“When a badly decomposed body is found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse, Erie police detective, Matthias Honeywell, is called in to investigate.

Meanwhile, freelance photographer Emma Anderson is desperately trying to find her drug-addicted sister, Nell. Then a devastating piece of evidence found at Detective Honeywell’s crime scene brings her world crashing down, a driver’s license belonging to her missing sister.

In need of her assistance, Matthias asks Emma to help with the case, hoping to solve the mysterious disappearance of Nell Anderson. But in doing so, will the investigation uncover more questions than answers?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am pleased to share my review of Keep Your Family Close by Annette Dashofy. Keep Your Family Close was published by One More Chapter on 8th December 2023 in digital format and will be available in paperback at the start of the New Year. I chose to read a free eARC of Keep Your Family Close but that has in no way influenced my review.

Keep Your Family Close is the second book in the Detective Matthias Honeywell series. I was immediately drawn to this novel due to the creepy looking cover and in all honesty, I really can’t help myself when it comes to mysteries set in the US. Particularly when they’re set in a location I haven’t, in a literary sense, visited before. Keep Your Family Close is set in Erie, Pennsylvania so that was a big ol’ tick in my book. Unfortunately, because I don’t pay close enough attention and because I was just too darn excited when I saw this book, I didn’t realise it was the second book in the series. We’ve all done it, I’m sure. Picked up a book that’s partway through a series without realising that these characters have been on many adventures prior to you discovering them. Often it doesn’t really matter and you can play catch up pretty quickly. Other times, it’s more of a struggle and that feeling that you’re missing out on something that’s gone before just doesn’t shift. I’m afraid I felt very much out of the loop with this book. The past is of course touched upon, but for me, the detail was missing. I was able to cobble together the barest of bones but was I right? Only those who have read the first book in the series will be able to confirm that for me. I felt throughout the entire book that I had missed something vitally important in the moulding and shaping of Emma Anderson’s character and sadly, that’s the main thing I’ve taken away from reading Keep Your Family Close.

However, I think this is very much a case of me not being the right reader for this particular novel. Looking at the other reviews, there’s so much love for this series so just because this one wasn’t my cup of tea, it doesn’t mean it won’t be yours. I really liked the location. I thought the author brought the streets of Erie, PA to life. I liked the pace of the novel, slow and steady to start but building to an exciting and thrilling conclusion. And I thought the overall storyline was good. The handsome and dashing lead detective falling in love with the female protagonist wasn’t particularly my thing, nor was the also handsome, supportive and overly protective male BFF trope. But they might be yours. In which case, check out the first book initially so you can get the full lowdown on what happened to Emma in book one first before you move on to Keep Your Family Close. All in all, I don’t think this was a book for me but I do ultimately seem to be in the minority there and I’m very happy with being on my tod.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Keep Your Family Close. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Keep Your Family Close by Annette Dashofy was published in the UK by One More Chapter on 8th December 2023 and is available in paperback and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

USA Today bestselling author Annette Dashofy has spent her entire life in rural Pennsylvania surrounded by cattle and horses. When she wasn’t roaming the family’s farm or playing in the barn, she could be found reading or writing. After high school, she spent five years as an EMT on the local ambulance service, dealing with everything from drunks passing out on the sidewalk to mangled bodies in car accidents. These days, she, her husband, and their spoiled cat, Kensi, live on property that was once part of her grandfather’s dairy.

Annette’s standalone, DEATH BY EQUINE, was named the winner of the 2021 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award.

Her Zoe Chambers mystery series includes six Agatha Award nominees including CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE, BRIDGES BURNED, NO WAY HOME, CRY WOLF, FAIR GAME, and FATAL REUNION. The twelfth in the series, HELPLESS, came out in May 2023.

The first in her new Detective Honeywell mystery series, WHERE THE GUILTY HIDE, was released in January 2023 with the second, KEEP YOUR FAMILY CLOSE coming in December.