Also by this author: Breach of Honor, Code of Courage, One Final Target
Published by Tyndale on March 4, 2025
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Romance, Suspense
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I have come to expect Janice Cantore books to be either a hit or a miss. Sometimes I love her novels; others, not so much. Unfortunately, Every Deadly Suspicion by Janice Cantore falls in the latter. Crimes bubble up in Dry Oaks, California under Chief of Police Hanna Keyes’s jurisdiction. Hanna’s father confessed to drug offenses—and not to mention two murders—that occurred thirty years ago. But now he’s being released due to severe illness…and the authorities ask Hanna to take him in. Hanna must deal with this, the reemergence of a childhood friend, and violent murders. It’s an intriguing plot, but Every Deadly Suspicion didn’t have the “wow factor.”
The book is slow. As a former cop, Cantore’s depictions of police procedure and experiences are no doubt accurate. But that means the story stops and starts. We chased down a lead—but oh, no, it’s a dead end. This person blamed someone else. This person had a faulty alibi. The book, too, had too many subplots, which made it occasionally very hard to follow. I forgot characters’ names and would’ve appreciated the occasional reminder. We have:
- Hanna’s case
- Her dad’s case (and illness and release)
- Nathan’s case
- Hanna’s relationship with Nathan
- Jared – his background, Hanna’s relationship with him
- Hanna’s relationship with Mandy (childhood friend, also daughter of Hanna’s dad’s victims)
- An obnoxious, arrogant true crime author searching for a story
Once you can wrap your head around everything, the book moves faster and makes more sense. The second half is far better from the first, but even then, Every Deadly Suspicion lacked emotional depth. Cantore wrote of characters’ turmoil, but I didn’t feel it. The writing was straight and to-the-point, no embellishment. Embellishment may bump up the word count and page count, but it is desperately needed in novels.
But I can always count on Janice Cantore to leave me with a quote that digs into my brain like a screw: “Holding bitterness, unforgiveness against someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” This applies to several characters in the novel, but it’s a concept by which all of us can live. Unforgiveness only hurts us—not anyone else.
Every Deadly Suspicion by Janice Cantore is thorough and thoughtful. But it lacked the suspense and intensity I associate with other books of the romantic suspense genre.