*I received a free copy of Until Death from Hocus Pocus Publishing Inc. via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Until Death by Cynthia Eden Published by Hocus Pocus Publishing Inc. on 24 August 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Suspense, Romance
Pages: 176
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
When Ivy DuLane witnesses a murder during the madness of Mardi Gras, she enters a deadly cat and mouse game with the killer. The city has gone wild with the annual celebration, and Ivy has to rely on sexy homicide detective—and her ex-lover—Bennett Morgan for help. But with every moment that passes, the killer grows bolder, and the body count starts to rise. It soon becomes very hard to tell the innocent from the guilty…especially since Bennett is keeping dark secrets of his own.
A mystery set during Mardi Gras, where the killer wears a mask – that is how Until Death started, and it was a spicy mystery with quite a bit of romance as well.
My Until Death review:
Each and every character in Until Death was keeping at least one secret, and that definitely made the mystery very difficult to figure out. I loved Ivy, she was a strong character, very capable, and extremely loyal. When she saw a young woman being killed while she was on her float, she jumped off and went after them – ultimately, she got the uniformed cop to help her find out what had happened, and they found her dead inside an abandoned building.
Because of her PI business, Ivy had good contacts with the police, but her ex – Bennett – didn’t really want her on the case. He wanted her to be safe. That appeared to be very difficult, as the killer had noticed Ivy, and he found out who she was and where she lived so he could get to know her better in his own, twisted way. Until Death was well written, with a good plot and a complex story-line, as most of the character had grown up together and knew each other very well.
If you’re looking for a quick read that still holds a lot of suspense, character development and some romance, you should pick up Until Death and get ready for a chilling killer, and a strong woman who does her best to stay alive.
Some of my favorite Until Death quotes:
The man – he had on a Mardi Gras mask, too. A mask and a tux, as if he were going to one of the Mardi Gras balls – balls that seemed to occur at a near constant time during this time of the year. The woman was struggling in his arms, her glittering, gold evening gown twisting with her movements. It was that glittering gown that had caught Ivy’s attention.
The cop moved faster, the crowd clearing for him. The crowd… they were clueless. You could do so much right in front of them, and they never knew.
I can go into a relationship with my eyes wide open. I can say no strings, and I can mean it.
There ‘d always been strings between them. Strings that connected them, no matter how far away they were.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: kimbacaffeinate
Love the NOLA setting and the fact that it kept you guessing Lexxie
It made me want to go to NOLA, Kim! And keeping me guessing was a very good thing, it’s not fun if I guess something important too early on.
Ah, a book that keeps you guessing, that’s what I like to hear. Sounds like a good mystery!
It was a very good and atmospheric mystery, Christy 🙂
Mysterious . . . I like the sound of this one! I think you know I’ll definitely keep this title in mind, huh? 😉
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lexxie!
You should, Silvia, and it’s a quite quick read, too 🙂
This cover is so eye-catching! Simple, yet beautiful… and creepy! So glad you enjoyed this one! 🙂
I agree, the cover is really good, and it goes very well with the story, too!
Sounds like a really well done mystery!! I love those. I also like that everyone has some sort of secret.
Yeah, the fact that everybody had secrets made the suspense even more so, and I really enjoyed the characters, too!
I like the idea that every character has a secret; that does keep it interesting.
It definitely kept things very interesting!
This certianly looks like something I could read, especially since all I have time for lately is short reads. Sounds like its executed well too!
Yeah, short reads that manage to pack a punch are truly amazing!! You should try it, Lauren.
Twitter: talksupeblog
Love the cover!
So did she have a thing with the ex? He sounds like he’s still into her. Second chance romance?
I’m not going to tell, Braine!
This sounds like a really good story packed into few pages, Lexxie. And that’s a good thing. 😉 I’ll add this to Mt. TBR for when I’m in a the mood for a ‘spicy mystery.’
Yesterday was the band’s regional competition – they had the best performance so far and were totally robbed in the scoring. They will still probably make State, but I’ll keep you posted. Happy Wednesday, my friend! **BIG HUGS**
Yeah, it really was, Brandee 🙂 I found the story to be well done, and the characters fleshed out 🙂
Oh no 🙁 I’m sorry the band was robbed in the scoring! That is sometimes unbelievably unfair!
*BIG HUGS*
Well that sounds really good! It’s always fun when you’re kept guessing. Totally would have skipped over this one from the cover so thanks for the heads up!
The best mysteries are those I can’t figure out, and Until Death definitely kept me guessing 🙂
Twitter: Mollykatie112
Curious what you rated it? I am sure I am just missing where it is 🙂 This is the kind of book that I used to read all the time and it sounds really good. New Orleans is always a good place for a murder-or something paranormal. Mardi Gras as well. Glad you liked it!
I had apparently forgotten to put my rating here, Lorna, very sorry about that! Good thing I have my review notebook where I keep track of everything! This story was really well done, and I hope you’ll pick it up one day 😉
I am totally in love with that cover!!~!
The cover is beautiful, but the story is truly amazing, Lyn!