Relative Harm

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Caroline Fardig's Relative Harm is the latest installment in her Ellie Matthew's criminalist series.. This book picks up minutes after the previous book with Ellie and her partner Nick Baxter with whom she's in love with, but not supposed to be romantically linked with due to a previous case. They are heading to Nick's family farm to help with his 19-year old brother, Shawn, He was kidnapped as a young child and kept for four months by a family friend. The woman is getting out of prison that day, and Shawn is not handling the situation well. After working with the local police, Nick and Ellie have Shawn back on track only to return to the farm to find the woman who kidnapped Shawn, Marie Collins, dead in the family farm. The local cops believe its a Baxter family member who killed her... Ellie and Nick aren't so sure. They call in their friend, Vic, an FBI agent who is still on medical leave to help them sort through the murder. Ellie Matthews is a fantastic, flawed, and deeply loyal character. Relative Harm is absolutely excellent! A great big thank you to Severn River Publishing and Caroline Fardig for an advanced reader copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

I really cannot say enough good things about this book. Full disclosure, I've loved all of Caroline Fardig's books, but this series is my favorite.

Relative Harm is the 5th book in the Ellie Matthews series. Starting where book 4 leaves off Ellie and Baxter travel to his home town to help his brother when the woman who abducted him years earlier was released from prison. Up until this point in the series you know a lot about Ellie's background and family but not a ton about Baxters. I loved learning more about his upbringing. The book takes place in his hometown when the woman released from prison ends up murdered in the Baxter family barn. The police want to take the easy road and blame someone in the Baxter family but, of course, Ellie and Nick cannot let that happen.

I finished reading the book last night but I am still gushing over it. It was unputdownable. I was traveling with tons of plans and wanted to cancel them all so I could read. This story took so many twists and turns and I found myself guessing until the end. The relationship that Ellie and Nick have is just so sweet and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

The real bad news is that I have to wait so long before reading the next book in the series. BUT all of Caroline Fardig's series seem to be 5 books long and I am so relieved that is not the case for this one.

This was a story that kept me hooked into finding out the villain. However, I didn’t really connect with the main characters. While I liked Ellie’s work personality, I found her romantic side a little saccharine. I was also surprised on how Detective Nick Baxter, Ellie’s romantic interest, was so squeamish at the murder scene. A personal pet peeve is the author naming characters with the same letter. For some reason it takes me a while to clue into which character is being referenced. And this story had many characters starting with the same letter: Baxter, Barnes, Benji and Margo, Michael, Marie, Manetti.

Still, a solid read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Severn River publishing for giving me access to this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

What would you do if you or your family was being targeted as being the one who killed someone ? Even if that someone is pure evil ? You do everything in your power to try to find the real culprit !! That's what's Baxter and ellie went for. Discovering so many things along the way. It seems like the devil has layers and layers upon her, she has done so much to so many people. It was an interesting read to follow both of them discover the truth to save themselves. The twist at the end was shocking but I'm happy it ended the way it did, without spoiling haha.

Ellie's partner Nick Baxter's family is in trouble so Ellie goes with Nick to try to offer support. Little does she know she will find a dead body, be a suspect, and have to help clear each Baxter family member of murder.

Relative Harm by Caroline Fardig is a mystery drama story. When her partner’s family is implicated in a brutal murder, expert criminalist Ellie Matthews must race against the clock to find the real killer…and save the people she loves.

This book had a good combination of mystery, action, and page-turning drama. I'm so glad to be back with these characters and continue with them on their journeys and their storylines. I love the way they interact, and each is unique.

The one thing that bothered me was the overuse of "griped." Every character seemed to gripe about something or reacted by griping. The word and dialogue tag was overused, and I rolled my eyes every time it was used.

Overall, the ending was satisfying, and I liked the story. I look forward to more in this series.

#NetGalley @SvrnRvrPublish