Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Blog Tour for Booktoure

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Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Synopsis: "Make sure you wrap up warm for school, honey. A blizzard is on the way." Ten-year-old Teddy rolls his eyes at his mother. But then he hears a bang... By the time police arrive, Teddy's mother is dead. His open school backpack is strewn across the hallway. And Teddy is nowhere to be found.   When gunshots ring out from an exclusive family home on the edge of Northern Pine Lake,  Agent Tori Hunter  races through the gathering snowstorm to discover that  ten-year-old Teddy Marist has disappeared . His mother and her new boyfriend are dead in the family kitchen, breakfast still cooking on the stove. And racing to track down Teddy's father,  Tori finds he is missing too.   Local police are certain this is a simple case of a jealous ex-husband turned violent over his recent divorce. But interviewing everyone she can about Teddy's father, Tori's gut has her questioning if he would really kidnap his own child?  An...

The Tip Line by Vanessa Cuti Narrated by Sarah Naughton


Title:
The Tip Line
Author: Vanessa Cuti
Narrator: Sarah Naughton
Genre: General Fiction, Mystery
Format: Audiobook
Listening Length: 9 hours 48 minutes 
Date of Publication: April 18, 2023

Description: Anxious to get married, thirty-year-old Virginia Carey lands a job as an operator at a police tip line, where she thinks finding a husband will be easy. There’s Charlie Ford, a surprisingly sweet homicide detective, and charming police chief Declan “Deck” Brady. But just as Virginia’s plans begin to fall into place and she can almost picture a ring on her finger, she answers a call from Verona—a mysterious woman who provides a tip about four bodies on a remote local beach.
Verona, a sex worker, also gives Virginia details on sordid and raucous parties attended by law enforcement officers—and on the strange fetishes of cops she has been involved with. Then comes an explosive tip: Verona thinks it’s a police officer who is responsible for the killings.
But it can’t be true—the cops Virginia works with are marriage material, even if they are a little rough around the edges. While Verona trusts that her tips are being heard because she and Virginia have formed an unusual connection, Virginia realizes that the key to solving the case is ultimately in her hands. The tip line will reveal the truth about those murders. So long as Virginia is willing to hear it.

My Thoughts: This easily became a favorite of mine. It's about a young woman who works at the police station as a civilian answering the tip line. She thinks that the police station will be a great place to find her husband, but she quickly finds herself catching a tip about multiple murders. 

I enjoyed the main character, 30 year old Virginia, as she was very relatable. The way the story is written, you get to hear the inner thoughts of Virginia, which I found to be very accurate to how a woman at a given time in her life may think. For example, she thinks about how she should dress and how that may attract a man or how she should have reacted. Its all thoughts that we, women, have had at one point in time or another.

When Virginia catches the call for the anonymous tip line about a serial murder. She takes it to the homicide department and they follow-up on it. It turns out to be bigger than anyone expected and the police station believes that the tipper will call again. Virginia creates a relationship with this person over the phone and she can't wait to speak to them. She starts to create a friendship with her over the phone until this person casts suspicion somewhere she does not want it to be.

I found myself not wanting to stop listening to it because I loved how fast paced  it was, the thoughts of Virginia and how her relationships both romantic and non-romantic were forming and growing. I, however, did not like the ending. I felt like it fell flat for me. You have all this tension and climax and then it was like poof its done.

I am definitely planning on looking into more books by Vanessa Cuit and I would love it if Sara Naughton narrated them again. I'm hoping Vanessa's other books are written in a similar format, as I really enjoyed it. This was Vanessa's debut book and I am shocked.

I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars because of how the book ended. It just did not do the story justice in my opinion.

Rating: 4 out of 5 because I really liked this story and the narrator, however, I did not like the way it ended

Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this review copy. This is my honest opinion.

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