Scan barcode
jaime_scott's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
abohman's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading. This was a great introduction to Kelley Armstrong’s newest spinoff series. It set up characters and storylines for an exciting series to come. I got to see my two favorite characters in a new, yet familiar atmosphere with an enthralling story.
kblevz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
caaleros's review against another edition
4.0
I’m glad that we don’t have to leave the Rockton world and characters even if we have left Rockton. It’s nice that the series gets a fresh start where Casey and Dalton get to build the town they want from the beginning. This, of course, brings new challenges and new murders. Hey, it wouldn’t be a Rockton book without it.
The thing that I love about these mysteries is the setting. Haven’s Rock, like Rockton, is set in the Yukon and so besides worrying about a killer in the woods the characters have to cope with the elements and the wildlife which are also deadly. Although this is a new series, everything feels pretty similar in tone, plot, and characters. If you enjoyed the Rockton series, you’ll enjoy this new installment at Haven’s Rock.
*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review
The thing that I love about these mysteries is the setting. Haven’s Rock, like Rockton, is set in the Yukon and so besides worrying about a killer in the woods the characters have to cope with the elements and the wildlife which are also deadly. Although this is a new series, everything feels pretty similar in tone, plot, and characters. If you enjoyed the Rockton series, you’ll enjoy this new installment at Haven’s Rock.
*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
First in the Haven's Rock crime thriller (and eighth in the Casey Duncan/Rockton series) series revolving around Casey Butler and Eric Dalton as they solve another murder in their new town. It’s been four years since City of the Lost, 1, and 18 months since The Deepest of Secrets, 7.
My Take
Murder at Haven’s Rock is all about greed, idealism, and violence with an unexpected ending.
It’s interesting that Yolanda is so against the owners being there while they’re building. Talk about dictatorship. Yeah, you can take it as read that Yolanda does NOT want Casey or Dalton anywhere near her building site.
Armstrong is using first person protagonist point-of-view from Casey’s perspective, and she sure appreciates Dalton’s easiness in letting her take the lead when they need her type of expertise. He’s got no problem with it. It also gives Casey the opportunity to note Dalton’s ease in winning people over.
It does sound as if Casey and Duncan have thought things out, making the town easier for their coming inhabitants. Scouting the land to ensure their solitude. I like that April will be there, and that their awful parents are gone! I can’t wait to read more about the town’s design. And those quadruple-paned windows!
Casey has been having revelations about her past, her childhood even as April is appreciating her diagnosis of autism, enabling her to understand more about her interactions with the world. Anders is having his own ah-ha moments.
Ohhh, I love that realization Casey notes about why she chose Dalton.
Jesus. That Yolanda. So prickly and belligerent. I do like that Yolanda and Penny want to give the clients what they want whereas Bruno just wants it all over with, even if they do skip a few things.
There is action, but it is character-driven with those flipping red herrings all over the place. She certainly had me going with that initial body. Bruno’s worries about his marriage is useful. That interaction with a loner with a wolf. Warnings. The worry about the end-of-job bonus. The lies. The so-many lies. My only niggle is that this is too similar to previous stories.
Share the credit; take the blame. And worry about the neighbors. And, ya know, I don't really care, as I cannot wait for Haven's Rock #2 to come out!
The Story
They do say curiosity kills the cat. And there is some curiosity raised about why some company will pay a year’s wages for three months work.
Casey and Dalton had expected to have Haven’s Rock all to themselves for a year. Oh well. Now they won’t even get a month. And they finally get to see their town, all because two people broke the rule about the forest.
The Characters
Thirty-five-year-old Casey Dalton had been a detective in Ontario before she exiled herself to Rockton. The thirty-four-year-old Eric Dalton, the former sheriff of Rockton, will be the sheriff of Haven’s Rock. And they’ve gotten married. They still have Storm, their Newfoundland tracking dog. Dr April Butler is Casey’s formerly estranged older sister, a neurosurgeon with autism, who seems to love being so isolated. She’s also gotten addicted to reading mysteries.
