About the Book

Title: Secrets in the Woods: An Emilia Long Mystery

Author: J.E. Smythe

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Secrets in the Woods is a gripping tale about Emilia Long- an Investigative Reporter and her quest to find out the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. Long’s quest begins after reading documents left for her by her adopted mother revealing that she was abandoned as an infant at a Brooklyn hospital. The revelation led Emilia on a suspenseful journey to find her birth mother.

But finding her is not so easy. Her investigations reveal that her birth mother disappeared months before her birth and that the disappearance was linked to a murder. With the key suspect in her mother’s disappearance locked away in jail on unrelated charges and the townspeople, including the Sheriff, unwilling to help her, Emilia finds herself at a dead end. In an unimaginable twist of fate, Emilia discovers more than she bargained for. Some Secrets are really better left untold.

My Review: Fantastic 4.5 Stars

Thank you to Enchanted Book Promotions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am sorry I am a day late! I had no Wifi!

I was drawn to this book firstly because of the genre, the story-line and the fact that the author has found a lack of diversity in this genre with characters, the book really piqued my interest. I’m so glad I read this book all 140 odd pages kept me very engaged and wondering what will happen next?

The writing was easy to read and follow and the pace for me was good too, it moved along well without a lull. The characters I would say have been written well, the villains I had a dislike to (Odessa actually reminded me of someone I know), the main characters were like-able also. I  really really enjoyed this story and watching the mystery unfold.

What I would have liked is to hear more about Emilia’s grandfather’s life, when he left for New York. No spoilers so I’ll stop there. I feel like it could have added to the story to hear his POV, on the life changing events and big decision he made.

I’m giving Secrets in the Woods 4.5 fantastic stars because 1. the story is not predictable I was thinking and suspecting one thing, only to be proven wrong! The author did a great job at leading me astray then BAM a twist, well more than one actually! 2. I like that this book has a diverse line up of characters, it added to the reality of the world we live in. 3. it is a mystery yes, but there is an underline love story there with Emilia’s mum and Emilia herself, which was nice to read. Overall, I really really enjoyed reading this story. I would not hesitate to read another by this author, especially if she continues to write gripping stories with great twists and a diverse line up. I’m a fan.

About the Author:

In addition to her 9 to 5 attorney job, Smythe is also the co-founder of publishing company, Lady Esquire Group, LLC. The Attorney Author describes herself as a half analytic and half creative who was blessed to figure out how to join those halves together.   Her other books include: Through Grandma’s Eyes, Zora’s First Day and a Few Good Friends. When asked about the motivation for writing her latest work, she explained: “I’m a lover of the Cozy Mystery genre but I found that there were not a lot of those books written by African American Authors with African American characters. I just wanted to put a whole new face on such a fun and exciting genre.”

Smythe’s adept writing style in Secrets in the Woods is enticing and captivates readers from the first page. The novel feature a cast of believable characters and numerous twists and turns that will have readers begging for more.

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Read some excerpts of the book here.