Review: The Mountains Bow Down

The Mountains Bow Down (A Raleigh Harmon Novel)

About the Book:

Everything's going to work out. Time away always makes things better . . .

That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, the Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-handsome Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be as arrogant as she originally thought.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a mystery so daunting that even the mountains might bow down before it.

My Comments:

I loved the previous book in this series (my review) so I was thrilled to be asked to review this one.  Again, I loved the language.  Here is the opening paragraph:

With the trajectory of launched missiles, the mountains soared from the ocean.  Smothered with evergreens, the steeps pointed to a sky so blue it whispered of eternity.  Though it was June, snow on the granite ridges refused to melt despite almost twenty-four hours daily of sunlight.  And where a liquid silver sea lapped the rocky shore, a bald eagle surveyed the cold water water for fish.

It is a murder mystery with some romantic elements and it kept me going back to the treadmill, which is where I read it.  While classified as Christian fiction, I think it is a book that anyone who likes relatively non-gory mysteries could enjoy.  "Christian" in this case mean Raleigh has qualms of conscience when she lies in order to help catch the bad guy--the old conundrum about doing bad for a good result.  She also has issues with the on-board chaplain, but it is such a minor part of the story that it shouldn't be the reason someone dislikes the book.

I'd like to thank Amy at Litefuse for sending me a review copy of the book.  Grade:  A-