Annette Dashofy: photo by Holly Tonini
What better way to welcome the fall than with a new mug for my tea and the seventh book in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series by Annette Dashofy?
Cry Wolf is set for release on September 18, but I was able to score an advance copy for this review.
I know what you’re thinking, “This is book seven shouldn’t I read all the books in order?”
In a perfect world, yes, but one of the many things I like about this series is each mystery can stand alone while still fitting seamlessly into the series.
Dashofy, a Washington County, PA native, is a USA Today best selling author and three time Agatha Award nominee. Her main character, Zoe Chambers, is a paramedic and the deputy coroner for Vance Township in rural Pennsylvania. Zoe is smart, beautiful and independent, three qualities that appeal to Pete Adams Vance Township’s chief of police, but not when that independent streak puts her in danger.
If you are familiar with the series, reading a new book is like visiting old friends because Dashofy makes Zoe and Pete likable and relatable. Vance Township could be any rural community in the Pittsburgh area, but don’t get complacent because murder and mayhem can be lurking down any back road.
Cry Wolf is one of Dashofy’s most action packed installments.
A full moon has a way of bringing out the crazies. As paramedics, Zoe and her partner Earl are used to a little lunar lunacy, but the Vance Township police department is a man down and the last thing Pete needs after pulling double shifts is a pair of feuding neighbors and a machete. The craziness continues when Pete receives yet another call from his dad, Harry, an Alzheimer’s patient at Golden Acres Assisted Living facility, insisting the death of a resident is murder.
Zoe and Pete visit his dad, to allay his fears and run into the newest resident at Golden Acres, John Kinney, Pete’s old training officer from the Pittsburgh PD.
When Kinney becomes the next resident to die, Pete worries his father could be in danger and launches his own investigation even though Golden Acres is outside his jurisdiction.
Zoe is put in charge of the autopsy and the coroner’s department after her boss ends up in the hospital. While juggling her new responsibilities and trying to make repairs to an old farm, Zoe is contacted by a man claiming to be her half brother. Anxious to make a family connection, will Zoe let her overbearing new sibling come between her and Pete?
A second murder appears to be tied to events from John Kinney’s past. Can Zoe put the pieces of this puzzle together before the killer comes after Pete?
No spoilers here. You have to read the book and find out what happens.
There will be a Launch party for Cry Wolf on Saturday 9/22 at 2pm at Mystery Lovers Bookshop at 514 Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont.
Visit Annette’s website, annettedashofy.com to find out where she will be appearing for book chats and book signings in September, October and upcoming months. Read her official bio and check out her other titles.
Annette’s books are featured this month on our Author Page with links for easy purchase from amazon.com.