Book #11 in the Lewis Cole series by Brendan DuBois. Each book can easily be read as a stand alone but there are references to prior books that may be missed if you've not read all of this excellent series. HARD AGROUND finds Lewis restricted to his home and bed after surgery. Pain when up and moving around provide more than enough incentive to stay off his feet. But Lewis is an investigative journalist and cannot ignore the many unconnected crimes and inconveniences that seem to be plaguing his home and community. As Lewis sends his friends on missions for information, the visitors at his door prove just as significant to the story. Of Lewis can't go to the mystery, the mystery will come to him. What a great curve ball DuBois has thrown as readers try to connect the dots and solve the many questions. But as always, I missed a few clues so did not see this ending in the cards. But I certainly enjoyed the game while playing...er.... reading.

Hard Aground by Brendan DuBois is the highly recommended eleventh novel in the Lewis Cole series. In this outing Lewis finds himself "hard aground" as he recovers from major surgery.

Due to an experience when he was in the Department of Defense, Lewis Cole has to check his body for tumors. At the end of the last novel in the series, Storm Cell, a tumor was found. In Hard Aground Lewis is home bound as he recovers. This doesn't stop the action and suspense from coming to Cole. He is hearing someone entering his house at night, but there is no evidence of it. Then he has this couple who claim to be historical/genealogy researchers repeatedly coming to his door. The biggest news is that antiques dealer and a local historian Maggie Tyler Branch was murdered and it may be tied to the opioid epidemic.

There is more action than one would expect in a novel where the main character is home bound, recovering from major surgery and having to deal with draining the wounds. It is always good to see long time characters Felix Tinios, Paula Woods, and Det. Sgt. Diane Woods back. They are all also helping nurse Cole in his recovery. Hard Aground has a Rear Window quality to it. Our main character is very limited in what he can do, but his mind is still active and he can piece information and clues together.

This is a more subdued novel compared to others in the series. There are still several mysteries presented that will come to satisfying resolutions.I really love this whole series. Thanks to Severn River Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, NetGalley, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Brendan Dubois is my new favorite author and Lewis Cole one of the beat characters to come along in a while. The setting of a small town in New Hampshire and and intriguing storyline made this a book I finished in one day. Lewis has a mysterious background in government and is housebound from surgery. The various plots and subplots provide mystery and thrill from .beginning to end. The mystery involving Lewis's house made this one of best entries in an excellent series. Highly recommend

Hard Aground is a well written novel about Lewis Cole, a character we know from previous novels, who is recuperating from surgery and pretty much confined to his home and mostly his bed. The writing is such that I felt as if I could actually feel his pain. There are welcome flashes of humor throughout the book which has several stories to tell. —. murder, heroin, missing silver, mysterious footsteps, newspapers struggling to survive, etc. it is also a testament to friendship.
It is easy to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this genre and I thank NetGalley and Severn River Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

I’m loving the Lewis Cole series! Easily read as a standalone, Hard Aground is the next fun, fast-moving story in the mystery series. Even though Lewis is suffering from recent surgery, he resolves several challenges of murder, theft, house invasions, and persistent, pesky visitors using his usual inventive, quirky style. An entertaining read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn River Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.