Jan 8, 2020

Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell REVIEW + GIVEAWAY

SPENT IDENTITY: Annalisse Series, Book 2 by Marlene M. Bell

Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Light Romance

Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing

Date of Publication: December 11, 2019

Number of Pages: 378

A body, a disappearance, just another hot summer in upstate New York.

It’s July when antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury reaches her family’s small-town farm to consult with the trusted aunt who raised her. She learns that her beloved homestead—the one she expects to inherit—is for sale. While Annalisse reels at the betrayal and her shattered dreams, the Walker Farm ranch manager discovers a corpse in the barn. Officials close the suspected murder scene, and Annalisse seeks refuge with her aunt at Alec Zavos’s rural estate in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

Then Aunt Kate vanishes.

Annalisse solicits the help of Greek tycoon, Alec Zavos, even though their rocky romance has dissolved into routine separation. What began as hope on Crete nine months ago has eaten away at Annalisse’s hope for a future with him.

In Spent Identity, Annalisse and Alec come together for the second time and find themselves in the center of not one mystery, but several. Where is Kate, and why sell her farm now? Is the dead man a coincidence or a clue to the aunt’s disappearance? John Doe’s identity may hold needed answers to solve the puzzle before Kate’s unstable health issues make her rescue impossible. The clock ticks, and a vengeful murderer is in charge…

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I read the first book in the series, Stolen Obsession, but it is not necessary. Spent Identity can be read as a stand alone. It had enough little snapshots into the previous book that you are not left feeling like you are missing a piece of the puzzle. I loved Spent Identity because there was never a slow moment. The story had a great energy and was action-packed. There was so much going on that I never had the chance to guess at the culprit. I stayed glued to the edge of my seat the entire book! There was never a downtime where something new wasn't developing which is when I usually read a little more passively to focus my efforts on being my own sleuth to try and solve it before the characters do. There were so many red herrings and suspects that I really had no idea until it was revealed and they weren't even on my radar! Marlene kept me connected and feeling like a part of this story. I'm sorry Annalisse, but I'd be giving you a wide berth if I knew you. You seem to have EVERYTHING that can go wrong in life happening to you times ten. Your parents are dead, your best friend was murdered in the last book, and now your aunt is missing. I'm sorry but it’s you, not me and I'd be running.

Marlene M. Bell is an acclaimed artist and photographer as well as a writer. Her sheep landscapes grace the covers of publications such as, Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living, and Sheep Industry News. Ewephoric, her mail order venture, began in 1985 out of a desire for realistic sheep stationery. A color catalog of non-fiction books and sheep-related gifts may be requested on her website or www.texassheep.com. Marlene and her husband, Gregg reside on a wooded ranch in beautiful East Texas with their dreadfully spoiled horned Dorset sheep, a large and lovable Maremma guard dog named Tia, and Hollywood, Leo, and Squeaks, the cats who believe they rule the household -- and do.

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