Review: Burned: A Tragic Mystery by J.A. Nevling

The first time Jim Nagol is left in charge of his infant daughter, tragedy strikes and he and his daughter are both severely burned when he accidentally leaves a stove burner on with no flame. His daughter Anna’s burns are so severe, doctors are not at all sure she’ll make a recovery.

Now seven month’s later Jim’s wife, Sharon, has left her husband and is living alone in an apartment two hours away. Sharon cannot forgive Jim for the accident and is struggling to make ends meet by working for Prescott Incorporated as an accountant.

When two of the company’s top executive both make unwanted passes at Sharon she knows that if she now reveals that she found some unexplained company expenses during a recent audit her findings would be seen as retaliation. She has no choice but to stay quiet and work on how best to reveal the embezzlement to the proper authorities.

But driving home one night she’s forced off the road in a hit-and-run accident and when the police investigate there is more than one suspect including the two company executives and her husband Jim with whom she had an explosive argument with that same day.

Burned alternates from the present and Sharon’s troubles and back to the time of the accident and the weeks following it. I like this approach because as soon as the story gets good it skips in time and you’re left with a major cliff hanger for the next few chapters when you pick up again but get another cliff hanger with the second story line.

Nevling does a great job of keeping the suspense going and laying out the perfect mystery. My only disappointment with the book is the dialogue between most of the characters. There were more than a few times when I would think to myself, “Who talks like that?” Otherwise the book is a recommended read for all mystery and suspense readers.

Review: Burned: A Tragic Mystery by J.A. Nevling

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/07/review-burned-tragic-mystery-by-ja.html