Dollycas’s Thoughts

We are back in Sorenson, Wisconsin but this time we are tagging along with Social Worker Hildy Schneider in this second book in Annelise Ryan’s spinoff series from her Mattie Winston Mysteries. Hildy is just starting her new side job working directly with the police on the night shift. Her first call involves a man she has worked with before. Danny Hildebrand has been taking medications to keep his hallucinations at bay for years. When he stops taking them properly or they are no longer working as expected he needs to go into the hospital to get him back on track. Hildy expects that is what she is walking into with the police for this disturbance call. She knows her dog Roscoe has calmed Danny in the past so she convinces the police to let her take the lead. Roscoe does his magic but soon Danny is telling Hildy he isn’t having his normal issues, he swears he is being haunted by a real murder victim.

After getting Danny checked in to the hospital Hildy and her police partner find a horrific murder scene at a rundown farmhouse when sent to do a welfare check. A quick inspection of the scene looks eerily like Danny’s hallucination right down to a particular item. Detective Bob Richmond and Hildy start to work together and even have to call in some alphabet agencies when they discover something truly scary and above their pay grade on the dead farmer’s property. Just how deep is Danny involved in all this illegal activity? Can he be the key to finding the killer? Will Hildy help solve the murder? Or will she become another victim?

Hildy Schneider is a complex leading character. Peel back her layers and you will see how her troubled past has led to her Helping Hands present. She really is an amazing character with a unique way of seeing things others don’t. Her therapy dog Roscoe is fantastic too.

Another complex character is PJ, an autistic pre-teen that lives next door to Hildy and takes Roscoe on walks while Hildy is at work. The girl is brutally honest in all the best ways.

There are several characters that crossover from the other series. The most noteworthy is Detective Bob Richmond who has changed quite a bit over the course of that series and is now pursuing a deeper relationship with Hildy. Hurley makes a cameo at the end of the book and Mattie is mentioned a couple of times in the story. All the characters are well crafted with plenty of room for growth.

The mystery ended up being much more expansive than one dead body. There was a major plan afoot and finding a dead Arthur Fletcher at his kitchen table was just part of a cover-up. I really enjoyed the way the author plotted out this story. Hildy’s keen observation skills and her willingness to really get involved with Danny and his care as she continued to piece everything together really was fun to read. One character felt off to me a few times but I kept discarding it until their behavior became more glaring. My attention still kept being diverted up until the very end.

Again, this story takes place in my home state. I love the local references and overall Wisconsin feel I get when reading books by this author.

Sadly there hasn’t been a 3rd book in this series. I really like the focus on Hildy that this series brings. She is unique and I would love to see more stories featuring her.

If you like your cozy mysteries with a bit of an edge and plenty of humor you will enjoy all the books by this author and those she writes as Allyson K. Abbott.

Solid mystery with a great group of characters. The not so nice side of small town Wisconsin is revealed to Hildy when she takes on another job.

This is a cozy mystery book. It is the second book in a helping hands cozy mystery series. I have to say I liked this book a lot more then the first book. The main person we follow in this book is Hildy Schneider which is a social worker that works for the local hospital and does ride a longs with the local police department. In this book Hildy has to prove a former patient named Danny did not kill someone or is part of a drug ring. I really love the ending, and I did not see it coming until it was being played out of us. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Night Shift

by Annelise Ryan

Two books to read. One—a thought provoking theological memoir with an impending book club deadline. The other—a page turner by one of my favorite authors, Annelise Ryan. She really knows how to tell a story. My decision, given this choice, is not hard to guess. As I finished the mystery, Night Shift, I should have been wearing my “one more chapter” sweatshirt because that is what happened, all the way to a surprising and satisfying conclusion.

Whereas Ryan’s Mattie Winston Mystery Series focuses on forensics and pathology, her equally well-written Helping Hands Series is about Hildy, a social worker who is combining her job with the hospital as a social worker with a newly created position where she rides along with local enforcement officers to support both the officers and the citizens they encounter. The upside is that many of her clients overlap; the downside is that the hours are extended with the jobs back to back not really allowing for any kind of normal sleep routines. Hildy has been trained in appropriate protocol to keep her safe, and she follows it. She has three big advantages in her new job. She is smart and is good at noticing clues and making connections that others may not see. She has a trained therapy dog Roscoe who interacts well with people in crisis helping to calm them. Personal traumas as a child and her experiences in the foster care system make her an understanding advocate.

In this mystery, Hildy’s welfare check on a farmer yields unpleasant results that are just the beginning of an intricate plot. Threads include a female vet with PTSD, a schizophrenic young man who hallucinates, two adult daughters of the victim who are not very nice people, and a militia organization.

Hildy is determined, persistent, and very caring. On a personal level, she befriends a young neighbor with autism and initiates a relationship with a bachelor detective who is ready to make changes in his life. On a professional level, she is confronted by her boss at the hospital who was turned down for the law enforcement position Hildy now holds.

Annelise Ryan’s books have some of the characteristics of a cozy mystery, but they have a little edge to them in the crime scene descriptions. They also have characters with more depth to them than the typical cozy mystery. She takes great care to bring the reader along as she supplies background information from the first novel in a natural and organic way. The characters are interesting and show development. The plot is intricate and fast moving. This is a mystery you’ll be thinking about for days as you wonder what adventures lie in store for Hildy in the next book.

I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #2 in the Helping Hands Mystery Series, but excellent as a standalone

Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books

Memorable Lines:

If eyes truly are the windows to the soul, one look at Danny’s makes it clear that reason and sanity have left that particular building. At least for now.

As I follow her in there, it occurs to me that this is a kid who never displays emotion, and that I may have just been played by an eleven-year-old.

The rest of the station employees not only haven’t noticed, but they’ve made no effort whatsoever to maintain the newly cleaned state. I’m surprised I got the job I did with this department because, apparently, being a slob is one of the criteria for working here.

A great read. This book grabs you right away, with a patient of Hildy’s named Danny, who is schizophrenic. Danny is having what is assumed to be an episode where a ghost is haunting him for not having prevented its murder. Fast forward through the evening.@, Hildy is at her second job as a Helping Hands ride along when a routine wellness check is discovered to be a crime scene. A farmer is dead and an odd discovery is made of a pot farm and other assorted extremely deadly plants. What could the farmer possibly be growing them for? What does Danny know or is he the killer?

I really enjoyed the humor in the story and the characters are interesting and make you want to get to know them especially the animals.

Annelise Ryan is one of my favorite cozy writers. With Night Shift and her new protagonist Hildy Schneider you get a new series of mysteries that are not as funny as her Mattie Winston Mysteries but make up for that with maturity. It is nice for me as a busy mom of three to read a cozy where the leading lady has a career and no kids. A real body and insecurities I feel like I am reading about a real person without all the mommy drama that has come up in the last few Mattie Winston books. These are very enjoyable and I look forward to reading the next offering in the series.

This series has a sleuth with a lot of personal baggage. It was almost to much for me to enjoy the mystery. The 'characters are great, just a little darker than most cozy mysteries. It was a pretty good book but it didn't leave me wanting to read more in this series

Where to start?! I really loved the premise of this book, mental health, social workers, schizophrenia, and OCD aren't common in the cozy world. This is the second book in the series and the first one I have read. I didn't have trouble following along. The characters were definitely interesting and I would be interested in reading the next book just to see how the characters develop.

In the first book in this series we meet Hildy Schneider, a secondary character from The Mattie Winston Mysteries, Ryan's other series. She's a social worker who has recently begun a new job with the Police. This is a trial position where she will do ride alongs where social work intervention would be beneficial. This program is called, Helping Hands.

I loved this book! It is so timely with everything going on right now and police trying to deal with Mental Health interventions when they are not trained for that. Hildy has had quite a life, being a foster child and dealing with issues that went with that. This gives her a wonderful understanding and empathy for others. When she runs into a patient she has dealt with at the hospital rambling and having a meltdown of sorts, she uses her expertise, along with her service dog to calm him down. He is an integral part of the story that involves murder, drugs, and kidnapping. I do not want to give this story away, but suffice it to say that Hildy's skills and knowledge are invaluable in solving this mystery. Hildy is a great protagonist. She is non-confrontational, adept at problem-solving, sympathetic, and passionate. She has her own issues with OCD, food hoarding and kleptomania, but is working with this. She is also trying to solve her mother's murder, which is a cold cast. Throw in a bit of romance, nothing too serious, and you have a woman who is quite realistic. Annelise Ryan has written a well plotted mystery, with great characters, a few twists, some clues and read herrings that all fit together to make an enjoyable cozy mystery. I am looking forward to more Helping Hands Mysteries

Night Shift, the second book in Annelise Ryan’s Helping Hands mystery series is a solid mystery with compelling characters and real-life situations. The ongoing adventures of social worker Hildy Schneider and her therapy dog, Roscoe, make for an engaging and intriguing read.

In addition to serving as a social worker at the local hospital, Hildy is part of Helping Hands, a pilot program where she is allowed to ride along with a police officer to provide support services on welfare calls. On the first such call of the evening, she attends a call at the home of Danny Hildebrand, a former patient who seems to be suffering a breakdown. Danny tells Hildy and her police partner, Devo, about a murder that was witnessed by a purple spotted dinosaur. Danny’s concerns appear to be mere hallucinations until Hildy and Devo discover a man who had been murdered in his own kitchen, in full view of a purple dinosaur cookie jar. When the police target Danny as a prime suspect, Hildy becomes embroiled in a mystery that goes far beyond clearing her patient’s name.

While this book is billed as a “cozy mystery,” it departs from the traditional cozy formula. If you want a feel-good read about a sanitized killing in an idyllic small town, you should look elsewhere. Although Night Shift has many of the cozy elements (amateur sleuth, insular set of characters, etc.), it is much grittier than the typical cozy – think more like a light procedural novel. This is to its credit. Hildy is a complex character, complete with quirks (such as OCD and pocketing small food items) that are both memorable and endearing. In the context of the mystery, the book deals with both topical and social issues in a frank and intriguing manner. And, while I was able to figure out the perpetrator early on, that did not detract from the story itself.

All told, Night Shift is a bit of a departure from the traditional cozy mystery, but its realism and grit make it a compelling book in its own right.

Note: I received an ARC of Night Shift from NetGalley and Kensington Books. The above is my honest review.

Annelise Ryan's second book in the "A Helping Hands Mystery" series, Night Shift, is out now in bookstores. This is a down to earth story about a wonderful character, Hildy, who has many issues. Like her patients, Hildy has emotional and mental challenges that she is working to overcome and control. She also has two jobs, bills to pay, and a jealous demanding boss. Just like everyone else, she strives to do her best professionally and personally. This ultimately makes her very human and sympathetic.

When a patient, Danny, has a crisis, Hildy is there to help and support him and his family. But before long, she realizes that something more is going on with Danny other than his typical issues. She fears his mental illness may have progressed to a strange and unusual degree, but worse that he may have become violent and not even know it. Danny's sister asks for Hildy's help.

Other characters in this book are aware of Danny's issues, and some know of Hildy's as well, they want to help, but they don't want to see a possible murderer get away with the crime. Roscoe is amazing; readers will love the beautiful animal's tenderness and compassion. Hildy's patient is a mess, and it takes all of her support and will power to get him and herself out of trouble. Bob is the love interest for Hildy, but he may move too slow for her liking. There are a few suspects, but not an overwhelming number. The evidence is clear and easy to spot. The killer may come as a surprise to some. The ending will answer the reader's questions, and clear up some issues as well as give them satisfaction on all fronts. I enjoyed Night Shift and look forward to book three.

ARC provided by Kensington Books via Netgalley

Princess Fuzzypants here: Hildy started as a guest character in another series and now that she has her own series, she is developing into such an interesting character. She is currently juggling two jobs where she continues to help patients at her hospital and a brand new one, doing the same thing but this time with a cop on patrol along with her faithful and sweet therapy doggie,

Her first night out brings her to the aid of a patient she knows from the hospital, schizophrenic Danny, who says a ghost is haunting him. Clearly his meds are all messed up but when she goes on a second call, the body of the “ghost’ is discovered and it seems Danny may be more involved that just witnessing something supernatural. Then, on a third call, she must come to the aid of another patient she has helped, a war vet with PTSD. As Hildy learns more about all three, it seems that they are linked in a very dangerous way and if Hildy and her police associates cannot solve the crimes, the results may be catastrophic.

She finds she must walk a very fine line between the two jobs as confidentiality can conflict with public safety. It is clear rules and protocol will need to be established as she moves forward. By the end of the book, she has resolved all the issues and the police are delighted with trial run. I get a feeling she is going to be more involved in her police activities moving forward. It is easy to see why they like her. It would be impossible not to like someone as compassionate, capable and considerate as Hildy.

Five purrs and two paws up.

This is the second book in this series and the first book I have read by this author. I really liked the story. It is an interesting twist on a murder mystery. Hildy is a social worker who has just begun working with police to help with people who have mental illness. In the course of doing a wellness check they find a dead body and a very convoluted mystery begins. The only real negative a had with this book is you need to read the previous book first as this book referenced things from the first that I found hard to understand without the context.

Social Worker Hildy Schneider has picked up a part-time job after her hours are cut at the hospital. She is riding with the small-town Sorenson WI police department. The department is trying out a new program using Hildy's skills to deal with possibly mentally disturbed people on calls. On her first night, she encounters a person she knows very well. Danny Hillebrand is a schizophrenic who has been doing well on a new course of meds, but tonight he is in bad shape. He says he has seen a murder and a pink and purple dinosaur saw it too. Danny says the ghost of the victim is haunting him. After getting Danny, his sister Allie and live-in boyfriend, Joel, to the hospital to be sorted out. Hildy and her police partner go out on a wellness check. The scene is very much what Danny described. There are nefarious forces in Sorensen, involving both Danny and another of Hildy's patients.

Hildy is sympathetic, a person who cares deeply for her patients and those who she meets on her night shift. She is aided and sometimes impeded by a cast of quirky characters and her trusted therapy dog, Roscoe. She may have bitten off more than she can chew with the two jobs, but there may be a welcome resolution coming, both in her work and personal life.This series is a spin-off of Ryan's earlier Mattie Winston series, but it could work as a standalone. The first book in the Helping Hands series is Needled to Death if you like to read in order.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.

I was really excited to get the second book in this series and it did not disappoint. Hildy is such a complex character with a whole lot of baggage and quite a few little quirks. I love that she is apologetically herself and doesn't take any crap from anyone. I also love her focus and determination to get the job done. I also love that she takes her dog with her a therapy dog but I would have liked to see more of him in the story. Overall I really enjoyed this one and I look forward o the next book in the series!

Night Shift is a super mystery with some interesting characters and it is a great second instalment in this entertaining series.

Hildy Schneider, a social worker, starts a moonlighting job in small-town Sorenson, Wisconsin, working with the police, supplementing her main employment at Sorenson General Hospital. On her second night, she visits a former patient, Danny Hildebrand, who has suffered from hallucinations for years. Danny believes he’s genuinely being haunted by the victim of a grisly murder he witnessed, but did nothing to prevent the killing. But when a body shows up in a neglected farmhouse with parts of the head missing, complex protagonist Hildy and Detective Bob Richmond start following the leads.

