Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Treasure Trail
SERIES: Treasure Trail #1
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
PUBLISHER: Darkwind Press
RELEASE DATE: June 26, 2019
LENGTH: 248 pages
BLURB:
Book One in the Treasure Trail series.
Erik Mitchell traveled the world uncovering art fraud and relic theft, which pitted him against spoiled billionaires, unscrupulous collectors, mobsters, and cartels. He worked with law enforcement across the U.S. and Europe, but then a sting goes wrong, Erik ends up injured and returns to find his partner cheating. He decides to stop globetrotting and buy an antique shop in scenic Cape May, NJ, rebuild his life, and nurse his broken heart.
Undercover Newark cop Ben Nolan went down in a hail of bullets when a bust went sideways, after a tip-off from a traitor inside the department. When he recovers, he spends a couple of years as a private investigator, only to tire of seeing the worst of human nature. So when his aunt offers him the chance to take over her rental real estate business in Cape May, it seems too good to be true. Now if he could just believe he could ever be lucky again in love.
Sparks fly when Erik and Ben meet. But when a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface, the two men are pulled into a web of lies, danger, and deception that will test their bond—and might make them Cape May’s newest ghosts!
Treasure Trail contains sexually explicit material intended for adults 18 and over.
REVIEW:
When life does a number on Erik, the antiques detective starts a new life in Cape May – a coastal tourist town with a well-known history in ghosts. Ben, ex-Newark-undercover-cop, and former PI has a similar background to Erik – shot, boyfriend gone, also starting a new life in Cape May. A series of events brings the two together to solve a decades-old mystery where the dead still want justice.
Erik has paranormal abilities, and has taken over an old antique shop, and Ben is trying out the family business in vacation rentals, with permanent prospects. When Ben finds an old clock, he takes it to Erik for a valuation. The timepiece is connected to events, both past and present. Curiosity has the men asking questions which digs up another set of mysteries. With danger in the air Ben becomes protective of Erik, which is further fueled by their attraction to each other.
The story is told in the third person from the viewpoints of Erik and Ben. Overall, I enjoyed it. The amalgamation of a detective story, man-loving, antiques and the paranormal was a combination I couldn’t resist. The main protagonists were interesting, and there wasn’t a wilting flower in sight. Both have loved, lost and a wish to love again, albeit without much hope, which makes their connection all the more precious. Both also have witty friends that counteracted the times of doubt.
If you are a reader that loves detail then, you will eat up Treasure Trail. It seems that the author wanted to immerse the reader in as much information as possible. Occasionally though, I felt the extras distracted from the scene and could have either been voiced elsewhere or left out with the story arc none the worse. It is also one of those stories where good events, actions or feelings are immediately followed by period of overthinking and thoughts of ‘it could all fall to pieces.’ I understand the sense of burned once twice shy. In stories, second-guessing can be used to significant effect. But I found this element overdone in places to the extent that it ceased to have the intended emotional impact on my reading pleasure.
For me, the strength in this story lies in the mystery and investigation that the clocks invoke. The corruption and secrets that so many thought dead coming to light, alongside those who wanted to keep the past dead and buried, was well written. It was lovely to read a story where the bad guy wasn’t obvious and kept me guessing to the end.
As Treasure Trail is the first in this series, and hopefully the doubts of the past, put to bed – further books may (fingers crossed) concentrate on the mystery rather than dwell on uncertainty. If this is the case then, they will be stories to relish.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: