the mountains bow down by Sibella Giorello

This is a WOW, 5-Star novel. The end of the first chapter made me gasp and I was hooked for every page until the end. I'm delighted to say that Christian Fiction has a magnificent author in Sibella Giorello. You won't want to miss a single paragraph of this novel, and for sure you'll want to purchase all the other books by Giorello.

Even though this is well into the Raleigh Harmon series, it is a perfect stand alone. You know something went on before, but you don't need that information for the storyline or for the characters believability and development.

The cruise ship is a great place for a murder mystery, and the suspects are mostly neurotic Hollywood types, but the way Giorello moves the plot along, you really aren't sure who the killer is until the last which is extremely satisfying.

I have complained so much before that writers are basically inept at combining romance with suspense. I have seen them make characters kiss at the most inopportune times or exchange mooning glances while embedded in unraveling a knot of mystery. Well, I stand corrected. Giorello is a genius at adding that romance touch with just the right amount of flavor and spice. Excellently done. 

This one is a keeper!

ABOUT THE BOOK
Even Alaska can't give Raleigh Harmon a vacation from her job as an FBI forensic geologist.
A cruise to Alaska sounds like the perfect vacation--it's a geologist's dream and will give Raleigh space to sort out her feelings about her recent engagement. But before the ship even reaches its first port, a case manages to find her. The producer of a movie that's being filmed onboard goes missing and is then discovered hanging from the railing. Suicide seems to be the cause, but Raleigh quickly realizes the pieces don't add up.

When the Seattle field office sends Jack Stephanson to assist her in the investigation, her personal uncertainty skyrockets. Why is it that she forgets to even call her fiance back in Virginia. And Jack seems to know her as well as she knows herself. She'll have to wait to sort out those feelings, though, because she and Jack only have five days before the cruise ends to solve this case.