Review--Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong

 

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton Novels had one of the most unique towns in crime fiction. Murder at Haven's Rock is a spinoff, a fresh start... with a few new dangers that threaten everything before it even begins.

Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0

Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town's construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.

 

Murder at Haven's Rock is Kelley Armstrong's spinoff to the Rockton series! Well, really, it's just a continuation of the series but with a new name! If you've read the Rockton books, which you totally should, then you know why there's a new name! You can still expect to get an engaging mystery from the desolate landscape of the Yukon wilderness! Nothing creepier than murder in the middle of nowhere! 

Casey and Eric were just called in by the construction crew who is developing their new town, Haven's Rock. Rockton is gone, but they have a new benefactor and with Casey and April's inheritance also helping to foot the bill, Rockton will live on in some form, but better. But when they hear that two of the people who were helping to make their dream a reality are missing, they hurry on out to do what they do best, investigate. 

It's not long into their investigation when they discover a dead body, and feat that the young woman might be their missing architect, but the plot only thickens from there. The other missing person is discovered badly injured and it becomes clear that there is something foul afoot.

This was another riveting mystery that kept me engaged from start to finish. What started out as a missing persons/search and rescue story turned into the classic murder mystery story pretty quick. The list of suspects was limited to the crew building the town which were all reviewed in detail and choosing the right person for the positions. Emilie, one of the old Rockton benefactors is helping Casey and Eric with Haven's Rock. As we all know, secrecy was key for Rockton and that's one thing Casey and Eric still want for their new town as well.

In some ways, this series kind of reminds me of Murder She Wrote, no matter where Jessica went someone was murdered! Here it seems no matter what day it is or whether it's going to be Rockton or Haven's Rock, someone is going to be murdered as well, inciting another mystery! I know this is a mystery series and murder will always likely be a factor, but it's a little humorous too. Yes, the original series dealt with people who made mistakes and needed to hide and a corrupt council soon took on residences who had the cash to let them hide and do whatever they chose. So yes, sometimes bad people were let into Rockton, but it makes me wonder how will Haven's Rock differ? Even with Casey and Eric's selective process in allowing only who they want in their town, something's bound to happen each and every time!

I will admit, with the amount of suspects that we had narrowed down, I still couldn't quite place my finger on the whodunit. So that part was still a nice surprise! The book ends with a bit of shock? I guess we can say that, I don't want to call it a cliffhanger, but it definitely presents a new problem for Casey and Eric and their town. I am sure some of the upcoming conflicts we'll get into might spring from this happenstance!

All in all, Murder at Haven's Rock was an excellent start to a new series straight off from a favorite series! Kelley is a master wordsmith and I swear there's nothing she can't write! She is a writing fiend with all the books she releases in one year! It's why I am so behind on her backlists! But I will enjoy getting caught up each and every time! If you're looking for a new mystery series to read, I would recommend Kelley's latest mystery series in a pinch! You will want to start with the Rockton series first just to familiarize yourself with these characters, even though this is the start of a new series.

Overall Rating 4/5 stars