Customer Reviews

Mercy Street (Mercy Street Foundation Series)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read this author for many years until her latest trilogies left me rather cold -- too surface, too simplistic, written too fast (or something). So for three years I stopped buying her books. The reviews of this latest book, however, were enough to pique my interest, so I bought it. When it arrived, I sat down to read just the inside flap and/or the back cover, and I surfaced the next day. I handed the book to my busy journalist daughter, and she couldn't put it down either. I thought the plot was good, the writing was well above average and the characters were ones I really liked and could relate to. So -- here's my recommendation: Read this book to rediscover Mariah Stewart. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a series because I will not hesitate to buy the author's next one.

Set in Pennsylvania. Mallory Russo used to be the lead detective on the Conroy Police force until something happened and she resigned. Mallory is writing a book when her former friend and police chief, Joe Drabyak, sends Father Kevin Burch to her. Father Burch is from the school "Our Lady of Angels" and asks her to get a P.I. license and investigate a park shooting.

Over two weeks ago, on a Friday night, four high school seniors - three boys and a girl - enter Conroy's small park. The next morning, two of the boys are found shot to death, and the girl and third boy have disappeared. There are no witnesses and no leads. Conroy's police force is busy with a sniper and have put the case on hold. This is just the type of case Mallory loved to bite into. Father Burch's secretary is the grandmother and legal guardian of the missing boy. On her behalf, Father Burch convinces Mallory to look into it.

Detective Charlie Wanamaker left the Philadelphia force and returns to his childhood home in Conroy to help his own family with a couple of problems. His first assignment with the Conroy Police Department is the park shooting. Charlie quickly realizes that the initial investigation left many questions unanswered. Unofficially, he teams up with Mallory to find out what really happened that fateful night and locate the two missing teens.

***** This is the first book of a new series about The Magellan Project, a select task force of private citizens with backgrounds in a variety of law enforcement fields who solve cold cases. In this book, readers witness the creation of The Mercy Street Foundation "M.S.F." There is a secondary plot, involving the M.S.F.'s owner, that is mentioned often but left dangling (open) for future parts in this new series.

This story is very well written and captured my attention almost immediately. There is a blooming romance between Mallory and Charlie, but no hot bedroom scenes. This story remains focused on the homicides and missing persons investigation. The reason Mallory left the force creates a lot of tension with former coworkers and rivals. This makes the action even more intriguing somehow. All-in-all, another winner from the Queen of Romantic Suspense, Mariah Stewart! Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

In Conroy, Pennsylvania, two male high school seniors are executed with a bullet to the back of each of their heads; two other students who were with them, Courtney Bauer and Ryan Corcoran vanished. The local police led by Chief Drabyack assume Ryan robbed and killed the other two before fleeing with Courtney.

Ryan's grandmother Mary believes the teen she raised is innocent and either is in trouble or dead; so does Courtney's mom Linda. Mary plans to mortgage her house to pay for a sleuth to investigate. Her boss Father Kevin Burch asks his friend gadzillionaire Robert Magellan to fund a private investigator. Robert remains desperate to find his missing wife Beth and their son Ian; however, he distrusts all private investigators as those he hired provided nothing but padded bills over the past year. Reluctantly he agrees to pay the fees of true crime writer Mallory Russo, a former Conroy cop. Ex-Philadelphia police detective Charlie Wanamaker, who just came home to Conroy to help his family, assists in spite of being part of the local force after seeing Grand Canyon holes in the official inquiry.

This engaging romantic private investigative thriller is an enjoyable read made fun by a solid mystery and the attraction between Mallory and Charlie. The story line is fast-paced as the bets keep on coming as to the teens' innocence, padded bills, and a romantic relationship between the unofficial partners. Readers will enjoy the MERCY STREET sleuthing.

Harriet Klausner

There was very little about Mariah Stewart's Mercy Street that I didn't enjoy, and the majority of that most folks probably won't notice. There are some minor point-of-view issues early on (such as a phone call which appears to be from one participant's PoV at first and then from the other's), but I think most readers won't notice those. Also, the bad guys are rather shallow and stereotyped---they definitely aren't the focus of the book, and are meant almost entirely as foils. However, as much as I love a good, three-dimensional villain, sometimes a mystery is plenty fun & engrossing with a good old-fashioned plain-cut villain, and I think this book falls into that latter category.

