Fire in the Stars An Amanda Doucette Mystery Book 1 by Barbara Fradkin

328 Pages
Publisher: Dundurn, Dundurn Press
Release Date: September 27, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Missing Persons

Amanda is planning a trip with Phil, a fellow aid relief worker. They shared a disastrous experience in Nigeria that leave them both scarred. When Amanda arrives in Newfoundland, she finds out Phil has taken his son Tyler into the wilderness on an adventure. His wife, Sheri, believes they are with Amanda which immediately worries them. Phil has been unstable recently and Sheri realizes the note he left behind could have been a suicide letter. She contacts the RMCP to investigate.

The book has a building pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I love books about Newfoundland. The author does a great job describing the scenery. Amanda is a strong woman. She has her own demons she is fighting but does it in a way that shows her strength and courage to continue. If you like mysteries with strong women characters, you may enjoy this book.

Thanks to Barbara Fradkin and Dundurn for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A former aid worker returns home haunted by her time in Africa and channels her pain into a murder investigation that’s all too personal.



After surviving a horrific trauma in Nigeria, international aid worker Amanda Doucette returns to Canada to rebuild her life and her shaken ideals. There, the once-passionate, adventurous woman needs all her strength and ingenuity when a friend and fellow survivor goes missing along with his son.



A trained first-aid and crisis responder, Doucette — always accompanied by her beloved dog Kaylee — joins forces with RCMP officer Chris Tymko to discover the truth about the disappearance. Their search leads them to the Great Northern Peninsula, a rugged landscape of Viking history, icebergs, whales, and fierce ocean storms. Elsewhere, a body gets hauled up in a fisherman’s net, and evidence is mounting of an unsettling connection with Amanda’s search for her friend. Fradkin writes evocatively of the beautiful, often hostile, Newfoundland landscape where Amanda soon finds herself fighting for her very survival.

I am a real sucker for anything Canadian, and I loved being there with the characters in this one. Excellent book, can't wait to continue reading this series.