This is a great thriller that captivated me from page 1! It begins with young Jeremiah trapped in a cellar somewhere and later we see his younger sister and mother terrified as 8-year-old Jessica had left him for a minute and saw him walking on the pier at Lake Michigan. Thinking he might have fallen in, authorities search the lake but find no trace of him except for a mitten.. His mother, Jo and her friend Emily begin a new search , hoping he's alive. And then things take a turn for the worse! This book moves at break-neck speed so make sure you have time to read in big chunks!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

With a mix of drama, romance (will there be a wedding or not?), friends and family this is a rollercoaster ride for book four of The Coroner’s daughter mystery series. Much of the action takes place in Chicago and focuses on the kidnapping of the main characters best friend … however this is just the start of a lot of complicated stories interweaving. My favourite part of this book by far is the ending; but obviously you’ll need to get to that point to know why! Definitely a teary moment. I really want to know more about the ending so hope there will be another book in the series. Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for this copy in exchange for review.

Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is a fast-paced psychological thriller about a woman named Dr. Emily Hartford, a coroner, who returns to her home town of Freeport after receiving news that her best friend’s son is missing. Even after having been gone for ten years a building a new life with her boyfriend/ex-fiance in Chicago, Emily finds herself caught up in feelings of nostalgia that comes with being truly home. Emily is quickly thrust into helping alongside the investigation which turns into something more sinister once the child returns home.

I could not put this book down. I loved that the strong female lead was well crafted. Emily took charge and was respected for her medical knowledge but also showed a vulnerable, caring side when with friends and family. This story was a good mix of all the things I love in a good book: a solid storyline with well developed characters and exhilarating plot twists. I highly recommend this book to others! Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much @partnersincrimevbt @blackstonepublishing @jgdornbush for an advance copy of this book!

3.5⭐️

✨ 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 ✨
This is book 4 in the Coroner’s Daughters series but can be read as a standalone, as it gives background information throughout the story! I read book 3 last year, and wanted to see how the main characters story would continue.

Dr. Emily Hartford returns to her hometown in Michigan because her best friend’s son has gone missing. She helps with family tension and search efforts, along with her Chicago boyfriend Brandon.

Emily’s best friends son luckily has been found safe but the mystery continues with his story of what happened. The local authority asks for Emily’s help with the case at hand and Brandon is wary of Emily getting overly involved in the case.

You could feel Emily’s constant pull to her small hometown that loved her and supported her. Emily is right in the middle of the case and her friend’s family tensions, and you could feel the unknown questions weighing down everyone as they searched for answers.

The ending had a surprise cliffhanger that will make you eager for book 5!! If you have read previous books in the series, you won’t want to miss the next one!

✨ 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
♦️ Small Town Mysteries
♦️ Police Procedurals
♦️ Complicated Family Dynamics
♦️ Suspense and Unexpected Twists

Frozen Lives is book four in The Coroner's Daughter Mysteries series by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.
The characters are very interesting and I think will develop into excellent ones to follow if the series continues. The plot was very intriguing, interesting and entertaining.
Very well written with an engaging plot and unforgettable characters. There were a few twists and turns that kept me on my toes until the unpredictable ending.

Thank You NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this gifted arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 4th book in The Coroner’s Daughter series and of course I had no idea it was part of a series, not having read the first three. But it was still easy to follow and it could definitely be read as a standalone.

It was a great read and intrigued me from the very beginning. The writing was very well written and kept me turning the pages the whole way through, making me wanting to know what was coming next. It had so much suspense and mystery, and certain parts were even chilling to read, knowing that this kind of thing can happen in real life and has already, it’s even more chilling to think about.

If you like mystery, crime, and suspense, this is a great book to read. Especially during the winter months coming up.

What a wonderful new-to-me series! Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is a mystery with plenty of suspense, investigation, and family drama. Dr. Emily Hartford is a successful surgeon in Chicago, Illinois along with her boyfriend Brandon. However, she grew up in Freeport, Michigan where she was the daughter of the local coroner and helped him out when she was younger.

When Emily gets a call from her friend Jo Blakely that Jo’s son Jeremiah is missing, Emily leaves for Freeport. Arriving there, she immediately goes to the police station to talk with Detective Aditson. Jeremiah turns up a few days later, alive and seemingly unharmed. However, his account of what happened doesn’t sound right. On top of this, Jo and her husband are having marriage problems. However, the situation rapidly gets worse.

Emily is an excellent surgeon, but she’s also a great medical examiner. She has a sense of curiosity and is a bit of a risk taker, except when it comes to relationships. She has a sense of curiosity and doesn’t easily let go of her small-town connections. Brandon loves the city and doesn’t understand why Freeport appeals to Emily or why she rushes there to be with her friend. Many of the other characters are also well-defined and have depth.

The story quickly hooked me with a gripping prologue. A feeling of deep anxiety became prevalent as the story progressed, even though readers learn the identity of the antagonist halfway through the novel. The antagonist’s mental illness has a terrifying realism that is memorable and chilling. This riveting mystery kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. What an ending! It was foreshadowed and I guessed what was coming, but I was happy to see I was right despite a bit of a cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait to see where the author takes the story next. Threads include marriage, missing individuals, friendship, romance, family drama, and much more.

Overall, this was an intense, suspenseful, and engaging mystery. Exceptional characters, intense and emotional events, and multiple conflicts kept me rapidly turning the pages. The story exceeded my expectations. While this is the fourth book in the Coroner’s Daughter series, it can be read as a standalone. However, it does have some spoilers that might affect the enjoyment if you plan to read the earlier novels. Despite this, I want to read the others. They should add depth to Emily’s background and relationships with those in Freeport. This new-to-me author has me hooked on the characters, solid mysteries, and her excellent writing. Readers who enjoy mysteries with great characterization and excellent writing will likely enjoy this series.

Blackstone Publishing and Jennifer Graeser Dornbush provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 29, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

What! Wow! Cliffhanger! Loved it! Need more!! Had a moment at the end Ahhhhh!!!

Full disclosure- I jumped in at Book 4. Read it easily as a stand alone and with cliffhanger at the end I knew I had to get more to tide me over until Book 5 comes out.

This was my first book by Jennifer Graeser Thornbush and it will not be my last. I immediately became so invested in Dr Emily Hartford, her family, friends, community and the people around her in Freeport, MI. All of the pieces that make her whole seem to be keeping her there.

This time, Emily is going the extra mile for her best friend Jo and her son Jeremiah have been abducted and must be found. This a fast paced read with perfect timing. There are sub plots that follow along as well (loved it) that keep the series going.

I need the characters in a series to grow with each book. I do not like redundancy in a series,playing catch up or things being on repeat. I need each book to wrap most things up and who doesn’t love a cliffhanger? This series checks all of the boxes for me.

Firstly. That ending?! Are you kidding me?!
I'm most definitely going to need the rest of this series.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was fun and fast paced but it was also emotional. The loss of your parents creates a pain in you that you carry with everything that you do. Emily is aware of that and because of that she holds the people she loves closer and holds them a little tighter. So when her best friends son goes missing she is present and ready to help.

I loved the emotion that this story carried. It was heavy on loss, mental illness, and found family. I love how this story developed and the raw emotion that you saw in each character. (Although let me say, there's this one character who is such a whipped mommas boy that I wanna fight him in a dark alley-_-)

Basically, Ive now ordered books 1-3 and I am already praying I get approved to read the 5th book because that ending was horrid.

I enjoyed this mystery set in the cold north of Michigan. I like Emily as an amateur sleuth who has the help of a friend, an ex-FBI agent. Emily is sort of a non-heroine. She is a good support but it is really others who do the actual work on the abduction. I did not like Emily's over managing her relationship to Brandon. I rarely hope a romance will not happen but I did so with this novel. There was quite an emphasis on that relationship in the novel. In that respect, this novel is for readers who like about as much on the personal life of the main character as on the suspenseful mystery.

One aspect of the novel that captured my attention was how kids responded to the disappearance of a classmate. Speculation was rampant and the possible explanations were imaginative. That this novel deals with the abduction of a child may be a trigger situation for some potential readers.

I like Dornbush's writing style. She has included secondary characters to add depth to the main kidnapping plot. This is the latest in a series but it is the first I've read and I felt it read well on its own. Reading the earlier books in the series would help to better understand Emily's relationships with others in her home town, however.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Partners in Crime Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

FROZEN LIVES (Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries Book #4) by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery featuring Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford who gets pulled back to her small hometown of Freeport, Michigan when her best friend and son go missing. This is easily read as a standalone crime thriller and the author does a great job of intertwining Emily’s life from the previous books, so I never felt lost with her current relationships.

Emily is happy sharing a surgical practice in Chicago with her boyfriend, but she just cannot let go of her small town roots and all of her friends in Freeport, Michigan. She receives a call for help when her best friend Jo’s son, Jeremiah, goes missing. He is discovered a few days later unharmed, but the man who took him is still free. With accusations only ramping up the tensions in Jo’s crumbling marriage, Emily feels the need to support her friend.

As they all try to get back to a normal routine, no one knows the danger has not passed them by and it is about to become a race to find a twisted kidnapper and rescue Emily’s friends from a possible watery grave.

I could not put this book down and I am surprised that I had not read any of this series previously. If you have not either, this is a good book to jump in on because the author does a great job of giving the reader enough of Emily’s past and relationships so as not to be confusing. That said, I will be going back to read the previous three books because I enjoyed the author’s fast paced crime plot and hope the other three are just as interesting and well written. Even knowing who the kidnapper/killer is does not distract from the increasing tension and emotional involvement as the book races to a climax. I am excited to read the next book now that Emily has accepted the role she was born to have and to see what happens with her surprise personal ending.

I highly recommend this crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery and look forward to reading more in this series.

What a terrifying story - it could've come out of today's news! Jo's two eldest, Jeremiah and Jessica are left at the beach park while she goes off to get her nails done.
While she is gone, Jeremiah goes off towards the icy pier to touch the nearby lighthouse, a dare done by many children.
But there is a stranger there too, he grabs Jeremiah and takes him to a boat in the harbor as a prisoner, Jeremiah is heard singing and is rescued, but his nighmare has just begun...

This is a really interesting story that is a continuation of a series that has the Coroner’s Daughter back in her hometown and her world
in another spin. Dr. Hartford is an interesting woman. She’s in Boston, working in a surgery center with her former finance ~ they just cannot seem
to get their lives in sync to settle either in Emily’s hometown, which Brandon hates, or their careers in Boston, which has not been working for
Emily. When a catastrophe strikes in Emily’s small hometown, the focus should be on the situation, and Brandon tries, but he’s really not the
right man for Emily, and the time for her to learn that cannot be right now ~ she’s got (another) a case to work, and she’s learning where her
heart lies is where she belongs. I loved this story, so much.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing, Inc via Net Galley for the download copy of this book for review purposes.

Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush was a book that I could not put down. Dornbush showed who the villain is pretty early on in the novel. Normally, I do not like this when reading a suspense novel. But the way she crafted the novel, it was like watching a car wreck happen, and then stick around for the aftermath. You knew it was horrible, but you wanted to know how it played out. I wanted to know the villain’s mental issues. Why was he doing what he was doing? How long would the horrors happen before the rescue? Dornbush does a good job at leaving little clues and pushing the victims harder and harder. Emily and Brandon had to come to terms with where their relationship might be headed. If readers are familiar with the previous books, they would understand this plot line. As a word of Caution, there are some cuss words in the story, but they were spoken when a character was angry, so I just them and kept moving forward with the plot. It does help cement the anger of the person. Dornbush does leave the story in a cliff-hanger. Now I need the next book as soon as possible. I need to know answers to this ending. Overall, Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush was a wonderful suspense novel. I think it was the best book in the series. I recommend this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush from Blackstone Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

This was a wonderful read, I was intrigued from the very beginning, and the excellent writing kept me interested until the last word.
It was a gripping tale with suspense and mystery that had me angry, wanting to find the culprit myself and then feeling sorry for the villain and that ending had me tearing up.
This was the first book of Jennifer’s I’ve read, and it was fantastic, I already want the next one (it’s not out yet ☹). Be warned it ends on a cliffhanger.

If you like mystery, crime and suspense you should definitely check this out, it will be published on 29 October 2024.

This novel has a little of everything. Love, heartbreak, family ties, trauma, joy and a killer to boot. You will eat this up right until the last page. It will leave you wanting more.

I absolutely LOVE this series. I was hooked from book one and was so happy I had the opportunity to read and review this ARC of Frozen Lives. Like the rest of Jennifer Dornbush's books, the character writing is so good. I always feel like I really know the characters and the setting. Maybe it's because I'm from and live in Michigan, but the writing really rings true to my reality. Once again, she did not disappoint. Full of suspense, domestic relationships, and a plot revolving around a missing boy who is found and the secrets that come from it in this small town left me anxious for what happens next. Solid 4 out of 5. I really hope she continues this series.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the advanced read.

I have read and enjoyed each book in this series. This newest addition did not disappoint. I loved the multiple story lines. Well-written, enjoyable read.

Thank you #netgalley and #blackstonepublishing for the eARC.

Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is the 4th book in the Coroner's Daughter series. The author writes from her own experience as a medical examiner's daughter and her work in death investigation and forensics, which gives the story authenticity.

This book can be read as a standalone. I have not read all the books in this series, but I was able to follow along without difficulty. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in this story and its side stories.

The story was enjoyable; a good mystery with solid writing and a good main character.

I would recommend this book and this series.

#FrozenLives #NetGalley @BlackstoneAudio

This novel has a large cast of characters, namely family and best friends that are developed nicely among this terrifying mystery. While part of a series, I didn’t feel left out for not reading the prior books. While the protagonist is a doctor turned coroner, there is very little about this in the novel. It is more about a missing boy and the tragic events that follow. It was a good mystery! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.