Shadow of Doubt

As if almost losing your husband wasn’t bad enough, Celia Shepherd finds herself arrested for attempted murder. Once the police realize that her first husband died from the same method – poisoning – the case seems open-and-shut. But Celia insists that she is innocent, and only her attorney, Jill Clark, seems to believe her. The rest of the town of Newport views her with doubt and distress.

In Shadow of Doubt,the second book of the Newpointe 911 series, Terri Blackstock creates another murder mystery that draws together not only the emergency response team – Sam Shepherd is the chief of police – but also the Christians of the small town. Friends and fellow church members struggle with the belief that Celia’s behavior for the past few years has been an act.

Blackstock has once again managed to create a realistic and engaging mystery that keeps the readers on their toes. She introduces suspects from the previous trial and creates a veil of mystery. Honestly, I managed to correctly guess the killer’s identity early on, but the author still did a great job of maintaining an aura of mystery. The final revelation certainly shocked the town.

Along with the Celia’s attempts to prove her innocence, we also must follow Aunt Aggie’s journey to her spiritual freedom – a journey much-changed by witnessing her funeral – and Jill and Dan’s relationship as they struggle to pull closer together.

One of the things I’ve most admired about Blackstock’s work is the way she manages to keep several stories on a burner. She has slowly moved Jill and Dan’s relationship throughout the entire series, and the tension between Nick and Issie – not to mention Nick’s overall depression with his role as a preacher – grows peripherally, but there is no rush to completion as we would expect.

Blackstock’s characters continue to act realistically, not just throughout this novel, but in relation to the rest of the series. The tension grows realistically to a somewhat surprising conclusion. I was startled when the killer managed to provide a realistic alibi, as well as how quickly they turned Celia’s family against her. Jill’s solution for flushing out the killer definitely startled me.

To have lost your first husband would be a terrible trauma. I can’t imagine how anyone would feel to have their second husband close to dying, and once again stand accused of the crime while fighting to prove your innocence. At one point, Celia feels that her husband himself has turned against her. Alone and afraid, she has no one else to turn to, and so turns to God.

I love the way Blackstock continues with her characters spiritual growth in the midst of various trials. She creates realistic scenes and actions, and the flow of her novel once again kept me up reading through the night.

Shadow of Doubt