Book Review: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

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Thicker Than Water
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genres: Paranormal
Release Date: December 29th 2015
Publisher: Kensington Books
 

On his own

Thomas Bellweather hasn’t been in town long. Just long enough for his newlywed mother to be murdered, and for his new stepdad’s cop colleagues to decide Thomas is the primary suspect.

Not that there’s any evidence. But before Thomas got to Garretts Mill there had just been one other murder in twenty years.

The only person who believes him is Charlotte Rooker, little sister to three cops and, with her soft hands and sweet curves, straight-up dangerous to Thomas. Her best friend was the other murder vic. And she’d like a couple answers.

Answers that could get them both killed, and reveal a truth Thomas would die to keep hidden…

When I received this book I was excited to read something that was both mystery/suspense and romance, since I find them to be the best of both worlds, usually.

It starts off with the character, Thomas Bellweather, trying to prepare himself emotionally for his mother’s funeral. We come to find out that she was brutally murdered in her own bed, not too long after her wedding to a local Garrets Mill policeman, Stan. Not only is this disturbing reality haunting him every day and night, but also he now feels completely alone and isolated.

When Thomas gets to his mom’s funeral, he realizes everyone stays away from him, as if he’s guilty of committing this horrific murder. Plus, he doesn’t know anyone in the town of Garret Mills so it doesn’t help his case. Enter Charlotte Rooker, town sweetheart and comes from a family of cops – father and three brothers included. At the funeral, Charlotte is the only one to show him any kindness and that’s when all the troubles start unfolding.

For over two-hundred pages, we are in suspense and holding onto our seats gripping it tightly until our knuckles turn white, only to realize, at the last moment of the plot twist, that you were thrown off completely but should have known all along. I finished the book feeling disappointed and let down. Especially since over three quarters of the book was building up until the final moments and it was not what I expected.

I was hoping the ending would have clarity and finality to it, but it did not - it felt a little rushed in the end, and as a bookworm who loves to read, it will take a couple days to shake off the disappointed, frustrated and a little depressed feeling I now carry with me. I had high hopes and was sad it ended so abruptly the way it did. I’m hoping Brigid Kemmerer decides to make a sequel to this book that way we can either get real closure in the second installment or delve a little deeper into what happens after Thomas and Charlotte breathe a sigh of relief.

FYI:

Kensington has re-released the digital versions of all five novels in Brigid's Elementals series with all new covers and specialty pricing (99 cents-$4.99) through January 3.