Book Review: TAKE THE WHEEL (Previously published as BLIND BAKE : Maddie Baker #1) by Denise Grover Swank

About the Book

Maddie Baker just wants to make ends meet. She gave up her school librarian career to return to her hometown and take care of her elderly aunt. So when she starts making Uber runs to supplement her barista job, she never dreamt she’d not only drop a man off to his murder but be labeled a person of interest in his death. 

Detective Noah Langley is looking for a fresh start in a city with a lower crime rate and a fraction of the population of Memphis. It’s just what he needs to recover from a nightmare that left him severely injured and his teenage mentee dead. The first murder since he’s arrived in Cockamamie is a chance to prove to his boss and himself he should be there. 

Noah doesn’t have many leads, but the few he has all tie back to one person: Maddie Baker. She doesn’t seem the type, but the last time he presumed someone was innocent he nearly died. Has Noah lost his instincts? Because if he can’t trust his gut, it might be time to turn in his badge. 

Review 

Maddie Baker returns to her old home town, not so naive and less trusting. Only her elderly aunt needs help. Maddie juggles multiple jobs and ends up a suspect in a murder - wrong place, wrong time. But she's determined and begins to collect clues on her own, to prove her innocence. 

The new detective, Noah, in town moved from the city to a small town, not expecting to have to deal with a homicide right off. He also has his own baggage. Maddie and Noah get off on the wrong foot, but as the story progresses, there are definite signs of a romance brewing. 

This is the first in the Maddie Baker series, and a good start to a series. The main characters are well-developed and the small town and its culture are described. As with other works by this author, this is a well-written cozy mystery, with a steady pace, and unexpected surprises. Even with the murder solved, there's still more to come with Maddie (and perhaps Noah) and more mysteries to solve. This is the first of three books in the series.

AMAZON

About the Author 

Denise Grover Swank is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author who writes mystery and romance. She lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. She's a single mother to six kids and four dogs. She spends her free time binging Netflix, drinking wine, and reading. Not necessarily in that order.

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