Having previously read the series opener, Needled to Death in the 'Helping Hands Mysteries' I found this one, Night Shift, equally engrossing. There were several levels to this mystery and it contained a lot of depth and grittiness for a cozy. I loved Annelise Ryan's portrayal of Hildy and I liked her for her sympathetic, sunny nature and hard-working ethos. The story was extremely satisfying with snippets of humour, and a soupçon of romance, alongside some very good twists. I'm very keen to read the next in the series!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

‘Night Shift‘ is the second title in the ‘Helping Hands Mystery‘ series (which has a connection to the ‘Mattie Winston Mysteries‘ series). I try to read in order, that’s just my style, but if you haven’t or cannot read the connecting or the first title in the series you will not feel the least bit lost for anything relative you really should know is spelled out for you. And that is what brings me back to certain authors, making certain that I know what I need to know for right now.

I like Hildy, I really do for she’s realistic in so many ways. She has her own issues, a past that still affects her today and probably always will. She’s real in the sense that I can accept what she’s doing, how she’s acting, and even how she’s thinking things through in a way that makes sense for her. To be frank, I don’t always feel that way about mystery heroines… and it’s worth a mention when I do.

As a social worker for the local hospital, Hildy already has a full plate yet now she’s taking on a second job of riding along on certain police calls where her expertise (and that of her dog Roscoe) can be of great help. It’s on one such call that Hildy will begin to follow the trail of a murder that couldn’t possibly be as a former patient described – yet, there’s the dead body, and the dinosaur (even if it is a cookie jar).

Most of what you’ll need to know before diving into ‘Night Shift‘ can be found in the Cover Description. I was easily swept up in the mystery that Hildy and Bob are investigating. If I figured out who the culprit was before the reveal, well, that certainly didn’t spoil the rest of the story… for there was always that chance that I was wrong. Nope, not going to say if I was or wasn’t – you’ll have to do your own sleuthing.

I enjoyed stepping back into this world, and I’m already anticipating the next story to come. If you love a good Cozy Mystery that draws you in until the ending, then you’ll want to add ‘Night Shift‘ to your reading list.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, Kensington Books via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

It’s only Hildy Schneider’s second official night on her new grant-funded side job riding alongside the local police officers with her canine therapy dog, Roscoe when trouble strikes. Hildy is a social worker and she hopes to turn this new job into a full-time job but in the meantime, she’s learning to balance her duties between her law enforcement job and her work at the local hospital. However, her second night on the job she encounters a patient well-known to her, Danny Hildebrand, who appears to be having another schizophrenic episode. Unfortunately, some of Danny’s hallucinations seem to match a murder scene discovered later that evening. Things are heating up in Sorenson and even a ghost is on the loose. Can Hildy and Detective Bob Richmond uncover what is really going on?

NIGHT SHIFT is the second book in the Helping Hands series and can easily be read on its own merits. Annelise Ryan packs one heck of a story line into NIGHT SHIFT as we are getting to know our characters much better. Some readers may want to read the first book in order to better familiarize themselves with Hildy’s own therapeutic needs, such as her quirk of stealing small food items. However, Annelise Ryan provides enough contextual details to help readers understand Hildy’s past and her awareness of her own stress triggers.

I absolutely love the attention that Annelise Ryan is giving to the social work profession and mental health overall! Annelise Ryan provides a bit of myth busting about schizophrenia as Hildy points out the differences she sees in Danny’s current breakdown as opposed to the ones he typically has when his medications are off, as well as information on how and why individuals with schizophrenia will often stop taking medication. The information is smoothly incorporated into the story line for maximum enjoyment and is extremely relevant to the plot itself. Even better, we watch Hildy wrestling with the sticky ethical issues that social workers can encounter, particularly when she has such different roles in her two jobs. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when professionals take unorthodox, unexplained, or unethical approaches to situations in books and I thoroughly appreciate that Annelise Ryan is maintaining the integrity of both Hildy and the profession of social work in NIGHT SHIFT.

And wow, NIGHT SHIFT’s plot is fascinating and very current considering so many of the societal factors occurring in the here and now! NIGHT SHIFT may be perceived as controversial to some readers due to its unique approach to law enforcement, but Annelise Ryan also maintains the integrity of the police officers Hildy works with as we see the cooperation and teamwork building between the two job roles. And let’s not forget Roscoe, as a therapy dog makes everything so much better! Roscoe plays a key role in helping de-escalate folks and is a marvelous inclusion in the story.

