Ethel Crestwater is back in the is sequel to Secret Lives, and the retired FBI agent (now landlady) is formidable and cunning as ever. When one of Ethel's boarders is a victim in an attack on a Chief Justice's aid Ethel goes into sleuthing mode as she calls on her contacts for information. Recently appointed Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter could be the next target and Ethel is taking no chances in protecting her. Teaming up once again with her double-first-cousin-twice-removed (and college student) Jesse, the two are a fearsome duo.

The sequel was as delightful as the first, and I hope there are many more to come!

Book: 4.5⭐
Audio Narration: 3.5⭐

A botched mugging leaves one Supreme Court law clerk dead and another seriously injured. The murdered law clerk Robert Finley had been working for Supreme Court Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter who is scheduled to cast the deciding vote for the verdict in a controversial lithium mining case that has several influential people desperate to protect their own interests. Missing from the scene of the crime was Robert’s backpack with important notes on the case. The injured law clerk Brooke Chaplin is the niece of Detective Frank Mancini of the Arlington Police Department and a tenant at the boardinghouse for government employees run by Former FBI Agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater in Arlington, Virginia. Frank is a former boarder and friend of Ethel’s which prompts her to offer to help in the investigation. Joining Ethel in her efforts is her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, Jesse, who also resides in the same boarding house and is a university student.

Though retired, seventy-five-year-old Ethel is sharp and maintains a strong network of past and present highly ranked officers from different branches of law enforcement ( “Ethel’s Army” ). As the bodies continue to pile up, Ethel suspects that not only are people within the system involved, but also the Chief Justice just might be the next target. What follows is a complex web of murder, corruption and conspiracy and Ethel will leave no stone unturned to help unravel the mystery behind the attack and murder and identify the person/people who are targeting the Chief Justice.

With its interesting cast of characters, well-structured plot and plenty of humor, Dangerous Women by Mark de Castrique is an intriguing and entertaining read. I loved Ethel and her resourcefulness. Though there are several characters in the story, the plot is not difficult to follow and at no point did I lose interest. The author incorporates several relevant themes such as political corruption, climate change, clean energy, environmental protection and preservation of land into a tightly woven plot. The pacing does falter in parts but not so much that detracts from the overall reading experience. If you don’t mind a little suspension of disbelief, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Overall, I thought this was a worthy addition to the Secret Lives Mysteries series. I can’t wait for the next in the series!

I combined my reading with the audiobook narrated by Patrick Lawlor, which made for a decent immersion reading experience. Given the large cast of characters, I did feel that the audio experience could have been enhanced had there been more than one narrator.

Please note that though this book is the second in a series, it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the digital copy and ALC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In the second book featuring Ethel, the retired ex-FBI agent who runs circles around the authorities and the bad guys, Mark De Castrique has produced another winner. What an engaging character. And mixed with her once again is an interesting plot. What’s not to enjoy. A quick, fun read.

I must admit I did not know that this was the second in a series, though I had no issues reading and enjoying this, and I will probably go back and read the first one. Ethel Crestwater is a retired FBI officer, she's also 75 years old, she lives in a large house and rents out some rooms to either FBI agents that need a place to stay for a short while or for interns clerking for Justices. Two interns, one of who works for the chief justice, are attacked on their way home, one of them is killed during the attack, the other is seriously wounded. The seriously wounded one had been residing with Ethel so she almost immediately hears of it and begins to investigate why she was attacked. One thing Ethel has is persistence, she does not give up on anything and always seems to be able to find a way out of some very scary situations. The story reaches high up into the government, including senators and other officials, I won't get into the whole why, that's a big part of the story. This was a very good book and I will look forward to the next entry. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

When the supreme court is threatened, law clerks and justices alike are targeted to change the future of clean energy. Ethel, a seventy year old retired FBI agent, drags her double-first-cousin-twice-removed Jesse Cooper into the fray. Their mission: protect Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter and unravel the deadly plot holding the nation's highest court hostage.

