Tuesday 20 August 2019

Needled to Death (A Helping Hands Mystery #1) by Annelise Ryan


Needled to Death (A Helping Hands Mystery #1)

As a colleague of deputy coroner Mattie Winston, social worker Clothilde “Hildy” Schneider is no stranger to unsolved murders at Sorenson General Hospital. Except this time, it’s up to her to crack the case . . . 
 
Motivated by her own difficult past, Hildy has an unparalleled commitment to supporting troubled clients through grief and addiction in Sorenson, Wisconsin. But when a distraught group therapy member reveals disturbing details about her late son’s potential murder, Hildy goes from dedicated mental health professional to in-over-her-head amateur sleuth . . .
 
Alongside her loyal therapy Golden Retriever, Hildy stumbles through incriminating clues—and an unlikely partnership with Detective Bob Richmond, the irresistibly headstrong cop who shares her passion for helping others. With signs of foul play surfacing all over town, can Hildy and Detective Richmond pinpoint the deadly traits of a sharp-witted killer before another seat gets filled at grief therapy?
 
Praise for Annelise Ryan and her Mattie Winston series

“The funniest deputy coroner to cut up a corpse since, well, ever!”
—Laura Levine, author of Killer Cruise

“The forensic details will interest Patricia Cornwell readers . . . while the often slapstick humor and the blossoming romance between Mattie and Hurley will draw Evanovich fans.”
Booklist   (Summary via Goodreads)



Needled to Death by Annelise Ryan is the first book in her new Helping Hands Mystery series and in my opinion it is a HUGE hit !!

Hildy Schneider, the main character, had a hard upbringing....at the age of seven her mom was murdered while she was asleep in the next room, the murder was never solved, Hildy doesn't know who her father is, her grandparents want nothing to do with her and she grew up in a lot of different foster homes.  It is a miracle that she was able to turn her life around and now she is an adult and has a great job as a therapist and she is helping people.

One of the things she does in her job working as a counselor for a hospital is run a support group for people how have lost a loved one.  At one of her meetings a newcomer is there for more than support....she says that her son recently died and it was ruled an overdose however the mother says that there is no way her son would have killed himself or used drugs.  Hildy agrees to look into his death and gets a local detective that she knows to reopen the case.

Hildy and Detective Richmond, Bob, not only agree to work together but they go out to dinner and he gets her to be his workout partner in the mornings....  Bob gets everything in order so that Hildy can investigate with him as a "ride-along" unfortunately Hildy gets herself in hot water when she goes off on her own......

Ryan has a unique main character in that Hildy has a good idea of what people will do to just get by and also with her background and upbringing she will go above and beyond to help others less fortunate.  You cannot help by love her and the ways she goes about getting things done.  And the relationships she gets involved with will have the reader on their toes for sure !!!!


Review by Missi M.






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