Review: To Keep A Secret by Brenda Chapman

This is another novel by Brenda Chapman about PI Anna Sweet.

Anna's partner, Jada Price is missing and it's up to her and the new hire at the company, Nick Roma to find her.  When Jada is found (hiding out with her teenage brother, Henry) Anna is in the middle of a new mystery, the murder of teenager Mandy Blair and a secret internet dating site.   Anna needs to work pretty quickly. Henry's life depends on it.

Once again Brenda Chapman does a great job of developing characters in a relatively short amount of time.  We revisit some repeat characters like Anna and her father and sister, Jimmy who was first Anna's fiance and ended up married to her sister, and get to learn more about Jada who Anna teamed up with at the end of "My Sister's Keeper"  and the mysterious newly hired Nick.

I was able to figure out one part of the story relatively early but then there was an unexpected twist that made everything more exciting.  Chapman has a style of writing that just kept me interested and wanting to read the story faster to find out what was going to happen.  Another really great, quick read, 2 big thumbs up!

Review: My Sister's Keeper by Brenda Chapman

The Book Blurb:
Anna Sweet, ex-cop turned waitress, is bar-hopping her way across the USA. But a middle-of-the-night phone call to Anna's hotel room in Kermit, Texas, is about to end her life on the road.  The brakes on her sister Cheri's car have failed, and she's lying banged up in the hospital in Ottawa.  Cheri warns that unless Anna comes right home, she'll be dead by Christmas.
Anna has more than enough reason to stay away from her home town.  Yet her sister's terror is a calling card she can't ignore.  Is Cheri's life really in danger? Or is this another bid for attention? A doubting Anna Sweet is about to find out...


Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book, and it really caught my attention from the beginning. It's a very quick read being under 100 pages, but the author does a good job with character development.  Cheri doesn't know if it's her estranged husband Jimmy who is trying to harm her or not. Jimmy is the source of tension between the 2 sisters, as he was first engaged to Anna and ends up having an affair and later marrying Cheri.  The cast of characters are introduced and Anna begins to narrow down the list of suspects.  But is Cheri actually making everything up? Everything stops when Jimmy and their son, Evan, are going to move back in with Cheri.
When the story does come to a conclusion, I think it was a great ending.  (I don't want to give it away, it was very believable and tied up all the loose ends, something that I like!)  Anna now has agreed to stay in Ottawa and join her old friend in starting up a PI agency.

Recommend this book, great quick read for the beach or anytime really.  2 thumbs up!