Dangerous Women is a political thriller that reads like a spy novel. It reminds me of some of Alex Finlay's books under his pen name Anthony Franze. This book is fast paced, with the POV of both the heros and the villains. This allows for a full bodied picture of what is going on, while still keeping the reader guessing at every twist and turn. I absolutely devoured this book and need an entire series about Ethel. My new goal in life is to be as awesome as her at age seventy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. I highly enjoyed it. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

I haven't rated this because it would not be the right thing to do.

When I chose this book, I didn't know that it was a political thriller. The description did mention it, but I assumed that it was the setting, not the actual premise on which the book was based. I also didn't know that it was the second book in a series, though that does not take anything away from the readability of this book. You can read it as a standalone as well, I'm sure.

I did read 33% of it before quitting, so here's what I can tell you.

Two clerks to the Supreme Court are attacked, and one of them, Robert Finlay, who used to work for The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Clarissa Baxter, unfortunately dies. The other one who is severely injured, is the niece of Detective Mancini.

When Robert died, he had in his possession important papers regarding a case about an environmentally sensitive issue involving whether the mining of lithium for electric car batteries should be permitted as a replacement for oil and fossil fuels, that the judge was supposed to deliberate and pass a ruling on. The bag carrying those documents is now missing, and that's how the investigators now know that this is a politically-motivated crime.

Ethel Crestwater is a dear friend of the detective, and also an ex-FBI agent. She and her trusty sidekick, her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, Jesse Cooper, get drawn into the case which is a conspiracy involving a lot of political bigwigs.

The writing is good, but I am not the right audience for political thrillers, whether it's books or films, and I really dislike them with a vengeance. I am sure this book shapes up well, but for me, there were too many characters, and too complex and multi-layered a plot, in whatever portion that I read, that I just knew that I would not enjoy it or make it to the end.

Best for you to decide for yourselves, if this is the kind of thing that interests you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Definitely, this series has grabbed my attention, it's a pleasure to read about Ethel's adventures and excitement regarding everything she is able to investigate and put into motion. Dangerous Women is an easy read, it's well-written has a great plot, and is pure entertainment!
I thank the author, his publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

A solid mystery / thriller starring a fun protagonist. A little difficult in the beginning with a lot of threads and info thrown at once, but it settled into a slower paced story.

Another wonderful Ethel Crestwater (and Jesse, her double cousin, twice removed) novel.

This is not a typical murder mystery. There is danger, intrigue, and so much action going on.
Ethel gets involved with Supreme Court justices, FBI, Police, political lobbyists, and OPS assassins. It's a dizzying amount of secrets and political corruption to keep track of, but worth grabbing a pen and paper to map it out.

We're Ethel a real person, I would fear her intensely. She has connections on top of connections on top of more connections, while she makes new connections. She's such a badass. This is an author and series I know I will keep following for the long haul.

If you love political dramas, conspiracy and intrigue, and secret agent-esque suspense, this one is for you!

Dangerous Women is book #2 of a series, but I didn’t feel like I was missing any information heading into it without reading #1. It follows Ethel, a retired special agent, as she involves herself in a series of murders surrounding an impending Supreme Court ruling. Plenty of wheeling and dealing to go around!

For thriller fans, just FYI - this is definitely more of a slow build suspense rather than a twisty whodunit. No secret revenge motives or mistaken identities or unreliable narrators here, just cold hard political calculations that pit groups against each other (and escalate quickly!). It was a solid read, in my book - if you’re a fan of this type of genre, I’d definitely give it a try.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my advance digital copy - Dangerous Women is out as of Tuesday (10/24), so keep an eye out for it at your library or bookstore!

Dangerous Women is the second book in the Secret Lives series. Here we are reintroduced to Ethel Crestwater, a seventy five year old retired FBI agent and her double first cousin twice removed, Jesse Cooper as they investigate corruption in the Supreme Court.

