I was hooked by the end of the third paragraph: Spring was my favorite season. Once. Delanie leaves a bridal shower for her best friend, Clara, and drives towards home dreaming of being the next bride. Nearing home, she sees a figure standing in the shadows, “legs apart, as though ready to run. A chill needled my bones….I couldn’t see his eyes, but I felt them lock onto me.” Wondering if a burglar was loose in their small town of Redbud, Delanie thinks perhaps she should warn the neighbors. Looking down the street, she sees something lying on the sidewalk. “The chill inside me crackled to ice….But deep within I knew. Death had followed me.”

Are you hooked yet? I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it in the wee hours. Collins’ writing is rich with description, poignant with meaning, tantalizing as to script. What did Delanie mean? Who or what was on the sidewalk? What did she mean that death had followed her? You, too, will find it difficult to put down the book and won’t get sidetracked reading it. This is one of Brandilyn’s best – don’t miss this five-star mystery chockful of suspense!