Robin Carroll's In the Shadow of Evil ~ Reviewed

In the Shadow of Evil [Paperback]
Robin Caroll
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: B&H Books (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805449795

Description:

Just outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Detective Sergeant Maddox Bishop works in the Criminal Investigative Department, Homicide Division. When the dead body of a building inspector is found in a burnt "Homes of Hope" house, Maddox gets the case. The trail of evidence will lead him into exposing one of the biggest scams of modern day.

Layla Taylor is a contractor in Calcasieu parish, who loves God, her family, and what she does. When Detective Bishop's investigation leads him to her sister's drug-rehab retreat, every defense in her rises to the surface. To prove her sister's business isn't involved with anything illegal or immoral, she joins forces with the man who is against everything she believes in.

Review:

As I have come to expect from Robin Caroll, her latest romantic suspense combines tragedy, drama and intrigue with sparkling attraction and spiritual depth. Drawing on current events as she has so ably done in Deliver Us From Evil and Fear No Evil, Robin sets this story against a backdrop of economic ruin and natural destruction in hurricane ravaged Louisiana. Maddox Bishop and Layla Taylor are an interesting pair, from their career choices to the dysfunction induced by tragedy each of their families have experienced. In the Shadow of Evil is another feather in Robin's literary cap and is the perfect way to spend an evening by the bayou without leaving the comforts of home!

Reviewed by: Rel Mollet

Bonus Review:

I read Deliver Us From Evil and loved the action, adventure, humor and spiritual thread in it. I anxiously awaited the review copy of In the Shadow of Evil.

Layla is a female contractor following in her father’s foot steps after his untimely death. Layla has been nominated for a building award she’s worked hard to achieve. Tragedy strikes the House of Hope home she entered into the contest. The shadow of evil clouds her chances of winning the award when the house burns to the ground. Crazy thing about the fire is the body they discover among the ashes. The CSI team scrambles to disclose the body’s identity and glean for clues that will uncover the murderer!

Detective Maddox and his partner arrive at the burned house and see a body. Because of Maddox’s experience and the clues he discovers in the rubble, he suspects arson, and is convinced Layla set the fire. He’s certain he’ll find the proof he needs to expose a building rebound scam he knows is operating in this city. Layla’s case adds one more piece to the puzzle to help uncover unethical practices to creatively fulfill the supply shortage and reveal the mastermind behind the scheme.

Layla doesn’t like how slow the detectives are going to “prove her innocence”. She definitely feels they’ve stamped her guilty already. So, she sets out to play detective herself. Things start to heat up as she pokes around. Another house is set on fire and she’s the suspect again. Could she let go and let God work on her behalf?

This is an intriguing story set in the Louisiana, Bayou based on the real-life fallout of the U.S. economy plus devastation caused by multiple hurricanes along the southern coast. I enjoyed the tough, yet tender Layla and the emotionally wounded, chauvinistic Detective Maddox. I liked how this author showed God working in their lives for His glory and their good, when they let Him! I liked the believable characters and the spiritual struggle they went though on their way to giving and accepting forgiveness; of course I liked the drama, mystery and suspense as well. I’m looking forward to the next action adventure story from Robin Caroll.

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent
The Book Club Network
Finding Hope Through Fiction