As plans for her perfect wedding fill her mind, Officer Stacey Wilbur is sent out to trap a flasher, the new hire realizes Rocky Bluff P.D. is not the answer to his problems, Abel Navarro’s can’t concentrate on the job because of worry about his mother, Officer Gordon Butler has his usual upsets, the sudden appearance of an angel in the window of a furniture store captures everyone’s imagination and causes problems for RBPD, and then the worst possible happens—will Stacey and Doug’s wedding take place?
Marilyn Meredith (aka F M Meredith) is an award winning author of mysteries, psychological and Christian horror. She is a popular speaker and instructor for writing conferences, mystery conventions and festivals, book fairs, and other similar venues, including the Maui Writers Retreat. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Public Safety Writers Association, California Writers Club and Mystery Writers of America.
My Impressions:
Angel Lost is the current offering by F M Meredith in her Rocky Bluff PD series. Described as The Waltons meets Hill Street Blues, this mystery centers on the community of Rocky Bluff, California, a small coastal town far from the high crime of Los Angeles. But underneath Rocky Bluff is not the sleepy town that meets the eye. The small, understaffed, underfunded police department is facing a flasher on the beach, a rash of burglaries in the exclusive homes on the bluff and a threat of a serial killer, not to mention a mysterious angel sighting. There is a lot going on in this town!
And there is a lot going on in the lives of the policemen — maybe too much for this book. With multiple story lines, it was often hard to focus on the main premise of the book. This is a mystery, but a lot of time was spent on examining the lives and motivations of the various members of Rocky Bluff PD. I would have liked to see less characterization and more action. Slow going at first, the novel really picked up at the end — I couldn’t wait to read what would happen. And with the emphasis on characterization, I did come to care about what happened to the men and women of Rocky Bluff PD.
I would be interested in reading more of the Rocky Bluff PD series. There are enough loose ends in Angel Lost to ensure a few more books in the series.
Tuesday, March 1
Book reviewed and giveaway at The Book Connection
Wednesday, March 2
Guest blogging at The Hot Author Report
Thursday, March 3
Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner
Friday, March 4
Guest blogging at Ginger Simpson’s “Dishin’ It Out”
Monday, March 7
Book trailer featured at If Books Could Talk
Tuesday, March 8
Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress
Wednesday, March 9
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Thursday, March 10
Book spotlighted at The Plot
Book spotlighted at Books, Products and More!
Friday, March 11
Character interviewed at The Plot
Monday, March 14
Book reviewed at Thoughts in Progress
Tuesday, March 15
Book reviewed at Lynn’s Reading Corner
Wednesday, March 16
Book reviewed at By the Book
Thursday, March 17
Guest blogging at Nevets.QST
Friday, March 18
Interviewed at Murderous Musings
Monday, March 21
Interviewed at Examiner
Tuesday, March 22
Book reviewed at Paperback Writer
Wednesday, March 23
Guest blogging at Acme Authors Link
Interviewed at Writers Who Kill
Thursday, March 24
Interviewed at Broowaha
Friday, March 25
Book reviewed at Book Reviews by Molly
(I received an ARC of Angel Lost from the author through Pump Up Your Book in return for a review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Thanks for the review of Marilyn’s latest. I’m glad you enjoyed it. The focus of this series has always been to show how the job impacts the officers’ personal lives and vice versa. As a character driven reader this has always appealed to me.
I hope your readers will check out the trailer for the book. It doesn’t appear to be working above, but they can find it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE6scV6_rl0
Thanks again.
Cheryl
The problem seems to be YouTube. Hope it’s back up and running soon.
I think the trailer is playing now.
Thank you so much for your candid and mostly positive review. I must say this is the first time I’ve ever been critiqued for having too much characterization. I’ll have to think about that one. You have a wonderful review site and I want to thank you for taking the time to read the book and give me our thoughts. The next book in the series focuses on Gordon Butler, but again, you’ll learn more about the others. My intention with the whole series is to show how the family affects the job and the job affects the families.
Marilyn (F.M.) Meredith
Thanks for your comments. I have not read the other books in the series, so was unaware of the focus on the members of the police force. When I realized that I began to enjoy the book more. I really did like the book and look forward to reading others in the series.