Customer Reviews

Grave Risk (Hideaway, Book 7)

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(2)
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When Edith Potts, beloved high school principal, died, Jill Cooper was there, and she knew everything possible had been done to save her friend. Edith's death was horrible, leaving everyone in a state of shock. Noelle, Jill's sister, who was born with a special intuition, suspects Edith's death wasn't from natural causes.

Jill was once engaged to Dr. Rex Fairfield, but he resented the time she gave to Noelle, who needed her. Now Rex is back in town and seems determined to take up where they left off. Austin Barlow, another old boyfriend, has reeturned to Hideaway, which is another complication. When Jill inherits some school records that belonged to Edith, she finds information that makes it apparent that Noelle is correct. Someone killed her Edith Potts. Can the killer be found before he or she strikes again?

The husband and writing team of Hannah Alexander has delivered another exciting, well-plotted story about down to earth characters caught in a dangerous spiral of death and destruction. Grave Risk is their best one yet.

Another excellent book by the husband and wife team. Being a Missourian I love seeing references to areas around southwest Missouri. This story starts off with a murder within the first few pages and the story grabs you and keeps you until the end. I was thinking it was predictable at one point and that I knew who the killer was. Well, by the end I had a nice dish of crow when I found out I couldn't have been more wrong! Well worth the time!

This is the seventh mystery in the Hideaway series, which refers to a small town in southwest Missouri populated by Jill Cooper and her sister, Noelle, the Christian psychic. The tragedy involves the sudden death of beloved Hideaway High School principal Edith Potts during a routine visit to the spa. Heart troubles are blamed for Edith's death, but the arrival of people from Jill's past including former town mayor Austin Barlow and Dr. Rex Fairfield, her former fiance, who is aiding Dr. Cheyenne Gideon at the clinic. Another death occurs and while it's chalked up to coincidence, there is the matter of an unsolved murder years ago, in which a teenage prank turned deadly.

Aiding Jill in solving the mystery around Edith's death are school friends, Sherry and Doris, who help her go through boxes of things that Edith left to her. This is one of the book's best scenes. However, in one instance, a box of old school records is unclaimed and brought to Jill simply because she used to be the school nurse. Privacy laws come to mind here; those records should have been destroyed and not handed to someone else simply because they worked at the school.

In this novel, the Christian message is much more in-your-face than in other series, which sometimes detracts from the mystery itself. However, the characters are very likable, including the stubborn Jill as well as the teenage Fawn, who left a life of prostitution in Las Vegas to flee to Hideaway and her friend/possible romantic interest Blaze, who works at a boy's ranch north of Hideaway. The authors do a good job of describing Missouri, the Ozarks, and Table Rock Lake. It makes me almost want to visit. I gave it three stars for the characters (like Jill) who are fun to read about, but I've definitely read better mysteries.

I love this series as I find them to be really easy reads. They have just enough suspense to keep my attention, with no gore or language, and they throw in a little romance for good measure. I highly recommend these books if you are looking for an easy read that will captivate your attention until the end.

Grave Risk, in the Hideaway series, begins with Edith Potts sudden death. Three doctors are in attendance, but nurse Jill Cooper thinks there is something not quite right, and so does her sister Noelle who has the gift of knowledge. For one thing, Edith gasped a few last words to Jill making her wonder if this death is related to a previous, long ago death, that was judged to be an accident. But was it? One thing I like about all the Hideaway books with Noelle is that her gift is well explained, in a non-superstitious way, but rather with biblical understanding.

Dr. Rex Fairfield shows up and is one of the doctors in attendance when Edith dies. He had been engaged to Jill when he was a resident, but resented the time she gave to nurturing Noelle, who was a wild child back then. Now he seems more understanding and determined to pursue their relationship. Austin Barlow, the former mayor and another old boyfriend, has also returned to Hideaway to mend some fences. There are delightfully humorous scenes where Fawn, a former teenage runaway, now into hair cutting, fashion, and make-up, tries to give Jill a make-over.

Then elderly Cecil, Edith's dearest friend, is found dead, also apparently an accident. However, when Jill receives school records giving clues to the wrongful death three decades ago, it becomes apparent that all these deaths were not the result of natural causes. And Jill finds herself at grave risk as well.

It's been a few years and a few titles since I reviewed any of the Hideaway novels by Hannah Alexander (the husband-and-wife team of Dr. Mel and Cheryl Hodde). When I picked up GRAVE RISK, the latest book in the series, I found myself searching through my head to remember which character was which, despite Alexander's care in reminding readers. Fawn? She's the former teenaged prostitute. Jill is the one with severe OCD. Don't forget Blaze --- he had kind of a tough time with his foster father. Or was it his stepfather? Or was it Ramsay? I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is not a book that rewards stand-alone reading.

The action starts out briskly. Jill Cooper is visiting the local spa for the first time when her beloved friend and the town's former high school principal, Edith Potts, undergoes cardiac arrest. Just before she dies, Edith gasps a few words that make Jill wonder whether this death and a subsequent one are actually par for the course.

Meanwhile, two men have returned to town: Dr. Rex Fairfield and Austen Barlow (regular readers of the series will recognize them both), just as Edith's death strains the small Ozarks community and as beloved local doctor Karah Lee Fletcher prepares for her long-awaited wedding. There are a few subplots (Fawn worries more obsessively than Jill that Karah Lee won't want her around after the wedding; Blaze continues to act in a wise, saintly manner), but most of the action revolves around the deaths of two elderly townsfolk and Jill's attempts to figure out whodunit while evading the patently obvious fact that Rex is still in love with her after their 20-year-old broken engagement.

When Jill, in the midst of planning a high school reunion, realizes from conversations that something is tying her old classmate Mary Marshall to these deaths, she decides to get to the bottom of things. As usual, there is no shortage of get-togethers, usually at Bertie Meyer's and involving black-walnut waffles (this time around I was a bit more intrigued by the okra-and-cheese casserole one character cooks up).

The first Hideaway book that I reviewed (the aptly named HIDEAWAY) was fresh and interesting. Hannah Alexander has not lost the light spiritual touch --- GRAVE RISK still shows people reaching out to God in their own ways and at their own paces --- but here there is no corresponding lightness of pace. Except for the first chapter, the story dragged.

Since Mel is a doctor, many of the medical scenes and discussions ring fairly true. Why not a new series set at a larger, urban hospital --- even in Hideaway's nearby Branson? Come to think of it, that would allow some of the recurring characters in this series to reappear as well.

--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick