She Treads Softly: Edge of Dusk

Monday, September 12, 2022

Edge of Dusk

Edge of Dusk by Colleen Coble
7/12/22; 352 pages
Thomas Nelson
Annie Pederson #1

Edge of Dusk by Colleen Coble is a highly recommended romantic-suspense novel and the first book in a new series.

Nine-year-old Annie Pederson’s life changed the night her five-year-old sister was kidnapped. Twenty-four years have passed but Annie still thinks about this loss, even while she is mourning a new loss, that of her her husband and parents in a boating accident. Annie is now a law enforcement ranger, still runs the property at the Tremolo Resort and Marina she inherited, and has her eight-year-old daughter Kylie to keep her more than busy. Even when her first love, Jon Dustan, returns after nine years away, she is determined to avoid him. That goal proves to be impossible, especially when she discovers the body of a missing hiker floating by her docks. Quickly, bodies begin to appear and suspicious behavior abounds around the lake.

The plot expands and complications are added as the investigations multiply. It soon becomes clear that Annie is in danger too. Someone is targeting her. The novel is set in Rock Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. Coble provides plenty of realistic details to firmly establish the setting and local atmosphere and dialogue of the area. For fans of Coble, there are cameo appearances from beloved characters.

The characters are all fully realized and their struggles are realistic. There is tension building due to the investigations and because of the still present attraction between Annie and Jon. There are moments when you have to set disbelief aside in order to enjoy the novel, but that seems relatively easy to accomplish. This is a mystery that does not need a language warning.

From the multiple plot elements, there are also multiple mysteries, some of which will be solved. The pace is quick which helps ensure the plot is compelling and interesting. There are some loose ends and unfinished plot elements that will likely be carried forward to the next book in the series. Following Edge of Dusk, is book two Dark of Night (January 2023), and book three Break of Day (July 2023).

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas Nelson Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.