A Face in the Crowd by Kerry Wilkinson and Two More from the Mercy Kilpatrick series

Another standalone by Kerry Wilkinson.  Lucy has a routine and the 24 bus is part of it.  She gets on each day to get to work, but rarely pays any attention to fellow passengers.  Today, things are not so routine, when she leaves the bus her purse feels a little different--because someone has stuffed an envelope with thousands of pounds into her purse.

Lucy has spent years paying off debts incurred in her name by her boyfriend.  She only discovered this when Ben dies in a train crash; now she is bitter, but determined to pay the debts.  How could she not have known the man she loved and planned to marry better?  

She will turn the money in the envelope over to the police.  She will.  But first she will wait and see if anything develops, if someone notifies the bus company of a loss or posts a flyer.

Then she spends a little.  Then a little more--on necessities and on helping others.  Disturbing phone hang ups.  A date with a man she met online.  The apartment across from her begins playing her favorite song, but no one has seen the occupant.

This is not my favorite by Wilkinson, but he has a fairly high-standard to live up to, and A Face in the Crowd is still an intriguing mystery with some twists and red herrings.  His Jessica Daniel series remains my favorite, but I haven't read anything by him that didn't keep me engrossed.

Review scheduled for May 24.

NetGalley/Bookouture
Mystery.  June 6, 2019.  Print length:  295 pages.

I didn't realize that I'd forgotten to review A Merciful Fate which I read in March or April as part of the Mercy Kilpatric series.  Mercy is both an FBI agent and a prepper.  I've reviewed the first four books, but somehow skipped this one.  

Poor Ollie finds a skeleton in the woods that is associated with a 30-year-old armored-car robbery.  Only one robber was arrested, the other four got away and the money was never found.  

With a definite connection to Eagle's Nest, Mercy suspects that maybe one or more of the folks she knows may be one of the robbers that escaped.

Truman is dealing with two cases of harassment and vandalism against two local women.  A tabloid reporter who has been stirring things up is murdered.

Someone Mercy and Truman knows has built a new life in the three decades since the robbery and is determined to remain secret. 

NetGalley/Montlake Romance
Mystery/Suspense.  January, 2019.  Print length:  359 pages.

The sixth book in the Mercy Kilpatrick series has Mercy going undercover, reluctantly, into a radical militant group.  She is a last minute replacement because the ATF agent assigned to the mission has shingles.  No time to prep thoroughly, Mercy gets dropped in with little information to help her navigate the dangers.

Truman is dealing with a puzzling body dumped on Britta's property.  The body is in Detective Evan Bolton's jurisdiction, and as the investigation continues, it turns out there have been similar execution-style body dumps.

The Mercy Kilpatrick series is concluded with A Merciful Promise, which is a little disappointing, but understandable.  I'd like to see more of Britta, her trauma and personality have been covered in earlier books, and I also like Detective Evan Bolton.  There are other characters, too, that I'd like to see more of even if Mercy and Truman are no longer main characters.

Hopefully, Elliot will not completely abandon the Eagle's Nest setting completely.

NetGalley/Montlake Romance
Suspense.  June 18, 2019.  Print length:  359 pages.