This mystery offers an engaging plot with a historical twist that will appeal to fans of small-town secrets and intrigue. The pacing is steady, and the protagonist is both relatable and determined. While some plot points may feel predictable, the rich setting and intriguing mystery make it an enjoyable read.

To be fair, I have yet to encounter a Paige Shelton book I didn’t love. Lost Hours is the latest in the fascinating Alaska Wild series which tells the story of Beth Rivers an author of thrillers who was kidnapped and held hostage by a deranged man who has yet to be caught. Fearing he would be back for her, she fled, ending up in Benedict, an isolated Alaska village. Remote Alaska, Beth notes, is where people go when they are running from something. Benedict is no different and the result is a town full of live and let live misfits. In this book, Beth is attempting to help a woman in witness protection while unraveling a mystery.

I can’t get enough of this series. I actually went back and read the previous books in the series AND started her Scottish Bookshop series.

Beth Rivers is in a witness protection of her own devising in Benedict, Alaska, one of the smallest and most remote places anyone could think of as a new home. It’s nearing summer and folks are coming into town, socializing more, and tourists are back. She’s in hiding from the man who kidnapped her. He’s never been found but she knows his mission is to kill her.

Beth also found her father or rather he found her. She’s still angry but also wants to get to know him. Her mother remains in the wind. It’s complicated as they say. Beth is still living at the halfway house, having mistaken it for a hotel when she first arrived. She just never left.

In July, the sun is out and tour boats are on the water so Beth decided it was safe for her to go along. Passing one of the islands, a bloodied woman is on the shore, waving for help. She claims she was kidnapped three days before, brought to the island by her kidnapper who was then killed by a bear.

The woman confides in Beth that she’s in witness protection but doesn’t want to call the police because they know and don’t like her. Sympathetic, Beth tries to help. When another kidnapping happens soon after, Beth and the police chief are sure the crimes are connected. Solving these cases won’t be easy.

This is book five in the series (all available in audio too). While readers may think Beth’s unsolved attack is taking too long, there are enough murders and mayhem in Benedict that Beth’s situation simmers in the background. I like Beth. She’s got her quirks and secrets but is a loyal friend, best-selling writer of thriller books, under a pen name of course, and she’s grown to love a solitary-ish life in Alaska. Shelton’s descriptions of Alaska give readers a sense of place without overwhelming amounts of detail. If you’re looking for a good mystery and friendly (for the most part) characters, reading about Alaska in a July setting is a good choice (otherwise there would be a lot of snow!).

Shelton is a prolific writer and has penned these series: the Farmers’ Market (six), Country Cooking School (five), Dangerous Type (three), and Scottish Bookshop (eight) mysteries, plus one young adult book.

This was my first book in the Alaska Wild series. I didn't feel lost at all, and enjoyed the story a lot. That said, I intend to go back and read the previous books because I liked the characters and want more of their stories.
When the tour boat that Beth is on sees a woman on shore, covered in blood - Beth is asked to talk to the woman and help calm her/find out what happened. From there, we get twists and turns in the plot, Beth exploring her relationship with her newly-returned father, and a host of interesting characters that reside in the place Beth calls home.
The atmosphere is great and the mystery was interesting. Although everything in this particular story is wrapped up, the book ends on a suspenseful set up to what is sure to be book 6.

Many thanks for the complimentary ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and the author/publisher.

For some reason I’m struggling with this one. Perhaps it’s that I haven’t read the previous 4 book in the series to understand what’s going on, but I’m a little confused and believability is stopping me. Not recommending this one as a stand alone read for sure.

Lost Hours is the 5th book in the series. I read the first book Thin Ice I enjoyed the mystery of the book. I missed reading the other ones. it's well written keeps you in suspense and excited till the end of the book. So much is happening in the book that you are not bored for one minute of the book. Its a real page turner. Beth Rivers character keeps you guessing till the end.

Even though this was book 5 in the series (and I’ve only read book 4 and now this one!) it can easily be read as a standalone. So I loved that part! The atmosphere was great and I absolutely love our sleuth - Beth. It had great pacing and is definitely on the edgier/darker side to cozies, but still so good. Can’t wait for the next installment!

I am so sorry. I read this long ago, before my divorce trauma, so I do not remember it. I do not have access to the book any longer and really do not remember anything about

I girl bossed too close to the sun and grabbed too many NetGalley requests. Now here we are still waiting for a review. Well, here is what I have right now.

This was sadly a DNF for me. I could never get into the story. I’ve read others in the series but this one just lost my interest and couldn’t get back into it.

A year after arriving in Benedict, Beth Rivers is feeling very at home in Alaska, even as outsiders are starting to return to enjoy the brief summer perfection. Beth feels like she’s finally let go of most of her demons. She’s even found her father, Eddy Rivers—or, rather, he found her—and she's trying to find the middle ground between anger and forgiveness.

The saga of Beth Rivers on the run in Alaska initially interested me because of the St. Louis connection, and I interviewed Shelton at one point. But this latest installment made me think the series has gone on too long. That’s probably why I forgot to give feedback for months after I finished the book.

