Shades of Truth by Charlie Hudson
Mix together a leggy Police Detective with an attitude, a messy murder case, and add a dash of small town humor for a delicious treat.
“He didn’t drop the gun,” Noonan said calmly, as if killing a man was as routine as remembering to set the alarm before you left the house. Finding a corrupt, manipulative politician beneath a charming exterior is nothing unusual. Unraveling the connection to a twenty year old suicide and linking him to a string of present day bodies is another matter. Police Detective Bev Henderson of Verde Key, Florida doesn’t care that rising star State Senator Warren Randall belongs to a wealthy and powerful family. What she does care about is a missing woman, a dead accountant and people who think they can paint the truth in shades other than black and white.
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Author’s Bio
Charlotte “Charlie” Kimball Hudson, born in Pine Bluff, Ark., and raised in Louisiana, is a 22-year career military veteran and wife, freelance writer and author.
After graduating from Northwestern State University in 1974, she entered the Army through a special program of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) – two years before the first women were commissioned through a test program in selected college Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs.
Hudson experienced a number of “firsts” during her career. She was the first female officer assigned in the history of the 19th Maintenance Battalion in Giessen, Germany; the first female selected to command a maintenance company at Ft. Campbell, Ky.; the first female ROTC instructor at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas; the first female to be designated as the executive officer to the commanding general at the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. and the first female to command the Leghorn Depot in Livorno, Italy.
During her extensive military career Hudson was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and to Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy. She retired from the Army in 1995 as a lieutenant colonel. She and her husband, Hugh Hudson, recently moved to South Florida where they can enjoy their love of scuba diving.
Hudson has a masters of science in organizational development from East Texas State University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa. She is a charter member of both the National Women’s Museum of Art and the Women in the Military Service of America Foundation. Hudson is also a member of the Washington Independent Writers and the VII Corps Desert Storm Veterans Association.
Hudson’s first novel, Orchids in the Snow, was written after she retired from active duty. Her second novel, Shades of Murder, invites readers to the fictional town of Verde Key, Florida for an intriguing story and a great cast of characters. Her first book-length non-fiction, The Parent’s Guide to Business Travel: Practical Advice and Wisdom for When You Have To Be Away, is an easy reading book for any parent who has ever faced work-related family separations.
My Review
4 stars
While out scuba diving, Bev and her instructor Chris Green hear that state senator Warren Randall had been assaulted by Jonas Shepard over his sister’s suicide 20 years earlier. When police investigate Jonas house they discover that Cindy Green, Chris’ sister, was having an affair with Jonah. The problem is it looks like Cindy found out about the assault plan and Jonah made her disappear. This sounds too convenient for Bev especially when she thinks about how Warren and his head of security, Mike Noonan answer her questions. Bev is determined to find out what really happened and being a higher up politician is not going to stop her.
This story is set in a wonderful, small town in Florida. Everything seems cut and dry about this assault, death, and disappearance except to Bev. She is bound and determined to find out the truth, especially when it seems there is more to Mike Noonan than meets the eye.
This is my first story from author Charlie Hudson and part of a series, which I didn’t realize. I had no problem figuring out what was happening and I want to read the other books to see what I have missed.
If you like mysteries this is one that I recommend people check out.
I received Shades of Truth a long time ago free of charge.
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