The Secrets by Jane Adams, The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge, and Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Last year, I read The Greenway by Jane Adams and liked it for the characters and for the puzzling case.  The Secrets also kept me engrossed with the plot and with more development of the characters I enjoyed the first time.                                                                                                                                                           Several threads must be untangled as Mike Croft finds himself assigned an old case that has the possibility of coming to light again with new information.                                                                                                                                                       From description:  "WHAT DOES HE KNOW?           Threatening phone calls, smashed windows, physical intimidation. Eric Pearson and his family have only just moved into a new home in a sleepy cul-de-sac, but they already have dangerous enemies. How could a respectable family become the focus of such hatred?                                                                                                                                           Detective Inspector Mike Croft knows the Pearson family well. Eric Pearson claims to own a journal which gives evidence of a horrifying ring of abusers. If true, it would be a high stakes case for DI Croft, and expose awful secrets that the town has buried deep."

Actually, the blurb isn't quite accurate that Mike Croft knows the Pearson family well, but he has been reading the files before the disturbances at the Pearson home require Mike's face-to-face involvement.  And things are about to get murkier.

 Kindle Unlimited

Police Procedural.  1996; 2019.  Print length:  250 pages.

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I first read about The Ninja Daughter over at Verushka's Pop.Edit.Lit and was recently reminded when she posted about Tori Eldridge's second book in the series (The Ninja's Blade).   I decided to get right on it this time, and I straight away got a copy for my Kindle.  Next I want to read The Ninja's Blade, due out in September.                                                                                                                                                              About the Author:  Tori “Myotoshi” Eldridge holds a 5th degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninjutsu (the contemporary evolution founded by Stephen K. Hayes) and an additional black belt in the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do. Tori has taught taijutsu (ninja body techniques), archaic and modern weapon use and disarmament, self-defense, and empowerment to students ranging from military and law enforcement to moms and kids. Tori enhances her awareness and inner calm with Tendai Buddhist practices and daily meditation. After years of intensive study, she was awarded the warrior name Myotoshi (Warrior of the Unfathomable Blade) to signify her deeply layered nature and never-ceasing quest for hidden ninja secrets.​ (Source)

Yes, of course, I like a female Ninja character and the fact that author Tori Eldridge actually is a kunoich i.  I have the feeling that the series will only improve now that the author has the background for her characters all in place.  Like many women, I love a female protagonist who is set on righting wrongs and who has the skills to go forth and take on the bad guys.

Lily Wong, of Chinese and Norwegian descent, is a tiny thing with an overload of martial arts skills and  hutzpah, that combination of temerity and audacity that aid her in her crusade against those who abuse vulnerable women and children.   There is also a handsome and deadly assassin who can be a help or a deadly threat.

Purchased

Action/Suspense.  2019.  Print length:  320 pages.

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After Peter Swanson's Eight Perfect Murders, I decided to try another book by the author.                                                                                                                                                          Kate Priddy has had problems with anxiety since childhood, but after a narrow escape in which her controlling boyfriend threatened to kill her and then killed himself...well, things went downhill for quite a while.  She has finally left her parents' house where she retreated and has a job and a flat in London when her mother tells her that a second cousin she has never met has suggested a house swap.                                                                                                                                                                             from description:  "When Corbin Dell, a distant cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the recent wreckage of her life.  Soon after her arrival at Corbin’s grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered."

I was a little disappointed with this one.  It felt contrived in many ways, although the co-dependence of the murderers was interesting.  Audrey Marshall was not the first victim, and one individual does not intend for Audrey's death to be the last.    I understood Kate's problems with anxiety and the fact that her past experience left deep trauma, but could not fully invest in her character.  There were places that dragged and felt repetitious.

Favorite character:  Sanders the cat.

Purchased Audio book.

Mystery/Suspense.  2017.  Print length:  384 pages.