Talk about receiving the perfect writer’s gift for my birthday! Great review. Check it out!
https://www.vigilantreader.com/recent-reviews.html
Title – Hanging Softly in the Night
Author – Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra
Genre – Detective/Mystery
Word Count – 108,500
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 07 – 2021
Posted 2/12/2021
My Impressions: Professional writing, interesting, believable characters who interact well, intricate and complex plot.
Main Characters:
Lt. Detective Nick Larson – Struggling with internal demons after ex-wife committed suicide.
Detective Vic Sacco – Nick’s close friend and partner.
Ramos – Member of the investigative team
Laura Howard – Nick’s current girlfriend with her own deadly personal baggage.
Sandra Ward – Laura’s sister who wants to destroy her.
There are three story lines here. Nick is fighting personal demons after his ex-wife committed suicide while on the phone with him begging him to take her back. A second story line is his girlfriend’s psychopath sister who wants to destroy her and is in a psych ward. But even locked up the nutcase manages to corrupt Laura’s life. The main plot is a string of hangings deaths originally judged to be suicides. Nick isn’t buying the suicides; he and his investigative team chase leads to no avail and the deaths keep piling up. The interaction among his team members adds greatly to the story, Many people they interview are nutcases in their own right. Then the case is solved by a witness who just drops in their laps.
Laura’s demented sister is not resolved. Is she left hanging for a sequel? I hope so.
The editing and sentence structure are well done and just short of perfect.
Character Development is good for all important characters.
Research is evident in the story’s complex details.
The plot is complex, intense and fast paced.
I enjoyed Hanging Softly in the Night and highly recommend it.
