Dust and Obey by Christy Barritt

A little over two years ago, I stumbled upon a book called Hazardous Dutyabout a crime scene cleaner who stumbled into a murder investigation. Now I await every new adventure in Gabby St. Clair’s life (in addition to Christy Barritt’s other romantic suspense titles). Dust and Obey marks the tenth book in the series and I still cannot get enough of what’s happening in Gabby and her friends’ lives. Fans of this series will be thrilled to know that Riley Thomas lays a very prominent role in this book.

While driving home from a training session for her new job, Gabby receives a phone call from her ex-fiancé in which he asks her to help investigate the murder of a co-worker’s wife. The problem? The investigation will take place on an island. And Riley will be there. And the purpose of these weekend retreats is marriage counseling. Determined to protect her heart from getting smashed to pieces again, Gabby agrees to act the part of Riley’s wife. But narrowing down the suspect pool proves challenging as does avoiding her emotions.

Christy Barritt is a master of infusing humor into stories that would otherwise be tense and emotionally fraught. Gabby’s quirky character remains evident throughout the book—complete with randomly bursting into song, creating her own titles for her songs, and her concern and compassion for her friends. Her first session at the retreat is sure to make you smile, if not laugh out loud. But at the same time you will sense Gabby’s confusion, heartache, and turmoil.

Also, if you have not read the novella, While You Were Sweeping, written from Riley’s perspective during his separation from Gabby, you might want to check that out before delving into this book as it definitely gave me some great perspective on what Riley was hoping for from these three weekends away with Gabby.

Available for order here