Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Review: Dark River Rising (A Winston Radhauser Mystery #13) by Susan Clayton-Goldner @SusanCGoldner

Dark River Rising

A Winston Radhauser Mystery #13

by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Published: January 24, 2023

Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller


Blurb:


When Detective Winston Radhauser’s phone rings in the middle of the night, he knows something terrible has happened. On this night, a homeless man, rummaging for food in a local dumpster, finds the body of a severely beaten young woman. On scene, Radhauser estimates the victim to be in her early twenties. He's overcome when he learns the forensics reveal she is the girl whose disappearance has haunted him for three years—Ava Cartwright.

In broad daylight, Ava's bicycle had been found parked with the kickstand down near a wooded area. Search parties inched their way through every portion of those woods, the neighborhood, nearby Lithia Park, and along miles of railroad tracks, but there was no sign of the little girl.

Where has she been all this time? And why was she dumped on the eve of her thirteenth birthday? There must be something, some tiny detail, he missed that will give him a lead. This time, Radhauser won’t quit until he finds it.


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My Review:

Detective Winston Radhauser is wakened during the middle of the night with a phone call informing him that a body was found in a dumpster by a homeless man who will only talk to Winston.

When Winston first sees the body he believes the body to be of a young woman in her early twenties. He is later informed by the ME that the young woman in question is actually the body of a thirteen-year-old girl who went missing about three years ago.

Three years ago ten-year-old Ava was out riding her new bike that she just got for her birthday. Ava wanted a kitten for her birthday but her parents got her a bike instead. Ava sees a kitten at the edge of the woods. A man is holding the kitten.

Ava knows the rules but she wants the cat so bad. She knows the man with the kitten. She believes that her parents must have changed their minds about the kitten and decided she could have it. She thinks that is the reason the man is there with the kitten. She thinks this man was sent by her parents to give her the kitten.

Dark River Rising is told from more than one point of view. One of those points of view is Ava’s. We find out what happened to Ava through her own eyes and story. We get to hear from her mother, father, and little brother as well as Detective Radhauser.

Dark River Rising is one of the most heart-wrenching stories I do believe Susan has written so far. But each one gets better and better. As of right now, I do believe that Dark River Rising is the best one.

Dark River Rising brings up so many different emotions. It will make you sad and mad all at the same time. My heart was filled with so much sadness from the very beginning. Dark River Rising is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time.

Dark River Rising is one of those stories that you are not sure if you can read but then you think about Ava and her story that she deserves for it to be read. I believe that Ava would want her story told in hopes that she could help many children.

Dark River Rising is a sad story but I do highly recommend it to one and all. Read Ava’s story! Grab your copy of Dark River Rising today!



Be sure and check out all the books in the Winston Radhauser Mystery Series



Redemption Lake #1

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



When Time Is A River #2

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



A River of Silence #3

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



River of Shame #4

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Lake of the Dead #5

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Bloody Creek Murder #6

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Red Hatchet Falls #7

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Lake of Bad Dreams #8

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



River Running Backwards #9

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Forgotten Creek #10

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Lost Creek Cabin #11

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



What Lies Beneath Stillwater #12

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub



Dark River Rising #13

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub






AUTHOR BIO:

Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for unpublished novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. 

Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count. 


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