The Betrayed by Heather Graham
Series: Krewe of Hunters #14
Publication date: September 30th, 2014
Pages: 368
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
Sleepy Hollow isn't so sleepy anymore...
One night, New York FBI agent Aiden Mahoney receives a visitor in a dream--an old friend named Richard Highsmith. The very next day he's sent to Sleepy Hollow because Richard's gone missing there.
Maureen--Mo--Deauville now lives in the historic town and works with her dog, Rollo, to search for missing people. She's actually the one to find Richard or more precisely his head, stuck on a statue of the legendary Headless Horseman.
Mo and Aiden, a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's unit of paranormal investigators, explore both past and present events to figure out who betrayed Richard, who killed him and now wants to kill them, too. As they work together, they discover that they share an unusual trait: the ability to communicate with the dead. They also share an attraction that's as intense as it is unexpected, if they live long enough to enjoy it!
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Review:
I received an e-copy from the tour host in exchange for participation in the blog tour and an honest review.
This was only my second encounter with the lovely Heather Graham's writing and I was still unfamiliar with the series that I was reading. These books are made to be able to be read out of sequence, but I am a stickler for not doing such things. Being introduced more fully to the group of paranormal investigators may have shaped my opinion differently.
Aiden awakens to find his dead friend haunting him and pleading for his help. This simply occurrence that could have been likened to him being sleep deprived or hallucinating set the course for what was to come. It was only afterwards that he finds out that his long time friend has disappeared without a trace. His last whereabouts were in a small town with big history. Aiden finds himself setting course for Sleepy Hollow in hopes of finding his friend despite having the suspicion he is much too late.
Mo is used to finding lost or missing people easily with her trusty canine companion, Rollo. Nobody seems to question why Mo finds people so easy, but, really, who is going to look a gift horse in the mouth? Mo and Rollo find the remains of Aiden's friend without much difficulty but what they didn't expect was to find the remains of another person as well.
Now Mo and Aiden must attempt to find the killer that is loose in Sleepy Hollow beheading people much like the folklore story. But while they search, they can't deny the spark that is simmering between them. What will Mo and Aiden do when confronted not only with their feelings for each other but when they are staring into the eyes of the cold-blooded killer that decided to use a scary story for the stage of their dastardly deeds.
Again, this book reads more as a mystery with paranormal aspects than any sort of paranormal romance that I am most likely to read. The romance is light and fun while the mystery is gripping and thought provoking. Most people like that in their books, but I am more focused on the romance in my books than any sort of murder mystery that may go along with it. That is, of course, my personal preference. As with the book before this that I reviewed, The Betrayed is middle of the road simply due to my taste in what I like in my books. Most of the people in my book club for instance, would love the way Heather Graham plays with history to set the tone for her books. That aspect I actually did like a lot.
I think that if you are an enthusiast of history and murder mysteries with a paranormal tidbit to them, Heather Graham's The Betrayed is perfect for you.