Paige Shelton writes several mystery series. Some are cozy mysteries which are my preferred genre. When my sister told me about the Alaska Wild books they seemed way to thriller for me, but when I got Lost Hours from NetGalley I decided to give it a try. After consuming the first four books, because I only read a series in order, I finally got to Lost Hours. The entire series is good and this volume kept up the streak. Shelton keeps the tension tight, but not terrifying. Beth Rivers finally feels at home in Alaska after rough run of being kidnapped and escaping, then being involved in several other murders. While on a glacier sight seeing boat ride, she witnesses a woman covered in blood waving down the boat. Her story has many similarities to Beth's, so once again she is involved in a mystery. Suspenseful without being too much for me, I look forward to Shelton's next volume of Alaska Wild expected in December.

This has become one of my favorite series. Not only do I like Beth Rivers a lot, I love reading about this remote Alaska town. The story drew me in quickly and I didn't want to put it down until I finished it. I stayed up way too late reading this one. I'm already looking forward to the next one in the series.

This is book 5 in the Alaska Wild series. Beth has now lived for a year in Benedict, Alaska and is feeling part of the small town. Her estranged father is also living there and they are slowly building their relationship. While on a glacier tour the boat finds a young woman on an island covered in blood who claims to be a kidnap victim. When a local girl goes missing they think the two are somehow connected. Beth seems to be the connection factor and is trying to help the police. I think that reading some of the previous books might help understanding Beth's life in Alaska.

Beth Rivers is a book author. At the beginning of the story, we find her living in the small town of Benedict, Alaska, where she ran away to a year earlier after becoming the victim of a very public kidnapping. Scarred by trauma and troubled by a complicated relationship with her father Eddy, she is slowly starting to reclaim her life knowing that she will eventually face her abductor in trial. When she witnesses the rescue of a woman named Sadie claiming she is the victim of a kidnapping, she immediately empathizes. But there are questions about the veracity of her story. As Beth starts to investigate on her own, matters take a turn for the worse when a young woman goes missing close to the place where Sadie was found. Are these incidents related? Is Sadie’s story true?

Thoughts:

The fifth installment of the Alaska Wild series is a cozy mystery with an interesting premise, but I struggled to feel connected to the characters and engaged in the story. This is not a stand-alone book; there is not enough backstory to help in understanding Beth’s world and most of the people around her. The pacing drags for a little over half of the book, but the mystery increases in complexity and leads to a surprising unfolding of events. However, Beth's involvement with the local authorities did not seem plausible. On the other hand, the author did a respectable job of capturing the isolation and the beauty of the small Alaska town and its surroundings.

The story ends in a cliffhanger that paves the way for the next book in the series.

Overall, this book did not appeal to me, but it might be of interest to fans of the author’s Alaska Wild book series, and to lovers of cozy mysteries and of remote Alaska settings.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

#NetGalley#bookstagram#booktrovert#booklover##bookstagrammer#bookreviews#goodreads

I received this eARC from NetGalley ages ago and, because I like to read a series starting at the beginning, that is what I did last year, searching for the books at the library and I think bought one. Then I forgot about this 5th installment until recently.

I was captivated when I first began by Beth River's story of arriving in Benedict, Alaska on the run after escaping a horrible kidnapper back in Missouri. The first few books were riveting and I loved the setting as well as the characters in the small town that Beth got to know.

This fifth installment seemed different, all over the place in terms of plot with some rather unbelievable developments and, honestly, if I hadn't read the prior novels in the series, I would have not liked it much at all. There is some attempt to convey the relevant pieces of the backstory but not enough, in my opinion, to clue a reader in who hasn't followed along on Beth's Alaska journey.

I rate this really as 2 1/2 but rounded up to a 3. It did end with a bit of an interesting cliff hanger so I might read the next book, if there is one. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read Lost Hours.

Well written and interesting read. The main character is in a position to help someone who says they’ve been kidnapped. The story is trying to solve to why has she been kidnapped and who did it. Throughout the journey new clues seem to be popping up that contradict her story. Now everyone is determined to find the truth.

This could have been an interesting mystery if I understood what was happening. Too many people with who we didn't know and didn't know the details of their past with the main character. The ending was a bit abrupt. Maybe if I had read all the previous books in the series I would have liked it better. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc and no pressure for a positive review.

Loved the setting and enjoyed the story. I didn’t read the others and felt a little lost but it all worked out. Part family redemption and part mystery.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beth doesn't have to be so circumspect in her hideout in Benedict, Alaska anymore. Her kidnapper has been caught in Missouri and awaiting trial. Her father Eddy has settled and is taking tourists on trips on his small boat, while trying to rebuild Beth's trust. A woman covered in blood on a nearby island, telling a tale of kidnapping, brings Beth into yet another mystery in Benedict. The police used their shared trauma as a tool to get more information from the reticent Sadie. There were a lot of threads and red herrings going through this story, I was surprised how it all tied together.

Mystery set in a small town in Alaska. Author did a good job with the characters and atmosphere. I really liked the remote setting and reading about life there and the importance of community. This book is #5 in a series and I thought it worked fine as a standalone. I enjoyed the characters enough that I'd be interested in going back and reading the previous books in the series.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.