I did find the introduction of so many new characters at the beginning of the book a little confusing and it was sometimes hard to remember who was part of which government agency but with the way the story flowed, this was cleared up quickly and it was soon easy to navigate who was doing what to solve the murders.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a short, easy read and the characters were interesting and very well written, especially Ethel who is the epitome of don’t judge a book by its cover.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poised Pen Press and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

We first met sprightly 76 year old, ex-FBI agent and legend Ethel Crestwater in ‘Secret Lives’, where she demonstrated that she is still just as sharp as ever and still a dangerous woman to cross. She runs a boarding house in Arlington for government agents who work in Washington DC, and has a long list of previous tenants now in powerful jobs, including senior Homicide Detective Lt Frank Mancini of the Arlington Police Dept. His niece Brooke Chaplin, a clerk at the Supreme Court, is now one of her tenants.

When Brooke is brutally assaulted and her fellow clerk Robert Finley killed by what looks like a random mugging, Ethel tells Frank she will do whatever she can to help in the investigation. After all she has a string of FBI and Secret Service contacts as well as people in high places she can contact for help. She also has her lodger Jesse Cooper (her double-first-cousin-twice-removed), a grad school student, who ably assisted her previously in investigating the assassination of a secret service agent and is willing to help out again.

When Robert Finlay was killed he was carrying papers that disappeared. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Clarissa Baxter, had asked him to look at the two sides of a deliberation that she had yet to make a decision on – an environmentally sensitive issue involving the mining of lithium for electric car batteries on federal land.

Ethel will need all her skills and diplomacy to solve this politically motivated killing and dig out the corruption in high places. She also needs to be very devious and clever to keep herself and Clarissa Baxter safe from some very determined killers.

This is a well written political thriller and a good follow up to ‘Secret Lives’. Ethel is just as delightful and witty and Jesse is learning a lot following in her wake. Having a real political environmental issue at the focus raises the very topical question of whether environmental destruction from lithium mining should be allowed if it is to battle climate change by replacing our dependence on oil and fossil fuels with electric batteries. Food for thought.

When you retire from the FBI, what do you do? Keep investigating. Ethel Crestwater is in her seventies but that doesn’t stop her from solving crimes, especially when they’re close to home and close to her heart. Along with her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, she investigates the attack on one of her boarders, who happens to be a clerk to a Supreme Court Justice.
Ethel is such a well written character. I don’t often read books with an older protagonist but I’m glad I made an exception for Dangerous Women by Mark de Castrique. Reading about the Supreme Court was so interesting as well. I do feel like there were too many side characters to keep track of. Dangerous Women got 3.5 ⭐️ from me. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter is the deciding Supreme Court vote on a clean energy case where billions of dollars hinge on her decision. But two of her clerks are attacked on their way home leaving one dead and another in a coma while files they carried are stolen. Panic hits Washington D.C. and the Chief Justice is whisked away to safety. But who attacked the clerks and why? The mystery falls to Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a 75-year-old former FBI agent who has connections at all levels of the government. Ethel is clever in anticipating criminals' next moves and also a deadeye shooter. Still, she's 75 and needs the help of her 20-something male cousin who is very tech savvy. Devious political shenanigans are everywhere as Ethel flushes out the bad guys.

Although this wasn't my typical genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The writing was excellent, and the plot was intriguing! I received this ARC from NetGalley without realizing that it was a sequel in a series, but that actually didn't matter because I was still able to follow the story. The pacing was a bit off for me in the sense that it took a while to really take off. I found myself wanting to put it down a few times. This novel is definitely worth the read otherwise!

An attack on two Supreme Court clerks leaves one dead and he other in a coma. The deceased worked for Chief Justice Baxter. His backpack containing information on an environmental case before the court is stolen. Brooke, the surviving clerk, lives at a boarding house run by Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a seventy-five year old retired FBI agent. She may be retired, but she has influential connections and she is a force to be reckoned with. While the police and FBI must work within legal boundaries, Ethel may sometimes step slightly over with the help of Jesse, her double first cousin twice removed, providing technical assistance. Baxter is the deciding vote on the environmental case and it is Ethel who suggests a plan of action to the FBI’s director while working to solve the murder and keep Baxter safe. An attack on Ethel and Jesse proves just how dangerous she can be. Mark de Castrique has written a story of political intrigue that gives you murder, insider trading and environmental issues. Ethel is a cross between Miss Marple and James Bond. She can wield a cane as she plays the old woman to pass unnoticed or a shotgun when confronted by an assassin. Dangerous Women provides a wild ride from the very beginning and will have you hoping that Ethel will soon return. I would like to thank Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing this book for my review.

