Review: A mystery serial with lots of twists and turns!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2013
Maggie thinks she is at the lawyer’s office with several family members to hear the reading of her grandfather’s will. Three other people join her and as the lawyer delivers her grandfather’s last wishes, Maggie’s plans of a quick return home are shattered in an instant.Her grandfather has put a stipulation on his considerably large estate. Each person received a personalized letter pinned by her grandfather. The premise of the letter is for each of them to reopen the case of the disappearance of Maggie’s younger sister, Cassandra. Whoever solves the case, will inherit her grandfather’s multimillion dollar estate.Maggie and the rest of the “competitors” are floored at the revelation. How can they find out what happened to Cassandra when the police, private investigators and all the money at her grandfather’s disposal couldn’t do it? Well, ten million dollars is one hell of a motivator.Maggie is competing against her older brother, her ex-boyfriend, and her gold-digging ex-best friend. This has disaster written all over it; with this much money at stake, who can be trusted? Can Cassandra’s disappearance be solved, or will greed destroy everyone in the process?Of the four people trying to solve the case, Maggie seems the most sincere. She was close with her younger sister and the letter from her grandfather has completely wrecked her. Eight years ago her sister vanished from a high school party without a trace. Maggie asks her brother to team up with her and he dodges the question, then he says, he thinks they should work separately. That has my hackles up from the get go. You’d think her brother would help her so they can find out what happened to their younger sister. It seems money is her brother’s sole motivation.Next is the ex-best friend, Bethany, from Maggie’s high school days. She hooked up with Maggie and Robert’s grandfather and was his arm candy up until his death. Yes, she’s a trifflin’ bitch indeed. Her fake tears and her fancy clothes can’t disguise her shallow disposition. Maggie and Robert are determined to keep Bethany from their grandfather’s money. However, Bethany is used to getting what she wants by using her feminine wiles and should not be discounted as a competitor.The final participant is Maggie’s ex-boyfriend from high school, Andrew. He broke up with Maggie the day of the party. Maggie opted to stay home nursing her broken heart instead of going to the party with Cassandra on that fateful night; a mistake in which Maggie deeply regrets. She should have been there. Andrew has grown up and looking great. After eight years, Andrew still gives her butterflies; but Maggie still can’t forget the pain the breakup caused. Will there be a rekindling of this love or is deceit at work here?This is an excellent start to the serial! I was captivated right from the beginning. The plot is substantially written and will have you hooked in seconds! Currently, I am trying to rush through this rather lengthy review so I can jump into the second book! Warning: there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of this book so it would be in your best interest to have Part II at the ready. You are going to want to dive back into the story and find out what happened!I love mysteries and I love trying to figure them out as I’m reading. I thought I had an idea of who's behind the disappearance, but as other players are introduced on the scene, my mind keeps changing! If you love mysteries, you will definitely enjoy this serial.***I received an ebook copy from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. All conclusions reached are my own***