DEAD WIND

 

SYNOPSIS

The body is discovered on Wolfe Island, under the shadow of an enormous wind turbine. Senior Investigator Shana Merchant, arriving on the scene with fellow investigator Tim Wellington, can't shake the feeling that she knows the victim - and the subsequent identification sends shockwaves through their community in the Thousand Islands of Upstate New York.

Politics, power, passion . . . there are dark undercurrents in Shana's new home, and finding the killer means dredging up her new friends and neighbors' old grudges and long-kept secrets.

That is, if the killer is from the community at all. For Shana's keeping a terrible secret of her own: eighteen months ago she escaped from serial killer Blake Bram's clutches. But has he followed her . . . to kill again?

Title: Dead wind

Author: Tessa Wegert

Series: Shana Merchant #3

Publisher: Severn House

Publication date: April 5, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dead Wind is the third installment in the Shana Merchant series and in this case is mandatory to read them in order to fully comprehend Shana’s story, as her background plays a huge part in the series.

After her last encounter with serial killer Bram, Shana’s on tenterhooks, afraid he’ll strike again when she least expects it. When a woman’s body is discovered under a wind turbine, Shana thinks it could be Bram’s work but, is he back or could the victim’s past in local politics be the reason behind the murder?

This is such a fun series. Shana is a strong and relatable lead. It’s been great seeing her grow throughout these three books, especially when it comes to trusting her colleagues. She’s become a much more sympathetic character. Even though these books are mostly plot driven, the characters are also an essential part of them.

While in book one Shana’s past felt like an add-on, not really integrated with the rest of the plot, in books two and three her backstory weaves and mingles with the current cases she’s investigating. I also liked how Bram’s character has developed throughout the series. He’s gone from merely a name to a fully developed character. We really get to know him so that made my feelings for him much more intense. I was curious to see what direction the author was gonna take with the resolution of this plot line, as imo it needed to close already, and overall it was really satisfying.

The murder mystery had lots of misdirection which kept me guessing, but I felt its resolution was a bit out of left field considering how the investigation had developed till then.

Although this could be the perfect closing for a trilogy, I sincerely hope we get more Shana as this has become a really enjoyable series.

Thank you to my friend Kim for another great buddy read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.