Come Helen High Water: A River Road Mystery (River Road #4) by Susan McBride

Title: Come Helen High Water: A River Road Mystery
Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: River Road Mystery
Format: Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Witness Impulse (July 25, 2017)
ISBN-10: 0062427970
ISBN-13: 978-0062427977
Author's Website: http://susanmcbride.com/
Notes: I received an eARC loan from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I am also an Avon Addict which means I love the books that Avon publishes enough to volunteer to read as many ARCs and books as they can send my way. So you'll be seeing a lot of books reviewed by me from this publisher. Please note, however, that if I don't like a book, it will be truthfully reflected by a low rating.

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In the small little town of River Bend, Illinois, the water is rising and so is the mystery of what happened to Luann Dupree, At first most everyone thought the text messages Luann sent explained things--she'd run off with a beau she met over the internet. As time passes, however, and the only form of communication from her continues to be done only by text messages, it starts to look like Sarah Biddle's ( Luann's best friend) fears may be founded. Sarah thinks something happened to Luann and suspects Luann's internet date dubbed 'Mister Maybe" is to blame. When Sarah gets no help from her husband, the sheriff of River Bend, she turns to Helen Evan for help and together they'll get to the bottom of what's going on.

While this is the fourth book of the series, it didn't seem to build on any of the other books, and could be read as standalone. I suspect, however, by reading the previous books, you'd get more intimate view of the characters. This is definitely what you'd expect in a "cozy" mystery. The town of River Bend is a close knit community with an predominately aging population. For years Luann has all but been married to her career, and is ripe for romance when she starts conversing with a gentleman on the internet who is her age. Luann has shared tidbits of her personal life with her friend, Sarah, over the years, but she has been rather secretive about "Mr. Maybe."

Sarah  hounds both her husband and Helen until they look into things. They quickly find that some things just don't add up. Connections start being made which lead to discoveries that get both Helen and Frank, the sheriff, wondering if a murder has been committed.

Overall, I gave this one 3 1/2 out of 5 roses. It was a fun and entertaining light read with a steady pace and some twists and turns. Additionally, there was a secondary mystery that needed to be solved before everything was said and done. It managed to capture the charm of a small town, but where usually everyone knows everyone else's business, Helen surprisingly managed to uncover a skeleton or two still in their closets. I'm forgoing my Romance Rating of this one as there really was no romance involved.

Order of the River Road series: