Monster In The Closet
Romantic Suspense, Book #19, Baltimore #5
Karen Rose
(ISBN13: 9780399586767)
http://www.karenrosebooks.com
Brought to you by OPS Reviewer jerjen
Synopsis: 
The Sunday Times bestselling author of Every Dark Corner returns with an exclusive novel celebrating ten years of Karen Rose’s thrillers in the UK. MONSTER IN THE CLOSET reunites readers with characters from Karen Rose’s bestselling Baltimore series.
A mother is dead, and now her killer hunts the child that witnessed the brutal crime…
Private Investigator Clay Maynard locates missing children for clients, but has nearly given up hope of finding his own daughter, cruelly stolen from him by his ex-wife twenty-three years ago.
Equine therapist Taylor Dawson has chosen to intern at Daphne Montgomery-Carter’s stables so that she can observe the program’s security director – her father, Clay Maynard. Trying to reconcile the wonderful man she’s getting to know with the monster her mother always described, Taylor never expects to become the target of a real monster, the man who murdered the mother of the little girls she works with at the stable. Neither does she expect to fall for Ford Elkhart, Daphne’s handsome son, who is dealing with his own demons. As family and friends gather for a wedding, Taylor starts to imagine a permanent life in Baltimore.
But not if the real monster gets to her first… (Goodreads)
Review:
I have read quite of few books by this author in the past and I really liked them. This book is a reunion of sorts, bringing back some characters from her previous books and having them involved in this book.
A little girl, Jazzie, finds her mother brutally murdered and the killer is still in the house when the discovery is made. She has seen the killer and knows who he is. Since that fateful day, she has not spoken a word, not to anyone. Jazzie and her sister are enrolled into a horse therapy program called Healing Hearts, in hopes that it will allow the girl to get better and talk about what happened. There, Jazzie meets Taylor, one of the therapist at the center. Taylor has also had a traumatic past and she is hiding a big secret. Can these two damaged souls help each other to heal and solve a mystery?
The characters are well wounded and well developed. Taylor is someone who you would want to be friends with. She is a hard worker, friendly and has a big heart. She is also damaged and carries around a lot of baggage. She has been lied to her whole life and she struggles when she finally learns the truth. Although younger, Jazzie is a strong child who must find the courage to talk about what happened and help identify the killer. There are many other characters in this book and many of them were integral to the plot. But I did not feel that way about all of them. I felt like there were too many characters and it was hard to keep track of them in my mind. That is only my opinion and others may not feel the same way.
The writing style flows smoothly. The author is very talented in building suspense with just the written word, and although we learn fairly early who the killer is, there was still a lot of tension for me, turning the pages. I wanted to see what would happen next but I was also afraid to find out what would happen. I like when that happens. I did feel like the book was a little bit too long for me. I felt at times there was too much dialogue that really did not add to the mystery. Again, that is only my opinion and other readers may not agree with me.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted suspense mystery. This author is the epitome of a romantic suspense writer and I think that if you looked up the definition of a suspense writer, you would find her picture along side of the definition.
