A Cry in the Dark

Carly Moore Series, Book 1

By: Denise Grover Swank

Narrated by: Shannon McManus

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

When doing the right thing goes horribly wrong...

Caroline Blakely is certain of two things: She was happy with her life as a first grade school teacher, and she can never, ever return to it.

After discovering a shocking truth about her father, the wealthy businessman at the helm of Blakely Oil, she’s on the run - a difficult feat given her father’s endless resources and connections.

With the help of friends, Carly is able to secure a new identity, but her attempts to keep a low profile are blown to bits when she gets stuck in Drum, Tennessee. When she investigates a cry in the parking lot outside her motel room, she finds herself the lone witness to a murder.

Stranded in the small Appalachian Mountain town, she soon realizes that Drum is as riddled with secrets as her own past. A huge chunk of the intrigue centers around the Drummond family, ancestors of the town’s founders, and their oldest son, Wyatt - an ex-con.

She knows she’d do best to stay away from the Drummonds, especially Wyatt, and from the mystery she’s stumbled upon, but Carly’s sense of right and wrong demands that she help, even if it means risking her own secrets...and her life.

©2019 Bramagioia Enterprises (P)2020 Bramagioia Enterprises

great read!

I enjoyed it,was light and didnt have to pay super close attention to get up! I am looking for book 2 now!!

Wait for the suspense

After chapter 6 is when it keeps you in edge of your seat! Interestingly a good read!

Narrator brought the characters to life.

This is an excellent book. Very well written. Great story, likable characters. Holds you on the edge of your seat. No slow parts. The narrator was superb. One of the best audibles I have listened too,

Excellent read

I totally enjoyed this book. it kept my attention and kept me guessing who did it.

Good start to a series

This is the first book I have read by this author. A few twists and turns and a lot of shady characters. The narrator was flawless. Looking forward to book two.

Loved it!

Don’t know how I stumbled onto this book but was hooked by the end of the first chapter. It’s a Great intro to the series, looking forward to the rest of the books.

Great start to the series

This meticulously crafted, beautifully written, and expertly delivered story packs quite an emotional punch. It kept me on the edge of my seat until the last word. Along the way, I felt all of Carly’s feelings as she experienced them - laughing, crying, swooning, cringing, teeth gritting, angry stomping, and cheering. Carly is hiding from her dangerous and powerful father and ex-fiancée. Thanks to some friends, she has a new identity and is on her way to a new life when her car breaks down and she’s waylaid in small town Drum. She gets a temporary job as a waitress in the local bar and a room at the local motel, planning to leave in a few days. Then she witnesses a murder and gets caught up in small town secrets and intrigue. With Carly stuck in a small mountain town with strangers, isolated from the outside world and in hiding, it is difficult to know who to trust and who to be wary of. Nevertheless, she still wants to solve Seth’s murder. The book was well written and included witty dialogue, three dimensional characters, and an engaging storyline as shown through sweet moments, exciting action, danger, family drama, painful pasts, mystery, plot twists, imperfect characters, secrets, missteps, laughs, and all the big feels.

Shannon McManus did a great job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite convincingly.

More substantial than a standard cozy mystery

(As posted in Good reads)
I'm not sure that it's a "GOOD" book although I really enjoyed it immensely. I suppose that it is a "cozy mystery", but in a lot of ways it was more substantive than general "cozy mysteries". The plot was involved and engaging, and the characters were great and mostly likable, and there is definitely enough mystery left to continue the series! Although I already own over a thousand unread audiobooks, I'm afraid that I will have to buy more in this series :-( – :-)

Real page turner so to speak

I guessed all the wrong culprits. Great story line and greater ending. Lost lots of sleep because I could not turn it off!

Good Audiobook

Have trouble getting started with new audiobooks lately, but this one pulled me in. The story and characters were well done and the narration was good. A little "mooshy" for me at times listening to the main character's deep feelingsm Overall a good listen.