Murdock Rocks Sedona (Matt Murdock #7)

Death by falling. More precisely, members of an exclusive old-boys club are being lured to, then pushed from high points and falling to their deaths. Billionaire and partial owner of the historic Sedona Landing Hotel, Axle Ackerman, hires ex-cop/author Helene Steinbeck and her boyfriend, Matt Murdock, to investigate the deaths. A bevy of beautiful women, broken hearts, broken families, disillusionment, and links to Ackerman’s shady past produce a healthy dose of mystery, but what’s the motive for the deaths? Is Ackerman next? Will they get to him before someone reveals the identity of the man pulling strings behind the curtain, the mysterious “Mr. X”?

This suspense is guaranteed to draw readers in from the get go! The choppy writing style was difficult to grasp at first, but got easier as the book progressed. The cast of characters is long and at first confusing, but are fleshed out with enough depth and personality to make each memorable in their own way. Ray’s complex plot is precisely planned, completing a satisfying arc in the storyline. As book seven in the series, one would need to read book 6 to discover exactly why Helene had problems with her feet. Helene’s failure to connect a student’s writing workshop assignment to what was happening right under her nose didn’t ring true. Otherwise, this was a delicious foray into the mysterious land of male and female vortexes in Sedona country.

Lori Leger