Review – Home Before Dark

Those were the words country singer Daleigh McDermott’s father always repeated.

Now her father is dead, and Daleigh fears she’s returned home too late to make things right. As she’s about to flee back to Nashville, she finds a hidden journal belonging to her father. His words hint that his death was no accident.

Small town mechanic Ryan Shields is the only one who seems to believe that Daleigh may be on to something. Her father trusted the man, but Daleigh’s instant attraction to Ryan scares her. She knows her life and career, however dwindling it might be, are back in Nashville and that her time in the sleepy North Carolina town is only temporary.

As Daleigh and Ryan work to unravel the mystery, it becomes obvious that someone wants them dead. They must rely on each other—and on God—if they hope to make it home before the darkness swallows them whole.

HOME BEFORE DARK is a different sort of romantic suspense than Ms. Barritt’s Love Inspired Suspense stories. It isn’t as … nonstop action. The story starts slow, and kind of sad, with Daleigh home for her dad’s funeral. Natural causes—she was told. But his journal hints that it might’ve been more.

When Daleigh and Ryan start to investigate, it soon appears her dad really was murdered, and that the murderer wants them dead. Ryan is a auto mechanic—not a police officer, FBI agent, or ex-military hero, so that was a pleasant twist.

Amazon adds this line — Home Before Dark offers a blend of Nicholas Sparks meets Mary Higgins Clark, a mix of charming small town life in North Carolina tangled in a gripping suspense. I have never read either Nicholas Sparks or Mary Higgins Clark, so I can’t disagree or agree. But I have read Ms. Barritt’s other romantic suspense books and other authors. This one—is different, but just as good. I did figure out who did it as soon as it was revealed, but that didn’t ruin the story.