Review: Dead By Midnight by Beverly Barton

Dead By Midnight by Beverly Barton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dead by Midnight by Beverly Barton is the 1st novel in her Dead By Trilogy and is part and #11 in the Griffin Powell’s Series.

It takes off from the previous book, Silent Killer and focuses on Lorie Hammonds, Cathy Cantrell’s best friend and Mike Birkett, the sheriff of the small town of Dunmore.

Jeez……..for a small town there’s a lot going on there!!! Gossip-mongers, murders, people with secrets….and a lot more!!!

Lorie Hammonds and Mike Birkett had been in love and engaged when she left for Hollywood seeking fame and fortune. Things didn’t work out quite what she expected and she returned home 9 years later to discover that Mike had married and had two children. She has never stopped loving him and has been trying to connect with him again…..he’s now a widower….but he’s not interested. In fact, he wants NOTHING to do with her. She regrets her past in Hollywood but she’s determined to make a new fresh life in her hometown.

Mike Birkett’s heart was broken by Lorie and he has never forgiven her for leaving him and for what she did in Hollywood. Posing for Playboy and acting in one porno movie. She’s not the person he knew….everyone in the small town has seen the pictures and the movie and she’s seen as nothing more than a slut!!!

When she receives a second threatening letter directed at her, she asks the local police force to help her discover the identity of the sender. And when the connection is made to the one porno movie she made, she realizes that’s she’s on someone’s list to kill everyone involved in that movie.

Such a good and unique plot. Chilling and scary as we see it from the killer’s POV, the way he plots each kill. Terrifying. And I could understand Lorie’s fear…..when would it be her turn!

I liked Lorie and how she changed her life around, learning from her mistakes and just trying to make a clean fresh start. How she dealt with the town’s bigots and the townspeople’s judgments.

The other characters I found endearing were Mike’s son, MJ, daughter, Hannah and his mother Nell. Their love for Lorie was never based on what she had done but the kind of person she was…kind, caring, loving and honest.

Mike did not feel the same as his family…he spent most of the time being downright cruel and horrible to Lorie and I thought he was damn not good enough for someone as good as Lorie….but he did redeem himself in the end.

Once again, may sub-plots in the story. Maleah Perdue, Jack Perdue’s sister and Griffin Powell’s employee, and Derek, profiler and also working for Griffin, still snarling at each other. Hell, when are these two going to get it together???

The ending was a bit of a disappointment for me….okay, the serial killer is caught….and surprise….someone I suspected….there were so many red herrings that I had a few suspects in my head….but not that one, exactly. What I didn’t enjoy was the chapters after the killer was revealed. We get another killer/s that have no connection to this storyline…..well, the connection is really to Griffin Powell…but it left me feeling a bit up in the air!!!

A nice suspense filled with romance, mystery and some interesting characters.

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