Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd

 

Title: Wrong Alibi

Author: Christina Dodd

Series: #1 in the Murder in Alaska series

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: HQN  (December 29, 2020)

Source: NetGalley

Rating: ☕☕☕

Synopsis: WRONG JOB

Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Jones lands a job in small-town Alaska, working for a man in his isolated mountain home. But her bright hopes for the future are shattered when Donald White disappears, leaving her to face charges of theft, embezzlement—and a brutal double murder. Her protestations of innocence count for nothing. Convicted, she faces life in prison…until fate sends her on the run.

WRONG NAME

Evelyn’s escape leaves her scarred and in hiding, isolated from her family, working under an alias at a wilderness camp. Bent on vengeance, intent on recovering her life, she bides her time, patiently searching for the man who took everything from her.

WRONG ALIBI

At last, the day comes. Donald White has returned. Evelyn emerges from hiding; the fugitive becomes the hunter. But in her mind, she hears the whisper of other forces at work. Now Evelyn must untangle the threads of evidence before she’s once again found with blood on her hands: the blood of her own family…

My Thoughts: The potential for an amazing suspense filled book was all there but it fell flat in a few ways.

The Good, The Bad, And Everything Else: While I honestly didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted I could be persuaded to read the second book in the series to see where Dodd takes us. The Alaskan setting during the flashback of Petey's first full on dark winter was really interesting and I wished the author would have incorporated that sense of overwhelming fear throughout the book. Petey's  past was interesting particularly her escape and 10 years in hiding. 

Unfortunately I also found the book to have some issues. The book skips from the present to sudden flashbacks making me confused a bit until I realized where in time the story was happening. I also really didn't like any of the characters. Petey/Evelyn is really TSTL....she was a naïve young woman and we're told she becomes quite the badass but we really don't witness any badassery. She does claim to use her long braid as a cutting whip. I don't think this made her seem more kickass but just weird.  The book also tried to be so many things and suffered for it. A romance introduced into the last third of the book was not an asset to the story and just felt wrong considering who they paired Petey up with. We also spent so much time in the past she really didn't feel like an adult to me which made the romance even worse IMO.

In a Nutshell: I'm not sure if I'm willing to give the Murder in Alaska series another try but I definitely will continue to read Dodd.