The new “Rockton” . . .
. . . is Haven’s Rock and still a sanctuary for those in need. Penny is the architect whose specialty is making a client’s dream work. The cheating, married Bruno is the engineer with civil and geological degrees; Maria is Bruno’s angry wife. The prickly Yolanda is the hard-nosed contractor and Émilie’s granddaughter who is convinced the idealistic Dalton and Casey are fleecing Gran. Petra is Yolanda’s cousin. Émilie’s money came from Big Pharma.
The building crew is a dream team of experts. Pierre is the carpenter as well as the construction crew’s medic. Sort of. Kendra is the plumber with experience in northern plumbing, who is pursuing her master’s in social work — she’s the on-site person with mental-health training. The manipulative, well-built Gunnar is the local lothario, the whiny Mary, and Nanette are part of the general crew. The Y Gang is all guys.
Will Anders, a former soldier with medical training and a specialty in conflict resolution, had been their deputy and will be again. Isabel, a former psychologist, had operated the Roc, the bar. Mathias had been Rockton’s psychiatrist. Raoul is Mathias’ wolf-dog. Kenny is their carpenter and the head of the old militia. He’s also been getting friendly with April. Phil had been the council liaison, a good administrator, and is dating Isabel.
“Lilith” has an amazing home. Nero is the wolf she raised from a pup. The paranoid “Mark”, a professor, has the camouflaged mining tent. Denise is Mark’s wife who stayed behind.
Dalton’s real parents had met in Rockton and stole out of town to make a life on the land. Dalton was their oldest son who was kidnapped; Jacob is the younger son.
The Cover and Title
The cover’s background is almost neon with its electric blue in the black of the sky and the orange, yellow, and pink sunset crossing the middle. Casey is in pants and a jacket, standing with her back to us atop one of the mountain ledges, a silhouette against the sky. Below are dark ripples of land. An info blurb is at the very top in white. The title takes up the rest of the top half in a gradated copper to black and back to copper. Level with Casey’s calves is a notice that this is a novel, in white. More white, gradating to black, is at the bottom in the author’s name.
The title is more than one Murder at Haven’s Rock.
My Take
Murder at Haven’s Rock is all about greed, idealism, and violence with an unexpected ending.
It’s interesting that Yolanda is so against the owners being there while they’re building. Talk about dictatorship. Yeah, you can take it as read that Yolanda does NOT want Casey or Dalton anywhere near her building site.
Armstrong is using first person protagonist point-of-view from Casey’s perspective, and she sure appreciates Dalton’s easiness in letting her take the lead when they need her type of expertise. He’s got no problem with it. It also gives Casey the opportunity to note Dalton’s ease in winning people over.
It does sound as if Casey and Duncan have thought things out, making the town easier for their coming inhabitants. Scouting the land to ensure their solitude. I like that April will be there, and that their awful parents are gone! I can’t wait to read more about the town’s design. And those quadruple-paned windows!
Casey has been having revelations about her past, her childhood even as April is appreciating her diagnosis of autism, enabling her to understand more about her interactions with the world. Anders is having his own ah-ha moments.
Ohhh, I love that realization Casey notes about why she chose Dalton.
Jesus. That Yolanda. So prickly and belligerent. I do like that Yolanda and Penny want to give the clients what they want whereas Bruno just wants it all over with, even if they do skip a few things.
There is action, but it is character-driven with those flipping red herrings all over the place. She certainly had me going with that initial body. Bruno’s worries about his marriage is useful. That interaction with a loner with a wolf. Warnings. The worry about the end-of-job bonus. The lies. The so-many lies. My only niggle is that this is too similar to previous stories.
Share the credit; take the blame. And worry about the neighbors. And, ya know, I don't really care, as I cannot wait for Haven's Rock #2 to come out!
The Story
They do say curiosity kills the cat. And there is some curiosity raised about why some company will pay a year’s wages for three months work.
