Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush ~ Review

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Frozen Lives, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport.

Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah, the eleven year-old son of her best friend, Jo, goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan. Emily immediately joins the search for the boy.

To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s only the beginning …

For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, negligent to the damages in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind.

Emily solidifies her role as coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily goes the icy distance to end his killing spree.

Genre: thriller, suspense, female detective
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
Number of Pages: 350
ISBN: 9798212638364
Series: The Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries, 4

Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/jofJf
BN – https://pictbooks.tours/VXE6b
Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/HoYXG
BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/OI98e
Publisher – https://pictbooks.tours/JmCiC

I was emotionally INVESTED in this book! Oh my! Things get intense right from the start and only intensify the further you read.

While the fantastically suspenseful main story took place within a small town group of friends, there were a couple of sub-plots going on among said friends that I didn’t totally love. I was so wrapped up in fear and anticipation of the overarching mystery that I had a hard time caring deeply about some of the smaller less significant stories of the other characters.

I think in another time and place I would have connected more with Emily Hartford, her broken hearted past, and her undecided future, but my heart was with Jo the entire time as I held my breath and hoped for her happy ending. The way my heart raced while reading her side of things, I even shed a few tears as my heart broke for the situation she found herself in.

I will say, each time Emily threw caution to the wind and put herself in danger for her friend, she became my hero… while others made things worse, repeatedly getting the in the way, and made me want to throw my book across the room.

Except I have a kindle and throwing that would be bad. So instead I had to turn page after page, hanging on every word, hopeful and fearful of what was going to happen next!

If you like emotionally heavy suspense thrillers then you MUST read this book!

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this virtual book tour, Partners In Crime Tours

Tour Participants:

10/07 Interview @ Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense
10/07 Review @ dianas_books_cars_coffee
10/08 Review @ fundinmental
10/08 Showcase @ Books, Ramblings, and Tea
10/09 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres
10/09 Review @ FullyBookedInKentucky
10/10 Interview @ darciahelle
10/11 Review @ Country Mamas With Kids
10/12 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
10/13 Review @ Guatemala Paula Loves to Read
10/14 showcase @ Silvers Reviews
10/15 Print @ bookwormbecky1969
10/15 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews
10/16 Review @ Because I said so
10/17 Guest post @ Because I said so
10/19 Review @ The Mystery of Writing
10/20 Review @ The AR Critique
10/21 Showcase @ Literary Gold
10/23 Review @ Reading is my Superpower
10/24 Review @ fuonlyknew
10/25 Review @ My Reading Getaway
10/25 Review @ Novels Alive
10/26 Review @ The Page Ladies
10/27 Review @ elaine_sapp65
10/28 Review @ mom. read. sip. repeat
10/29 Review @ ashmanda. k
10/30 Guest post @ ashmanda. k
11/01 Review @ Melissa As Blog

Author Bio:

The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush was raised in it. As the daughter of a small-town medical examiner whose office was in their home. There were body parts in the fridge. She investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Picking up pieces of skull with her father who simply saw it as an anatomy lesson. The first of many coroner lessons she experienced over two decades.
After exploring journalism and high school teaching, Jennifer turned seriously to screenwriting where she began to connect her coroner world to her writing. She sought out a degree at the Forensic Science Academy in Los Angeles to gain more forensic training and earned a unique kinship with LA’s top CSIs, fingerprint specialists, DNA scientists, and detectives.
To share her love of forensics with the writing world, she authored the top selling non-fiction authoritative book, Forensic Speak, used by not only by show-runners and writers, but also crime investigators and law enforcement.
She created an Amazon top selling mystery novel series, The Coroner’s Daughter, which she is currently developing as a series for TV. Her crime thriller, Hole in the Woods, is currently optioned for screen. She is a contributor to mystery anthologies, Hotel California and Thriller. She has also penned two true crime books.
As a screenwriter Jennifer wrote the theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018), adapted a popular YA novel to script, and sold a children’s show. She is currently developing TV drama series and feature films with various productions companies.
As a forensic consultant, she is frequently asked to consult with TV writers on shows such as: Bull, Conviction, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage, Suits, and Rectify. She teaches screenwriting and mentors aspiring writers.
Jennifer is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, & the FBI Citizen’s Academy Alumni.