No Sanctuary

About The Book:

First on the scene of a traffic accident that turns out to be murder, Officer Stacey Wilbur calls Detective Doug Milligan. Despite her former vow to never date anyone on the Rocky Bluff P.D., she and Milligan are romantically involved. Finding time to be alone together isn’t easy.

The murder victim is the wife of a popular Rocky Bluff minister, and several suspects immediately come to the forefront, the minister himself, his nosy secretary, the choir director, and a nerdy stalker. Stacey helps Doug with the murder investigation, but the Chief asks her to go undercover as a prostitute to expose a pedophile which leads to a surprising job offer.

Stacey must make two major decisions that will change her life forever, and a third that nearly causes her to lose her life.

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

“Oh, boy,” Officer Stacey Wilbur keyed her radio and requested assistance, quickly describing the single vehicle accident in front of her.

Working the four-to-midnight shift, Stacey had been returning from a burglary call at a secluded ranch located far into the foothills that backed the community of Rocky Bluff. When she maneuvered her police unit around a sharp corner, she came upon the light green Toyota smashed into the trunk of a massive oak tree.

It was obvious the accident had happened recently. Though not a busy road, there were enough homes and ranches nestled in the valleys for someone to have come upon the scene if it occurred much before her arrival.

Hoping for survivors, Stacey shined her flashlight beam in the open driver’s window. Squashed against the bent steering wheel was the woman driver. Blood splattered the sea foam green seat and the floor of the car. The puddling blood hadn’t congealed. The speedometer needle pointed to 75. Steam erupted from the radiator.

An abundance of dark hair, wet with blood, covered the victim’s face. Though Stacey knew there wouldn’t be any, she reached through the window to feel for a pulse on the women’s neck. Nothing.

Stacey put her hand on the hood of the car. As she’d expected it was warm. Quickly, she went over a check-list in her mind. There were no witnesses to question. The driver was dead. There was not enough traffic on the country road at that hour to worry about. Despite the unrelenting Santa Ana winds that had been blowing down the canyons for the last two days, there didn’t seem to be any danger of fire. Usually ocean breezes kept the southern California beach town cool, but they didn’t have a chance against the power of the seasonal blast coming from the deserts.

Going back to her unit, Stacey called in the license number on the plates. While she waited for the information, she suspected this was more than an accident.

My Review:

No Sanctuary by F.M. Meredith is book number 5 in the Rocky Bluff PD series. Even though this is part of a series, you don't need to read the previous books in the series to understand what is going on. No Sanctuary can stand alone. Meredith gives enough background information so that I was not wondering who is who and what is what. I did not feel that the background information was out of place but it was incorporated nicely in the story.

This murder mystery does not only focus on the murder and who did it, but also focuses on the personal lives of the police officers in Rocky bluff esp single mom Stacy Wilbur. Being a police officer is hard, but Stacy makes it work thanks to her parents. Stacy also has to find time to spend with her boyfriend, Detective Doug Milligan if she wants to become something more serious. We also see into the lives of the other officers on the force and how being a police officer makes home life complicated.

Meredith gives enough suspects that I was guessing until the end who killed the preacher's wife and the ending was intense.

I enjoyed reading this fast-paced book. No Sanctuary would be a great vacation book. Now I have to go on the hunt and find the other books in the Rocky Bluff PD series.

No Sanctuary receives 4 Stars.

About the Author:

Under the name of F.M. Meredith, Marilyn Meredith writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, the latest is No Sanctuary from Oak Tree Press. She is also the author of the award-winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series as well as over twenty published novels. The latest is, Kindred Spirits, from Mundania Press.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives.

Visit Marilyn online at http://fictionforyou.com/

Happy Reading