She Treads Softly: Scorched Line

Monday, March 2, 2026

Scorched Line

Scorched Line by Shannon Baker
3/24/26; 273 pages
Severn River Publishing
Kate Fox #12

Scorched Line by Shannon Baker is a highly recommended mystery and the twelfth book in the Kate Fox series set in the Sandhills of Nebraska. This time out all the action is focused on family drama.

All of the Fox family is rallying after their sister Louisa was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She is heading to the hospital for a lumpectomy and has instructions for everyone to keep things running smoothly. At the same time, Kate has picked up several clues that point to their estranged mother Marguerite being back in the area. Complicating matters are Louisa having to stay in the hospital longer than expected, a stranger in town making friends with Kate's siblings, and the FBI is back looking for Marguerite.

The novel moves at a fast-pace following Kate Fox and the on-going family drama, although this time the plot wasn't as complicated or intricate as past novels in the series. The final denouement is predictable, but the drama leading up to it will hold your interest as deceptions and lies are exposed. The question of choosing between legal justice and family, is well played, and Kate's determination to protect her family while struggling with betrayal is a poignant plot element, but honestly, it would be nice to have the whole Marguerite story line done. At the same time Kate's employer, and friend, are still missing in Chile and the novel ends with a hint at the direction the next novel will head.

This is really a series that is best enjoyed by fans who have been following it because of all the backstory I've read several books in it, but still lose track of how some of the characters are connected. Each novel does have an investigation of some kind as the focus, but along with that is the importance of Kate's role in and relationship with her family and other series regulars. Thanks to Severn River Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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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.