A Shred of Evidence by Kathy Herman

My neighbor is a bookaholic also. We regularly share books and as a result find out about new authors we might not have read otherwise. She came bearing 4 books recently. The Seaport Suspense series by Kathy Herman. I had never heard of the books nor the author. I am sooo glad she introduced me to both!

A Shred of Evidence is book 1 in this wonderful series. What I am enjoying is not only the well thought out plot lines and finely developed characters, but the issues that Herman covers and how she handles them. For instance in this book gossip plays a huge role in several different plot lines. There is idle chitchat gossip that takes something simple.. like a date.. and lets it grow into something larger than life.. a wedding. There's overhearing someone say something and letting your imagination go wild... or you emotions (anger in this case) make it into something it wasn't. There's journalistic gossip... personal.. church.. community.. several different kinds and all are not exaggerated. I could see every one of these situations happening in real life. And what is fun is often the gossiper is also a victim of gossip, so that he / she learns first hand the effects words have on others. One thing to note, the suspense in the novel isn't who is spreading the gossip.. the gossip is a consequence of the various action in the book.

Ellen Jones and her husband, Guy, have recently moved to the small quiet community of Seaport, FL. While enjoying a break from writing her first novel, Ellen overhears someone talking about the husband of a young woman she has recently befriended. Instead of telling the wife or confronting the husband, Ellen decides to do some digging on her own and soon finds herself caught up in a web of half-truths and heresay that could destroy a man and his family.

Shred is a wonderful introduction to Seaport and the various characters there. (Although it appears Ellen and her husband are characters from an earlier series by Herman.) This book is full of real life dilemmas such as the struggle most believers have walking the talk.

Great book!