Mallory, Charlie, and the chief are all interesting characters, as are the priest, his cousin Robert Magellan, and Robert's assistant and housekeeper. Where the bad guys lack depth, they're made up for by nearly everyone else in the book. In particular, Robert and his situation (he lost his own wife and child more than a year before the story begins, and definitely hasn't moved on) are interesting, and play into the story in fascinating ways.

Charlie and Mallory are both great detectives, and they make a fantastic team. They have an enjoyable chemistry, and it's interesting watching that slowly develop as they work together. The plot is interesting---it's somewhere in the middle of the road, I'd say, with regard to complexity; it's neither the most straightforward and obvious nor the most complex and twisting mystery I've read. The pacing is great; it builds appropriately, pulling the reader in early on in the book and gripping harder the further it goes. By the end there's definitely some interesting action and a few tense moments.

If you enjoy mysteries, this is a good one. It's a rich, visual tale with tension and interesting characters, and I find myself hoping there will be follow-on novels!

I just finished this book and can't wait for the next sequel to come out. I truly enjoyed this book. It was a smooth and easy read. The characters were filled out and likable. Once the description of the hero and heroine were mentioned , there was no repeating over and over how beautiful and how handsome they were. Sex was not on every page which was great. A little of that is great but if I wanted a book of porn I wouldn't have purchased a mystery.

It moves along at a good pace . I've read quite a few of Ms Stewarts books and I've enjoyed them all. I must admit she leaves a lot of threads to be addressed in her upcoming books and I can't wait to find out what happened to Roberts wife and baby son, The beginning of the new foundation and what part Mallory will play in it. The new investigator and her daughter and how the drug lord will be introduced. Will Charlie be in it as Mallory's ongoing love ? I certainly hope so as he was a nice guy in this book that had a lot of tough discisions that had to be made.

Keep up the great books MS Stewart! I for one will be there to grab them up.

Stewart is one of a few authors thsat I buy in hardcover. This book was very good. It kept your interest and kept you guessing who the villian was.

I did not find this book as mesmerizing as her former books. I suspect she is laying the groundwork for future books with these characters. Miss Stewart did a fine job of delineating characters. The suspense just wasn't there.

Great series opener (I'm assuming by the open ended plots and character lines). Great character development and intriguing mix of backgrounds intertwined. Wonderful romance and love stories enfold and hopefully will continue to develop in the next books. Strongly recommend.

I didn't know what to expect with this latest Mariah Stewart book since she has created a whole new set of characters. I was not disappointed!

Once again she creates believable characters that we get to know and like, and a plot that keeps us up late turning the pages!

Way to go Mariah, can't wait for the sequel! You've done it again!

Every day people go missing-sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not. If you're lucky, they're found and you don't have to spend the rest of your life wondering if they're still out there somewhere, if they need your help and what you can do to get them back.

Robert Magellan wasn't lucky, as 15 months ago his wife and son disappeared on their way home from a baby shower. Nobody has seen or heard from them since. To any one this would be a tragedy, but for Robert it's enough to drive him half insane. He hires every PI in the area, and is sorely ripped off by every one of them.

Because of this, he's understandably not too enthusiastic when his cousin, Father Kevin, asks him to pay for a PI to investigate the murder of two teenagers and disappearance of two others. It's obvious that the events are related, but did the two who disappeared kill the two others? Or are they on the run from an unknown murderer? Robert argues that all PIs are thieves and nothing will come from it, but agrees to pay the check anyway, if Kevin can find a PI who is aboveboard.

Ex-detective Mallory is nothing like the other PIs. She's quick, intelligent and most importantly, honest. Dedicated to solving the case, she makes certain to turn all stones and look for answers beyond the obvious.

Mercy Stree is less violent than many suspense novels and instead focuses on the intellectual aspect of solving crime. This makes for a much more interesting book, as one is allowed the chance to solve the clues before Mallory does. (I only managed that once, but believe me, I felt proud!) Plot-wise Mercy Street paves the way for a long series of books, and I hope Mariah Stewart will continue the series, because even though the book is nicely rounded off, I wanted to know more about the characters, and learn how their internal dynamics developed.

Mariah Stewart writes a captivating book that's hard to put down, but she would have benefitted by having her pacing checked by an editor, as especially the romantic sub-plot seemed rather rushed and therefore less believable than it deserved. Still, that minor nitpick aside, I found it a very entertaining and recommendable crime novel.

Armchair Interviews says: Great start to what might be a series.