The next day, a package of garbage arrives on her doorstep and indicates that Chaz knows what she did with the letters. Instead of turning to the local police for help, which would make sense since Garner lives in a small New Jersey town, and the stalker must be, or have been in the town if he has this much access to her, Garner calls upon her bevy of FBI contacts and security contacts and gets hooked up with security expert Reed Corbin and his partner Matt.

Things seem to calm down for awhile, and Reed begins to take a more than professional interest in Garner, an interest that almost costs Garner her life and costs Reed his. All the while, Garner, her emotionally distant daughter, housekeeper, and housekeeper’s daughter are being shadowed by Corbin’s security firm, in an attempt to keep Chaz away. Even after Chaz is arrested and being held in jail, Garner still doesn’t feel entirely safe, and after an anonymous stranger posts Chaz’s bail, Garner realizes something else is up and goes into overdrive to uncover the true threat to her and her daughter.

The first half of Dead Letter is very suspenseful. Once Chaz is arrested, however, the tension drops significantly and the bigger manipulator becomes apparent easily.

Garner is not a character readers will find themselves rooting for as she stays emotionally detached to those closest to her, even her daughter. She is in the process of selling her childhood home and seems to have no problem doing so, citing an unhappy childhood to which there must be more than she describes because the parts of her childhood the reader is privy to, do not seem terrible enough to harbor such feelings of anger as an adult. As Garner makes inroads into each of her relationships, there are glimmers of hope that she could turn into a more likable character in future episodes.

A suspenseful first half and the eagerness to see if Garner changes for the better makes this a quick read for those readers looking for something a little more grittier than a cozy, but with the same small town feel.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry