Accused Book Review

Pacific Coast Justice Series

Book #1

SUMMARY: An officer-involved shooting six months earlier takes Detective Carly Edwards off the street and sends her to a boring desk job in juvenile.  When a troubled youth is arrested for the murder of the mayor, Carly is summoned to the crime scene.  Homicide thinks it's a quick, open-and-shut case, and Carly hopes this will be her ticket back to patrol.
     Though her professional life seems to be on track, Carly still has unresolved issues in her personal life.  Nick, her ex-husband and fellow police officer, is determined to show Carly that he's a changed man, but she isn't convinced he won't betray her again.
      As the murder investigation progresses, Carly suspects a cover-up and strikes out on her own, uncertain whom she can trust.  But she soon realizes the case may put her directly in the killers' crosshairs. 

REVIEW:  If you are looking for a good suspense novel where you don't know which ones are the good guys and which are the bad, this is the book for you.  As Carly, the main character, tries to do the right thing when a juvenile is wrongly accused of murder, roadblocks are constantly being thrown in her way.  To add to her frustration, the teen wrongly accused had been helped by her mom to rehabilitate him from past indisgressions and claims to be a Christian (something she strongly objects to after the death of her father some years earlier).  Plus, her ex-husband, who has now become a Christian, is hoping for a second chance.  Intrigue, good cops supposedly turned bad, and murder surround Carly while she works to find the mayor's killer before he comes after her.  This is a great book!  The second book in this series, Abducted, is due out in the summer of 2012.  Can't wait to read it to see what happens to these characters.

This book was provided by Tyndale Publishers for review without compensation.

Janice Cantore is a retired Long Beach police officer who now writes suspense novels to keep readers engrossed and leave them inspired.  Her years of experience on the force lend authenticity to her stories.  Accused is the first in a three-book Pacific Coast Justice series.  For more information on this series and her other books, visit her website at www.janicecantore.com or connect with her on Facebook.