5 stars for The Nature of Secrets (Finley O'Sullivan #2) by Debra Webb

 

From USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb comes a thrilling installment in the Finley O’Sullivan series about a well-connected woman who stands accused of her husband’s murder. She’s innocent—unless Finley proves otherwise.

Legal investigator Finley O’Sullivan has had a difficult year in the wake of her husband’s murder. But in her line of work, there’s no time to grieve. Her job is to protect the firm’s clients and defend their innocence through grueling investigative work.

Ellen Winthrop is a force to be reckoned with in the financial world. In a male-dominated industry, she shattered the glass ceiling by empowering and promoting women. But now her husband is dead, killed in the Winthrop family home—and she stands accused of his murder.

Finley, as the investigator at the firm Ellen Winthrop hired to defend her, has a clear objective: prove that Ellen didn’t do it. But the deeper Finley digs into the Winthrops’ marriage, the more she starts to doubt Ellen’s story. The uncomfortable truth is that Ellen Winthrop may in fact have killed her husband.

And he might not have been the first.

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What I thought about The Nature of Secrets

Wow!  I've been glued to this book for the past two days, not able to put it down.  This is the second book in the Finley O'Sullivan series and it can be read as a standalone. 

Finley is recovering from a devastating tragedy that upended her life in many ways.  She's working as an investigator for a defense attorney while attempting to find out who murdered her husband.  Currently working on a case involving the murder of a man with a dubious background, she's also involved with off-the-books activities in her own investigation. She's compelled to follow a certain course of action with regard to her past, and struggles with it at the same time.  But she can't stop.  I really liked this part of her character. She's driven by her demons and knows it's going to get her in trouble (or dead) and she does it anyway.

The murder mystery is thoughtfully crafted and presented.  I liked how the details were revealed a little at a time as Finley investigates.  There were a few times I held my breath as things became serious as a result of Finley's actions.

I loved everything about this book.  The characters are interesting and easy to connect with, even the slightly-creepy Ellen Winthrop. There's plenty of emotional content here too -- it's not just all investigation.  Finley's struggles in her professional and private life are moving and thought provoking.  And I wanted more of the cast of supporting characters.

Overall, I liked the characters and their journey, the well-crafted murder mystery, and the page-turning pace of this story.  Left me wanting more of Finley O'Sullivan.

About the Author

(from debrawebb.com)

DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 150 novels, including reader favorites the Faces of Evil, the Colby Agency and the Shades of Death series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity. Recently Debra was awarded the distinguished Centennial Award for having achieved publication of her 100th novel. With this award Debra joined the ranks of a handful of authors like Nora Roberts and Carole Mortimer.

With more than four million books sold in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm and spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go. Visit Debra at www.debrawebb.com.