This was a delightful follow-up in the series, this book follows Ethel and her cousin Jesse. A delightful murder mystery involving the Supreme, Court, the FBI, Senators and Lobbyists.

If you're in the mood for fast-paced story, pick up Dangerous Women. I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone. A thrilling, comforting and gripping political thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

This was not a bad story! Ethel was probably my favorite character! I did not realize it was second in a series but I don’t think it really mattered.

This is the second book in this incredible series. A well-developed police procedural highlighted by the main character, seventy-ish Ethel Fiona Crestwater. Ethel retired after decades with the FBI and rents rooms in her home to law enforcement personnel. Her assistant, and double-first-cousin-twice-removed, is computer guru Jesse Cooper. She has had the honor of hosting the Directors of the FBI and Secret Service when both men were beginning their careers…she now has them on speed dial. One of her current Renting a room to Brooke, a law clerk for one of the justices on the Supreme Court. When Brooke is attacked, she and Jesse don’t believe that this was a simple mugging. As they investigate, Ethel believes that there is a conspiracy involving a senator and lobbyists. She learns that an upcoming decision, to be made by the Supreme Court, may also be involved. When she believes that the life of the chief justice may be in danger, she counts on her many friends and contacts to keep the justice safe and thwart the conspiracy. A page turner that I couldn’t put down until the very last page! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Master storyteller Mark de Castrique returns with his popular Secret Lives Mystery series with #2, DANGEROUS WOMEN —with the sharp and witty 75-year-old ex-FBI agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater involved in a high stakes, highly controversial lithium mining case in this riveting political thriller.

Clean Energy is a Dirty Business.

We met & loved the feisty 75-year-old retired ex-FBI agent/owner of a boarding house, Ethel Fiona Crestwater, and her sidekick, Jesse, a double-first-cousin-twice-removed tech-savvy college student in Secret Lives #1.

Ethel runs a boarding house for federal agents and law enforcement officers in her Arlington, Virginia home. Since Jesse is the only family she has left, she is happy to have him stay with her while he works on his postgraduate degree.

It is the night before the Supreme Court decision with significant implications for the lithium mining industry—which is all but sure to come down to a vote from 48-year-old Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter.

A Supreme Court law clerk is attacked. The thugs get the backpack with the notes for the upcoming highly controversial lithium mining case. He winds up dead.

This is the beginning of a coverup and a string of bodies leaving Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter with a target on her back. The talented Crestwood and Jesse, with all her FBI contacts and skills, are determined to keep her safe, find the bad guys, and help uncover the conspiracy.

We also meet Arlington Police Detective Frank Mancini's niece, Brooke, a boardinghouse resident run by Ethel and a close friend of Frank, who is caught in the crossfire and in a coma. Brooke’s laptop has gone missing.

Ethel sets in motion a masterful plan with her mad skills, and fireworks fly with all the DC politics, conspiracy, and dangers. With the help of her savvy cousin Jesse Cooper (dynamic duo), Ethel breaches more than protocol as she attempts to keep the chief justice–and herself–out of the crosshairs of a very determined killer.

Ethel is not always a rule follower and will bend them to achieve her goal of seeking justice.

The author has created a fascinating, intelligent, highly relatable, witty main character and clever heroine. DANGEROUS WOMEN is fast-paced, action-packed, suspenseful, and timely. What an adventure!

THOUGHT PROVOKING! I enjoyed the author's note regarding climate change, and in response, the effort to convert vehicles from fossil fuels to batteries has become a national priority. The critical battery element lithium is in short supply. Exploration for new domestic sources that can be minded is desirable and essential for national defense.

The author proposes critical questions: what environmental price do we pay to save the environment? What people do we harm in the process? These are complex answers for the courts, politicians, energy companies, and our country.

While DANGEROUS WOMEN can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading SECRET LIVES #1 to get to know Ethel and Jesse!

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Blog Review Posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 24, 2023
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