Her Father's Secret by Sara Blaedel (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"After suddenly inheriting a funeral home from her father--who she hadn't heard from in decades--Ilka Jensen has impulsively abandoned her quiet life in Denmark to visit the small town in rural Wisconsin where her father lived. There, she's devastated to discover her father's second family: a stepmother and two half sisters she never knew existed. And who aren't the least bit welcoming, despite Ilka's efforts to reach out.
Then a local woman is killed, seemingly the unfortunate victim of a home invasion turned violent. But when Ilka learns that the woman knew her father, it becomes increasingly clear that she may not have been a completely random victim after all.
The more Ilka digs into her father's past, the more deeply entangled she becomes in a family drama that has spanned decades and claimed more than one life--and she may be the next victim..."

My Thoughts:

Her Father's Secret was an enjoyable read that has me itching to pick up the previous book in this series.  Yep, I started yet again in the middle of a series.  In this case it was only book two but it still seems as I never read in order.  I will admit that it took me a few chapters to really get into this book.  It may have been the fact that I jumped in without having read that first book (I do honestly believe that was the reason).  It just took me a bit to catch on to what was going on and what had happened.  But before long I found myself just caught up within the mystery of Ilka's father and the life he had led in this small Wisconsin town.  I loved the fact that this book felt very real to life.  Ilka is struggling financially after basically inheriting all of her father's debt and trying to figure out if she should close the business he left of her because of it.  This isn't something that is just mentioned and then forgotten either; instead, it played a prominent role throughout the book.  It just felt so real to life for me which kept me reading wanting to see how everything would work out.  I felt this attachment to the funeral home that her father had left Ilka because it was really the only thing that she had left of her father.  This was a book that I took my time with and just enjoyed.  It didn't feel like a book that needed to be rushed in the slightest, so I just let the author pull me along for the ride.  I enjoyed every minute of it!  That being said, the ending was much more surprising than I expected.  It left me seriously wishing for (and looking forward to) the third book in this series!  But first I think that I had better go back and see how this all started with that first book I missed.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book and am eager to continue on with this series.  I'm kind of kicking myself though because I have had this author's books on my TBR list for awhile now.  I feel like I've been missing out not having read them.  Once I finish the first book in this series, I will give her other series a try too!  I do think that readers should probably try reading this series in order.  While it didn't end up effecting my enjoyment overall, it did take me time to really catch on to what was happening with this book and the why's at first because I hadn't read that first book.  This is a quieter mystery and one that I would almost label as a domestic mystery.  Don't let that description deter you though because it was really good!  I'm super excited to have finally given this author a try and that I have more books to look forward to.  I would recommend this book to both mystery and suspense fans. Recommended!

Bottom Line:  A mystery that I took my time with - it was perfect to cozy up with and enjoy over long afternoons and evenings!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher.  Thoughts are my own.