NIGHT SHIFT is a phenomenal second entry in the Helping Hands series, and I can’t rave enough about how much I love it! The complexity of the plot and the strength of the character development are superb and it’s obvious that Annelise Ryan has researched the various professions quite well. I love the little side stories, such as the one about PJ, as they add a sense a realism and depth to the characters. I can’t wait to see what is in store for Hildy, Roscoe, and Bob next in the Helping Hands series!

*review is in the editing queue at Fresh Fiction*

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

This cozy captured my attention from the first page and held it throughout. I really like Helping Hands, a program where a social worker who many in the community are familiar with riding with a police officer. Many people they are called to help can benefit from community referrals, and in this case, Hildy works also at the local hospital and knows available services. She brings Roscoe, her trained therapy dog. The golden retriever has proved to help calm people under stress of illness or other circumstances. The characters are engaging and well-defined and the mystery is quite challenging.

Danny is a young man with schizophrenia. He lives with his sister and her fiancé, and usually does very well when he takes his meds that are well balanced. Hildy has known him a couple years from his emergency room visits. It is Hildy’s first week riding with a police officer, and they are called to Danny’s sister Allie’s home. He is visibly upset, ranting about someone being mad and coming for him, something about a ghost of a man he saw killed and didn’t help save him. None of it makes sense, so Allie, Danny, Hildy, and the comforting Roscoe go to the hospital in Allie’s car with Devo, the cop Hildy is working with tonight, following close behind.

When they pass the cemetery, Danny is convinced he saw the ghost. Later, Allie said she was sure she saw a specter, also! She shares the details Danny told her about seeing a man killed and a pink and purple dinosaur seeing it all. To the best of Hildy’s knowledge, nobody has been found dead in the manner Danny told Allie about.

Later that night, Devo is sent to check on the welfare of a man living alone in the county whose out of state daughter had not been able to get hold of him on their regular weekly call. Hildy is stunned to see that the means of death appears to be the same as what Danny has described, right down to the dinosaur. As if that isn’t enough, when Hildy takes Roscoe for a walk, they see a light through the floor of the open barn. After hearing someone escape from there, investigation by the officers and sheriff reveal a huge cellar full of premium grade pot growing, but very deadly plants that can be used in bioterrorism.

It is hard to imagine Danny having anything to do with this farm, as he never mentioned it to his sister. Yet he described enough of the scene to put him on the radar of the detective, Bob Richmond. Bob and Hildy had gone to dinner recently, and each had hoped to see the other again – just not in these circumstances. Hildy is convinced Danny could not have done the deed and insists on helping Bob with the investigation when not working either of her jobs.

The characters are a great mix. I liked Hildy from the beginning. She has chosen a challenging line of work that she, as a former foster child, can do better than most. Hildy is described best, and each of the others as befitting their roles. I appreciate that Hildy and Bob, despite their ages, are relatively inexperienced in relationships. It makes their dates interesting, and I like the thought of middle—age folks being able to still feel embarrassed. Bob sounds like he is trying to open his life up in many ways, including with Hildy. Danny is well-portrayed; the focus is more on his strengths than just his periodic mental health flares except in terms of the investigation.

I very much enjoyed this complex mystery that kept me guessing throughout. There were enough clues and plot twists to keep this fast-paced novel interesting. This duo of Hildy and Roscoe, and possibly Bob Richmond, gives the good guys a real boost. The lawyer Allie had for her brother was a real piece of work, especially when seeing Roscoe in the room! In some ways, the man provided comic relief in a stressful situation. The bad guy really was diabolical in the extent of deception and planning that went into the crimes. The ending brought surprises even though I had a good idea who the mastermind was, and all loose ends were tied up. And the ghost that everyone saw? I’m not telling! I highly recommend this cozy mystery!

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*