Casey and Dalton had expected to have Haven’s Rock all to themselves for a year. Oh well. Now they won’t even get a month. And they finally get to see their town, all because two people broke the rule about the forest.
The Characters
Thirty-five-year-old Casey Dalton had been a detective in Ontario before she exiled herself to Rockton. The thirty-four-year-old Eric Dalton, the former sheriff of Rockton, will be the sheriff of Haven’s Rock. And they’ve gotten married. They still have Storm, their Newfoundland tracking dog. Dr April Butler is Casey’s formerly estranged older sister, a neurosurgeon with autism, who seems to love being so isolated. She’s also gotten addicted to reading mysteries.
The new “Rockton” . . .
. . . is Haven’s Rock and still a sanctuary for those in need. Penny is the architect whose specialty is making a client’s dream work. The cheating, married Bruno is the engineer with civil and geological degrees; Maria is Bruno’s angry wife. The prickly Yolanda is the hard-nosed contractor and Émilie’s granddaughter who is convinced the idealistic Dalton and Casey are fleecing Gran. Petra is Yolanda’s cousin. Émilie’s money came from Big Pharma.
The building crew is a dream team of experts. Pierre is the carpenter as well as the construction crew’s medic. Sort of. Kendra is the plumber with experience in northern plumbing, who is pursuing her master’s in social work — she’s the on-site person with mental-health training. The manipulative, well-built Gunnar is the local lothario, the whiny Mary, and Nanette are part of the general crew. The Y Gang is all guys.
Will Anders, a former soldier with medical training and a specialty in conflict resolution, had been their deputy and will be again. Isabel, a former psychologist, had operated the Roc, the bar. Mathias had been Rockton’s psychiatrist. Raoul is Mathias’ wolf-dog. Kenny is their carpenter and the head of the old militia. He’s also been getting friendly with April. Phil had been the council liaison, a good administrator, and is dating Isabel.
“Lilith” has an amazing home. Nero is the wolf she raised from a pup. The paranoid “Mark”, a professor, has the camouflaged mining tent. Denise is Mark’s wife who stayed behind.
Dalton’s real parents had met in Rockton and stole out of town to make a life on the land. Dalton was their oldest son who was kidnapped; Jacob is the younger son.
The Cover and Title
The cover’s background is almost neon with its electric blue in the black of the sky and the orange, yellow, and pink sunset crossing the middle. Casey is in pants and a jacket, standing with her back to us atop one of the mountain ledges, a silhouette against the sky. Below are dark ripples of land. An info blurb is at the very top in white. The title takes up the rest of the top half in a gradated copper to black and back to copper. Level with Casey’s calves is a notice that this is a novel, in white. More white, gradating to black, is at the bottom in the author’s name.
The title is more than one Murder at Haven’s Rock.
mephisto623's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
rebekahy's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant as usual. So easy to read and so many options for the murderer. Can't wait to see how this series goes.
barefootsierra's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Stalking, Blood, Medical content, Confinement, Racism, Cursing, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol
ignited_redqueen75's review
5.0
Welcome to Rockton's spinoff, another adventure for Casey and Dalton. Kelley Armstrong does it again with this crime fiction. I reread the entire Rockton series just to get to this one again and of course it was so much fun to read. A new murder to solve and new character's brought in what is not to love. Kelley even dialed back Dalton's constant dropping of the F bombs' although to be honest I didn't mind it as much, sure at times it got cringe and unnecessary but it became part of Dalton's charm. Either way I like it.
I am not so sure about the new character Yolanda, I was a bit on the fence about her. Her demeaner just seemed to be too much for me, either she was secretive or she was bossy or she was mean, like pick one, lol. I think she will grow on me it's only her first intro into the story so not too upset about it.
highly recommend for crime fiction fans as always. :)
I am not so sure about the new character Yolanda, I was a bit on the fence about her. Her demeaner just seemed to be too much for me, either she was secretive or she was bossy or she was mean, like pick one, lol. I think she will grow on me it's only her first intro into the story so not too upset about it.
highly recommend for crime fiction fans as always. :)