Book Review: "The Cliff's Edge" By Charles Todd

First and foremost by deepest condolences at the loss of the matriach Carolyn's passing in '21. It was heartbreaking to hear upon the completion of this duo team's novel for publication.

Charles Todd has a legion of fans and in the 13th series of Bess Crawford it will not change.

The writing is so strong that I couldn't put this darn thing down and I'm easily distracted. I honestly wasn't able to flip the pages quick enough on Kindle (better on my aging eyes than Netgalley) and so I was enamored from the start.

My last reading was, "A Divided Loyalty" from the Ian Rutledge series, as I didn't read during '21 for a much needed reviewer break. https://thesecretbooksleuth.blogspot.com/2020/02/book-review-divided-loyalty-by-charles.html

For me, Nurse Bess is such a strong yet sweet and sensitive character that it's hard not to fall in love with her empathetic yet nurturing ways. She takes on quite a bit in each story but she manages to pull through and grasp the heavy weighted emotions that always surround her activities.

Bess agrees in this novel to travel to help cousin Melinda during surgery.

However, nothing goes as planned in love and war. She finds herself in a crossroads between two families- Neville's and Caldwell's.

Both of these families bring judgement, accusations, deaths, and theories that are as wild as they're complexing.

Much guilt and blame is being tossed around as quickly as the characters falls and sudden slips but then again who shall we believe is responsible?

Who would kill Frederick Caldwell while hunting for sheep with Gordon Neville?

Protective issues, familial issues, and romantic issues all rise to the surface both literally and figuratively.
Relationships begin to become questioned by the proper authorities with everyone pointing fingers. Is all this emotion nothing more than a mere lover's quarrel?

The enjoyment with the engagement situation was quite unique and the family digressions and discussions seem to shadow such outbursts.

There's plenty to excite the palate from murder, to attempted murder, to assault, and the shocker in the end surrounding a popular character.

I've read other reviews that were concerned about love lost or lack of such between certain characters but for me I'm fine with the pace of it all. Heck, I'll wait should anything come about with Bess no matter who might be involved.

Thank you to Charles and Carolyn for providing so many readers pure joy and excitement over the years. This is not the end as Charles Todd will be just fine to carry the legacy.

I can't wait to see what's next in this wonderful Bess Crawford series.

I'm beyond chuffed to have received this ARC in exchange for this honest review.