A Requiem for the Dead (Benoit & Dayne Mystery 4) by Winter Austin-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 2, 2024

The dead can no longer keep their secrets …

On a cold February morning, ME Olivia Remington-Thorpe’s severely beaten and bleeding husband stumbles onto Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit’s retreat. Before slipping into unconsciousness, he begs her to find Olivia. Hours later, Deputy Detective Lila Dayne discovers a mysterious boneyard with dark secrets.

The timing is catastrophic. Still reeling from the horrific events of the past autumn, the deputies of Eckardt County are spread thin, and tempers are short. Elizabeth’s relationship with her lead investigator is sour. Still worse, her ex-husband moved back to Iowa with a devilish deal.

As Elizabeth and Lila race the odds to uncover the truth of the skeletal remains and find their missing friend alive, Olivia seeks a way to escape from an abductor who is proving that she didn’t know her husband as well as she thought.

More bodies turn up, mysterious visitors arrive in Juniper, and one mistake from the Eckardt County Sheriff’s team will spell their own deaths in their most dangerous murder investigation to date.

••••

REVIEW:A REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD is the fourth instalment in Winter Austin’s contemporary, adult BENOIT AND DANE MYSTERY DAYNE murder, suspense thriller series focusing on small-town Sheriff Elizabeth “Ellie’ Benoit, and former Chicago police officer turned deputy Lila Dayne. A REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives including Lila and Ellie, A REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD follows numerous intersecting pathways that will coalesce into a murder investigaton. Medical examiner Dr. Olivia Remington-Thorpe has gone missing; her husband and surgeon Dr. Dominic Thorpe is found critically injured; and Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit is reluctantly recovering in a secluded cabin, guarded by her former husband Joel, and his brother Rafe. A jeep crashes nearby, the victim is someone they all know, and Ellie is about to return to work whether she is ready or not. When Deputy Lila Dayne comes across a makeshift graveyard, a field of bones scattered amongst the debris and detritus , everyone must come to terms with a possible serial killer or something more sinister when several more sites are found scattered throughout the neighboring states. As Ellie and Lila work from different points of the investigation, a warning comes to back down and walk away.

The world building is detailed and complex following several paths that weave and wind, back and forth . From the outset the two investigations couldn’t be more different but the secrets and lies reveal a connection no one saw coming.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and charismatic secondary and supporting characters including Ellie’s former husband Delta Force Operator Joel Fontaine, and her new lover, Joel’s brother and Ellie’s Undersheriff Raphael ‘Rafe’ Fontaine; Ellie’s embattled sister Marnie: Deputy Kyle Lundquist; former sheriff Kelley Sheehan; fixer Horatio Johnson; and deputies Cory Young and Brent Meyer. The requisite evil has many faces.

A REQIUEM FOR THE DEAD is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, betrayal and vengeance, murder and madness, family and forgiveness. The premise is intriguing, dramatic, raw and twisted; the characters are determined, edgy and tragic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Killer in Me
Hush, My Darling
Straight for the Kill

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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A lifelong Mid-West gal, Winter rediscovered her love of her beloved Iowa with its hot summers and snowy winters. She grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around the table or a campfire. Since becoming a published author, she learned a mindset of a glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller author. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic thrillers. Combining her love of all things rural, agricultural, and military, she’s turned her small town life upside down.