Private Investigator Kelly Pruett's latest job takes her undercover at a women's homeless shelter. After discovering rampant drug dealing in both the shelter and a nearby clinic, Kelly's client kicks her off the case before she has a chance to search for a missing teenager who had previously stayed at the shelter. With dead bodies piling up and other teenagers disappearing, Kelly is determined to stick with the case until she puts a stop to the drug ring and brings the missing teenagers home—even if doing so puts her own life at risk.

DECEIVED is a great addition to the Kelly Pruett Mystery series. The novel was full of twists. Kelly continues to improve at her job of private investigating as she takes on new cases, learns new skills, and faces different challenges. In DECEIVED, Kelly is forced to face many of her preconceived ideas and overcome some of her faults. She really grows as a person in this novel—both as an investigator but as a mom/ex-wife/friend/sister/daughter-in-law/girlfriend/etc. I can't wait to see what happens next with Kelly and the rest of the main characters.

Deceived, by Mary Keliikoa, is a Romantic Suspense that highlights the importance of family. It also focuses on important social issues such as homelessness, addiction and the criminals who take advantage of homeless people. The main character, Kelly Pruett, is a Private Investigator who's taken over her late father’s PI business. While I liked her and found her interesting, she was terrible at reading people, she ignored golden opportunities and she also seemed somewhat gullible. While It felt a little unusual to constantly feel like I was one step ahead of her, the book kept my interest and kept me rooting for her.

This series just keeps getting better. In Deceived, Kelly Pruett is hired to find out about drug dealing at a homeless shelter, but her first night undercover tells her that the case isn’t that simple and the key to solving it might be with the missing woman she isn’t meant to find. The plot gets even more twisty and the tension ramps up right to the very satisfying end. Kelly Pruett is one of my favorite PIs!

Thank you NetGalley and Camel Press for the eARC.
The cover is great and I loved the fact there was a dog in the book, but otherwise, I'm sorry to say, I just couldn't get into the book. It seemed repetitive and I was bored throughout, hoping it would get better. It, and the protagonist just didn't engage me. Sorry!

An action-packed thriller, Deceived is filled with interesting well-crafted characters you will want to get to know.

Especially Kelly as she takes on a case at a homeless shelter only to find there is a killer on the loose.

Great story I could not put down until the very end.