Monday, February 15, 2021

Every Waking Hour

Title: Every Waking Hour
Author: Joanna Schaffhausen
Published: January 26th 2021 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ellery Hathaway #4

Ellery Hathaway is never going to feel comfortable in her skin. With her past and an uncertain future, all that comes crashing together when 12-year-old Chloe Lockhart goes missing. Both Ellery, a police detective, and Reed, an FBI Special Agent, are in Boston Common when the child disappears. Ellery takes point, but overprotective Reed is there to guide the investigation. Or is it to manage Ellery since he thinks she will be his constant responsible as he was the one to have found her, as a child, when an abductor kidnapped and then concealed Ellery in a closet cage. Here is where reading the previous three books will come in handy.

As each layer of the Lockhart drama takes centerstage, Hathaway and Markham realize that there is more to the story as each player takes the spotlight. The reader ping pongs between the narratives and circumstances to come up with their profile and suspects. Yet, how it all pans out is somewhat of a surprise.

I’m not sure where Joanna Schaffhausen will go from here. May parts of the ongoing backstory are tied-up with this book. Is there a future with Ellery and Reed? Will Ellery once again need to call on her FBI contact to help with yet another case, or to warm her bed, or will, with the help of Dorie, her mentor, be able to finally stand on her own without Reed’s security net to catch her.

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