Dead Calm (A Mattie Winston Mystery)

Another fantastic book in this series! Mattie and Hurley are called to the scene of an apparent murder-suicide. It seems that the deceased people were having an affair. The two quickly realize that not all is as it seems and the case turns into a murder investigation. Also, an odd looking body turns up at the site where Mattie and Hurley are building their new home and some think it's an alien. Mattie and Hurley are also still looking into the details behind the deaths from the previous book when Mattie's co-worker was murdered. Lots of intrigue and fun in this book. Can't wait to see what's next!!

Dead Calm opens with Mattie Winston had new husband Steve Hurley’s life anything but calm. As readers of the series know, they are recently married, are in the process of building a larger home, have a two year old and to cap it all off Steve’s teenaged daughter has recently come to live with them. Add to that, Mattie’s office is short handed requiring her to work long hours. Dead Chaos comes closer to describing their life. However, readers who have not read the series before will have no trouble jumping right in. The author uses parts of the first few chapters to give readers a bit of background on their lives.
As Dead Calm opens, Mattie, a death investigator for the medical examiners’ office and her husband, a police detective are called out to the scene of a murder/suicide at the Grizzly Motel, THE place for the rent by the hour crowd. The victims, Craig and Meredith had a professional relationship. Craig and his wife ran a very successful financial planning business. Meredith was a client, though neither were suspected of extramarital affairs. Things start to fall apart with that theory as small discrepancies creep in. The gun was found in Craig’s right hand though he was left handed, was the first “off” thing, but more were to follow.
As the investigation progresses, the plot takes some interesting turns crossing paths with Mattie’s ex-husband a surgeon.
Meanwhile at Steve and Mattie’s home site a deformed skeleton has been found with gold fabric material around it. Arnie, one of Mattie’s coworkers, decides the body is an alien and before long the newspaper is on the story complicating Mattie and Steve’s lives even more.
Dead Calm is an interesting combination of the various mystery sub genres. It has “serious” crime investigation with the cases that Mattie and Steve catch and the series could easily succeed on that alone. But along with that are the silly moments such as Arnie and the alien plot line and another involving the new hire in Mattie’s office with a most unusual medical condition making this a bit of a humorous mystery. In addition to both of those, the domestic angle of the books now have taken on a quite a “mommy track” feel. Anyone who has reared a toddler will relate to some of the funnier parts of the book. The result is a little bit of something for nearly every type of reader though serious crime fiction folks may be put off by the aliens and potty training scenes.
Dead Calm is the ninth book in the series. While it is not necessary to read them in order, it would be helpful.
I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

Dead Calm centers around Mattie Winston, a medicolegal death investigator who works in Sorenson, Wisconsin’s medical examiner’s office. She is newly married to Steve Hurley, a local homicide detective. Receiving twin middle of the night phone calls from their bosses, they are summoned to the scene of an apparent murder-suicide at a motel on the outskirts of town where rooms can be rented by the hour for liaisons.

Annelise Ryan has written a mystery that moves quickly from one situation to another with lots of threads and clues along the way. How could a pharmaceutical coverup tie in? Are the victims’ spouses culpable? Has a construction crew uncovered the skeleton of an alien on Mattie and Hurley’s proposed home site? Ryan keeps the reader guessing all the way to a surprise resolution.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.