep Blake safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.