My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Viv Fraser Mystery #7
Publication Date: 3/28/21
Number of Pages: 186

I’ve enjoyed the Viv Fraser series because she is so quirky – she is a hairdresser, academic doctor, newspaper journalist, consummate hacker, government agent for the NTF – you name the profession, she’s probably done it. She’s had relationships with both men and women and is currently unattached because of the death of her last lover. The writing is well done and the characters are likable.

There is a LOT going on in this book and it all seems to be left unfinished. Viv is still mourning the loss of Sal who was killed while working a case in the United States. She’s still trying to figure out what to do about the inheritance Sal left her and she’s also still trying to figure out – by fair means or foul, what happened to cause Sal’s death. She’s not even completely convinced that Sal is really dead. In addition to all of that, she’s called in on a case where something is going on in the Irish Sea and they need to figure out what that is. AND… some gangsters from her father’s past are harassing her. So, there is no shortage of story threads in this book.

DCI Marconi (Mac) and Val travel to Camp 16 on the Irish Sea to work on a joint mission with the military because something is going on and they are not sure what it is. Is someone trying to ‘recover’ the spent atomic fuel (uranium) that has been encased in concrete blocks and stored in an area of the Irish Sea? Is someone trying to recover old WWII weapons from the sea bed? Is something else totally different going on? There is excitement with boat chases in stormy seas, bomb explosions, and attempted abductions by US government FBI agents. Oh! Goodness!

The bones of this book were so very good and I enjoyed every word, but nothing was brought to completion. It was a total and complete cliffhanger for everything that was going on. That really bugged me – especially when you add in that I have no clue about what is in the wind for a relationship between Viv and Mac. Personally, I’d like to see them get together because I like both of them very much and I think they’d make a really good match for each other. I love mysteries, but I really need a good romance to go along with it, and I think Mac is the perfect fit for Viv.

Again, I enjoyed every word of the book, but it just wasn’t finished as far as I’m concerned. IF these storylines were going to be wrapped up in a future book, then there should have been some indication of that in this book. As it is, all of it is just left hanging. I’ll be looking forward to the next book to see what happens with it and hopefully, some of this will be wrapped up then. If not, I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that.