Hell and High Water

Author: Keenan Powell

Series: Maeve Malloy Mystery #3

Publisher: Level Best Books

Release Date: March 31, 2020

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

My first introduction to the Maeve Malloy series and I must say I am very intrigued with this character and what else is in store for her!

Maeve Malloy’s time being suspended from practicing law is complete, but she doesn’t know if she wants to go back to practicing. During this time, she takes a job working in the kitchen at a secluded lodge in the Alaskan wilderness. Within the first twenty-four hours of landing at Fox Island, a tourist is killed, and a wild bear has everyone trapped in the lodge. A storm is moving into the island and prevents the authorities from coming to help find the killer. Maeve is asked to help gather information and dives back into investigating mode. She uses her skills to find a killer before someone else ends up dead.

This was my first introduction to Maeve Malloy and this series. One of the best aspects of the book is even though it isn’t the first in the series, I was able to follow the story without feeling totally lost. Now, had I read the others, I might be saying you need to read them before reading this one, but I didn’t feel lost and was able to enjoy the story.

The beginning started a little slow but picked up and kept me intrigued with a few twists by the end I really enjoyed. Maeve is a fun, realistic character.  She is trying to decide what direction she needs to head in life and just when she thinks being a lawyer and investigating isn’t for her, she is thrown into an investigation that could ultimately save her life. I loved the fact that Maeve is portrayed as real, flawed, confused and trying to figure out where she needs to go next in life. That is real life, that is what we all go through and seeing this character trying to figure it all out was very well written.

Being secluded up in the Alaskan Wilderness was a great setting for this story, I was chilled to the bone with each new crisis the characters had to face. At first you see a very eclectic group of characters brought together, but as the story progresses it makes perfect sense why they are there and how it all came about. There are a few moments that seemed forced; Tom for one, but maybe if I had read the others in the series his actions wouldn’t have seemed out of place. I recommend this to fans that enjoy a good mystery with twists and turns up to the very end. A little bit of harsh language and mature content make it unsuitable for younger readers but that isn’t the intended audience either. I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher.  The views and opinions expressed within are my own.