Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush Blog Tour Book Review

 

FROZEN LIVES

by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

October 7 - November 1, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

A Coroner's Daughter Mystery

 

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Frozen Lives, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport.

Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah, the eleven year-old son of her best friend, Jo, goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan. Emily immediately joins the search for the boy.

To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s only the beginning …

For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, negligent to the damages in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind.

Emily solidifies her role as coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily goes the icy distance to end his killing spree.

Praise for Frozen Lives:

"Fast paced, engaging, evocative."
~ J.A. Jance

"FROZEN LIVES is what a thriller should be—dark, twisty, and oh so scary. Lock your doors and enjoy."
~ DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series and co-creator of the Outliers Writing University

"Jennifer Dornbush scares the living hell out of me. When I want to stay up all night, I just read one of her books, and Frozen Lives doesn’t disappoint. On par with Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Frozen Lives weaves a terrifying tale of evil, paranoia and when you go to bed at night make sure your doors are locked tight. A terrific story."
~ Don Bruns, USA Today Best Selling Author

"Chilling! Jennifer Dornbush has crafted a thriller that haunts the mind and can keep you deep in the pages into the wee hours! A not to miss psychological mystery with twists and turns throughout."
~ Heather Graham

My Review:

 I enjoyed this mystery set in the cold north of Michigan. I like Emily as an amateur sleuth who has the help of a friend, an ex-FBI agent. Emily is sort of a non-heroine. She is a good support but it is really others who do the actual work on the abduction. I did not like Emily's over managing her relationship to Brandon. I rarely hope a romance will not happen but I did so with this novel. There was quite an emphasis on that relationship in the novel. In that respect, this novel is for readers who like about as much on the personal life of the main character as on the suspenseful mystery.

One aspect of the novel that captured my attention was how kids responded to the disappearance of a classmate. Speculation was rampant and the possible explanations were imaginative. That this novel deals with the abduction of a child may be a trigger situation for some potential readers.

I like Dornbush's writing style. She has included secondary characters to add depth to the main kidnapping plot. This is the latest in a series but it is the first I've read and I felt it read well on its own. Reading the earlier books in the series would help to better understand Emily's relationships with others in her home town, however.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Book Details:

Genre: thriller, suspense, female detective
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
Number of Pages: 350
ISBN: 9798212638364
Series: The Coroner's Daughter Mysteries, 4
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Blackstone Publishing

Read an excerpt:

 

Author Bio:

The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush was raised in it. As the daughter of a small-town medical examiner whose office was in their home. There were body parts in the fridge. She investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Picking up pieces of skull with her father who simply saw it as an anatomy lesson. The first of many coroner lessons she experienced over two decades.
After exploring journalism and high school teaching, Jennifer turned seriously to screenwriting where she began to connect her coroner world to her writing. She sought out a degree at the Forensic Science Academy in Los Angeles to gain more forensic training and earned a unique kinship with LA’s top CSIs, fingerprint specialists, DNA scientists, and detectives.
To share her love of forensics with the writing world, she authored the top selling non-fiction authoritative book, Forensic Speak, used by not only by show-runners and writers, but also crime investigators and law enforcement.
She created an Amazon top selling mystery novel series, The Coroner’s Daughter, which she is currently developing as a series for TV. Her crime thriller, Hole in the Woods, is currently optioned for screen. She is a contributor to mystery anthologies, Hotel California and Thriller. She has also penned two true crime books.
As a screenwriter Jennifer wrote the theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018), adapted a popular YA novel to script, and sold a children’s show. She is currently developing TV drama series and feature films with various productions companies.
As a forensic consultant, she is frequently asked to consult with TV writers on shows such as: Bull, Conviction, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage, Suits, and Rectify. She teaches screenwriting and mentors aspiring writers.
Jennifer is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, & the FBI Citizen’s Academy Alumni.

Catch Up With Jennifer Graeser Dornbush:
www.JenniferDornbush.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @jgdornbush1
Instagram - @jgdornbush
YouTube - @ForensicSpeakJenniferDornbush
Facebook - @JGDornbush

 

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I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Partners in Crime Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Partners in Crime Book Tours.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)