Forensic Scientist Penelope Washburn has the bad habit of finding herself in the middle of other peopleās messes. Unfortunately, sheās too nice to say anything about it. She also has an Achilles heel, ex-boss Detective Jose Ortega, who also happens to be an ex-love interest. When Ortega gets tangled in a multinational crime involving a well-known and powerful cult, along with a dangerous family known for their high-profile grifts, Penelope insists on accompanying her old flame to Ireland to help. Meanwhile, ex-cult member and journalist-turned detective, Rue Brennan, knows the people involved more than anyone, and agrees to go with them, even though it means coming face-to-face with an old nemesisā¦ and her past.
Forensic Scientist Penelope Washburn has the bad habit of finding herself in the middle of other peopleās messes. Unfortunately, sheās too nice to say anything about it. She also has an Achilles heel, ex-boss Detective Jose Ortega, who also happens to be an ex-love interest. When Ortega gets tangled in a multinational crime involving a well-known and powerful cult, along with a dangerous family known for their high-profile grifts, Penelope insists on accompanying her old flame to Ireland to help. Meanwhile, ex-cult member and journalist-turned detective, Rue Brennan, knows the people involved more than anyone, and agrees to go with them, even though it means coming face-to-face with an old nemesisā¦ and her past.
Location: New York
Edwina was getting restless. Ever since Vandenberg
Nutraceuticals shut down the Florida factory and word
got out about the churchās questionable practices; they
were hounded by the police. And while they found enough
evidence to link the company to at least !ve deaths at church
campuses in the Northern United States, family lawyer, Mr.
Lundy, and his team had done such a good job of covering their
tracks that no one person could be blamedā¦except of course, one
of their Ambassadors who died under suspicious circumstances
while in prison. They took the fall for Erasmusās death, and the
death of a Deaconess at one of the Pennsylvania church
campuses. But the older cases went so far back that it would take
many more years and cutting through lots of red tape and corruption
to get to the bottom of it all.
7
Danielle Palli
Still, the damage had been done. In addition to Vandenberg
Nutraceuticals facing bankruptcy, church membership had fallen
by nearly 40%. Apparently, the faith-healing business was not
what it used to be. Then, of course, there was the fact that Emma
Post, a !gure model who now controlled the bulk of the company,
was planning to sell o" both factory propertiesā¦one in Florida
and the other in Dublin.
And, as if it couldnāt get any worse for Edwina Vandenberg,
daughter of Erasmus Vandenberg, Erasmus saw to it that Edwina
got next to nothing in his will. The New York condo now
belonged to her daughter, Elsbeth, and in another few months,
Edwina would be tapped out and forced to sell her luxury estate
in the Hamptons.
She had already laid o" all of the housekeepers at both locations,
with the exception of Ferdinand, Erasmusās personal
assistant. Despite taking a considerable pay cut, Ferdinand
remained a loyal member of the church and to Edwina.
Edwina sat on the couch of the home that now belonged to
her daughter, recognizing that she had limited time left as
Elsbethās guardian. She $ipped through a tabloid that unearthed
a conspiracy theory that everyone on sta" at the factory or at the
Vandenberg residences where also secret Ambassadors and
Elders of an underground cult. Unfortunately, the story was a
little too on point.
Edwina let out a hu" as she ripped the cover from the tabloid,
crumpled it up in a !t of anger and launched it like a baseball into
the !replace. It hit the mantle and dropped, un-singed, in front of
the hearth.
āWould you care for a sherry, Madame Edwina?ā Ferdinand
asked. āIt might settle your nerves.ā
Edwina sti"ened her shoulders for a moment before
consciously relaxing them away from her ears and tilting her
head from side to side to loosen her neck.
8
It Had to Be You
āIām afraid I need more than sherry to settle my nerves
tonight, Ferdinand. What I need isā¦a miracle.ā
9
Just when they think the the problems of The Church of Infinite Love died with its leader, retired Detective Ortega and his old flame, Penelope, find themselves traveling to Ireland to once again solve an unknown mystery surrounding the Church and the Vandenberg Factories. And because Rue Brennan is all too familiar with the church, she gets to come along for the ride and once again comes face-to-face with a past that seems to follow her.Ā
I appreciated the recap at the beginning. Admittedly, with it having been a while since I read the previous two books, it was still a bit difficult to remember every detail being each story is pretty complex and full of twists and turns. However, I was still able to follow along with this book and pick up the pieces that I was unable to remember from the others.Ā
That being said, similar to how I felt with the previous books, it took me a while to get into this one. There were a lot of characters being introduced and reintroduced, and there was a lot of āsetting the sceneā where nothing exciting was happening. It wasnāt until about halfway through that I finally felt like the story was going somewhere.Ā
The story itself is a complex, yet interesting web. Itās impressive how all of the stories in the series connect with each other. Although I do wish there was just a little less complexity. Keeping up with the church, the factories, and now the school - along with which characters are involved with what, it was often difficult to keep everything straight. I was grateful that there was somewhat of a revelation at the end which provided a nice summary of all of the events that transpired.Ā
I most enjoyed the fact that you could never be too sure who to trust, and just when you thought you had things figured out there was another twist or turn in a different direction. Overall, this was a bit of a difficult read given all of the complexities, but worth it.Ā