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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Dead Man’s Watch Did It. It Made Me Believe the Lie.

by Chautona Havig · 8 Comments

Dead Man's Watch didn't just make me doubt myself when I decided "Whodunnit," it tricked me into fingering the wrong suspect. BRAVO! via @chautonahavig

Strange.  This week I read two books that had watches as a key element of the plot. Of course, the books took place a hundred fifty years apart, and the first book’s main character would have been astonished at the concept of a digital watch without moving cogs and such. Still, I found the use of “wrist chronometers,” as the woman in the movie Guys and Dolls calls them, fun!

Even more fun was this romantic suspense novel.

Dead Man’s Watch has everything I love in a good mystery/suspense. This book has both. In fact, this book has one thing that few mysteries do.

Dead Man's Watch Review

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you

Dead Man’s Watch Did It. It Made Me Believe the Lie.

I’ve said it often, and I’ll probably say it again.  I usually figure out the “whodunnit” in books pretty easily.  All I need to make me consider a mystery a success is for me to doubt myself, make the “why” be something I didn’t see coming, or something like that.

So, when a book actually gets me to latch onto the wrong person as the culprit, well… It’s a TOTAL win.

And yeah. One red herring was so perfectly imperfect that I bought it as the real deal and was convinced that the true killer was the red herring. Oh, and the author, Kay DiBibanca did it without writing an overly complicated plot.  She wrote a strong, multi-layered and faceted story, but she didn’t complicate things for their own sakes.

This book has a lot going for it.

Kathryn and CeCe have a fun and unique relationship that feels natural and makes you want to spend time with them.  Phil and Ben are interesting people, and even Blake (the primary suspect) makes you care about him and his plight. I mean, there was a minute there when I decided that if he did murder the guy, well… I understood.  Didn’t make it right, but I was glad I wouldn’t have to haul him in for it.

Add to that the unusual inclusion of a Messianic congregation, someone who actually enjoys running and considers it “fun” (and I believed her!), and just enough red herrings to keep me guessing and you have a solid book you do NOT want to put down.

Are there problems?

Sure. Let’s face it. Almost every book has some to someone! My biggest objection in this one kind of surprises me. Phil is a bit overbearing in his “demands” on Kathryn, but that didn’t bother me. People do that.  Fear for another person can make any of us become downright smothering about things.

What bothered me most was how someone as independent as Kathryn accepted the intrusion (at this point in their relationship, I considered it an intrusion).  Odd thing is, I’m not usually a big feminist or anything, but it just raised a few hackles I didn’t even know I had.

Additionally, Blake’s father-in-law and his “He couldn’t give my little girl all the stuff she deserved so she became a druggie” and “she could have married a lawyer or a doctor” were both weak and cliched. I’m sorry, but “lawyer or doctor” feels ripped out of the forties or fifties and just fell flat. Someone becoming a drug addict because her husband couldn’t give her a lavish lifestyle–that doesn’t hold water, either.

Did these problems kill my enjoyment of the story?

Nope. Not at all, actually. DiBianca made the characters in Dead Man’s Watch so realistic to me that I just got annoyed with them instead of their author.  Well played, Ms. DiBianca.  Well played.

Recommended for lovers of romantic suspense and for folks who like to see different pockets of the church explored in fiction. Thank you to the author/publisher for providing a review copy. I’ve not allowed that to influence my review.

Dead Man's Watch ReviewAbout the Book

Book:  Dead Man’s Watch

Author: Kay DiBianca

Genre: Cozy mystery

Release date: September 2020

Half-sisters Kathryn Frasier and Cece Goldman stumble into another mystery in this second book in the Watch series. When a former acquaintance of Kathryn’s is accused of murder, she and Cece go on a mission to prove his innocence by finding the real killer. But things are never what they seem in this tangled web, and Kathryn’s spunky determination to solve the mystery pushes her closer and closer to a deadly climax.

Join the adventure as these two young women commit themselves to live up to the quote from the Jerusalem Talmud: “Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.

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Comments

  1. Paula Shreckhise says

    April 2, 2021 at 9:01 am

    Wow, after your review, I really want to read this!

    Reply
  2. Roxanne C. says

    March 31, 2021 at 5:10 am

    Super review! I’ll be suspicious of all the characters now. LOL

    Reply
  3. Debbie P says

    March 28, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    This sounds very intriguing and I am looking forward to reading it!

    Reply
  4. megan allen says

    March 27, 2021 at 5:47 am

    This is my kind of read! Thanks for sharing your awesome review!

    Reply
  5. Amelia says

    March 26, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  6. Emma says

    March 26, 2021 at 1:07 pm

    I chuckled at your comment about running and liking it! I actually took a walk this morning–to bring up the cows for milking, which my boys usually do, but I decided to go along this morning. Must do that more often!

    Reply
  7. Kay DiBianca says

    March 26, 2021 at 8:53 am

    Chautona, Thank you for reviewing Dead Man’s Watch. I’m delighted that you didn’t guess the villain!

    Your review is riveting and your feedback is very valuable. I appreciate your comment about Brad’s father-in-law, and you’ve made me think more about the complicated relationship between Kathryn and Phil. You’ve made me see the need to explore their individual personalities deeper in future books. The advantage of writing a series!

    Thanks again. Blessings and shalom to you.

    Reply
  8. Andrea Stoeckel says

    March 26, 2021 at 6:32 am

    You had me at Romantic Suspense

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 472: A Chat with Shelley Shepard Gray
byChautona Havig

 It may seem weird, but my favorite way to read Amish fiction is with mystery or suspense added. I think I like the juxtaposition of the “simple, quiet” life and the upheaval. Listen in to my chat with Shelley Shepard Gray about her newest book, Unshaken.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

There are so many questions about the Amish, their ways of life, and their differences from us and from each other. We talked about the differences between people, sure, but we also looked at how the Amish look for the ways people are similar to them etc.

Of course, we also talked about the Rumors in Ross County series and how her newest book connects.

 Unshaken  by Shelley Shepard Gray

He helps her hide until danger has passed. She hopes her cover lasts long enough. When Stephanie Miller planned her visit to a dollar store in southern Ohio, she was expecting to pick up a few items she couldn’t find in her Amish community. She was not expecting to find herself an innocent bystander as a drug deal went horribly wrong. The sole witness to a murder, now Stephanie is targeted by the gunman. Hardy Anderson is always ready to help his social worker sister, Bev–which now includes hiding an Amish woman until a killer can be brought to justice. Surely if they dress her in English clothing, Hardy can hide her at the sprawling ranch where he works. But the killer is desperate–and there’s no telling what lengths he will go.

You can learn more about Shelley on her WEBSITE.  Don’t forget to follow her on BookBub and GoodReads.

AND!!!  Don’t miss her Buggy Bunch group on Facebook, too! 

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 472: A Chat with Shelley Shepard Gray
Episode 472: A Chat with Shelley Shepard Gray
September 29, 2025
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