Fate of the Fallen

Written by Ellery Adams and Elizabeth Lockard

Narrated by Cris Dukehart

Cooper Lee and her friends in the Hope Street Bible Study Group are enjoying a glorious summer day in the park, complete with a picnic, hiking, swimming, and a local bluegrass band. But Cooper knows that no good day goes unpunished, and when a man turns up dead in the nearby woods-and the sister of Cooper's fiance is named as the prime suspect-the group may have to trade in their prayers of thanks for pleas of divine intervention.

Cooper knows her future sister-in-law is innocent, so when the police arrest her for the murder, the Bible study group must step in to catch the real killer and prevent a grave injustice. Following a twisted trail of clues that leads to a hit-and-run driver, a homeless veteran, and a park full of suspects who may hold more secrets than solutions, Cooper must hold firm to her spiritual convictions before an innocent woman faces a conviction of a more earthly nature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515972549

Ellery Adams

Ellery Adams has written over forty mystery novels and can’t imagine spending a day away from the keyboard. Ms. Adams, a native New Yorker, has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, rescue animals, and large bodies of water. When not working on her next novel, she reads, bakes, gardens, spoils her three cats, and rearranges her bookshelves. She lives with her husband and two children (aka the Trolls) in Chapel Hill, NC. For reading guides and a list of bibliotherapy titles, please visit ElleryAdamsMysteries.com.

Reviews for Fate of the Fallen

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have read the four previous books in this series, and was looking forward to visiting with the Hope Street Bible Study group one more time. All of the usual characters are back again with some new characters involved in the mystery. Cooper and Nathan are planning their wedding Grammy is sneaking out once a week with a gentleman and Magnolia is still making delicious cookies, scones etc for sale and to share with friends and family.

Once again, the group stumbles on a murder, this time Nathan's sister's boss who she dated at one time. She is also the one who found the body, so of course is the prime suspect and actually gets arrested for the murder. As the group investigates they are also helping out a homeless man who was run down in the parking lot at the park where the murder occurred. I figured out that these two crimes were tied together, but it did not help me figure out who the culprit was. The story moved along quickly and the plot was easy to follow. My complaint is that there is no real hook in the series. The characters are not really changing or growing and I feel like the series is becoming a bit stale. I read several of Ellery Adams other series and there is more entertainment in them than this one. With all that being said, I still recommend this book to fans of Christian Cozies. It was still a decent story.

[cyderry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cooper is adjusting to her new management responsibilities when Mr. Farmer and Angela leave town on a business trip and leave her in charge. At first all is running smoothly but illness knocks out half the staff, and Cooper must make changes to the priorities for everyone. While dealing with the headaches at the office, Cooper and her Bible Study group take some time to go to a music festival where they accidentally run into Nathan's sister's office staff on a mini-work retreat. When the Business owner is found dead, things get a bit unsettling because Nathan's sister is the prime suspect. The Bible Group sets to work to find the killer and clear Nathan;s sibling.This series is so refreshing because of the characters and their outlook on life, friends, and family. The start was a bit slow but it built momentum and the finish was satisfying for the mystery as well as the characters development.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fate of the Fallen by Ellery Adams and Elizabeth Lockard is the fifth book in A Hope Street Church Mystery series. The Sunrise Bible Study Group is spending the day at a blue grass festival. There are many activities for them to enjoy (booths, food trucks, music) as well as hiking and swimming. They are enjoying a hike when the group encounters Nathan’s sister, Christine. Christine is on a mini-work retreat with her boss, Sinclair Gordon and fellow Sphinx Digital Systems and Solutions employees. Later in the afternoon, Cooper Lee and Nathan are enjoying some quiet time together when Christine comes stumbling out of the woods—with blood on her hands. Christine and her group were looking for their missing boss, Sinclair. He had failed to show up for dinner. Christine stumbled upon him in the woods off a hiking trail. Inspector McNamara is assigned the case. Christine quickly rises to the top of the suspect list. Cooper cannot let her future sister-in-law be accused of the crime. Cooper, with the help of the Sunrise Bible Study Group (Savannah, Trish, Bryant, Quinton, Jake, and Nathan), sets out to find the real culprit. Nathan also has some very important news to share with Cooper. But, every time Nathan tries to talk with Cooper, they get interrupted. How will Nathan’s news affect Cooper and Nathan’s future? Fate of the Fallen is easy to read and nicely written. The book did not have the same touch as Ellery Adams other novels (like her A Book Retreat Mystery series and The Charmed Pie Shoppe series, for example). I found the pace to be very slow in the beginning (and periodically throughout the novel). I give Fate of the Fallen 3 out of 5 stars. The mystery in Fate of the Fallen was easily solved. I could tell who was going to be murdered, who would get blamed, and the actual killer before the crime was committed (very disappointing). The actual crime did not take place until I was 15% of the way into the book. Fate of the Fallen was not as enjoyable as the previous novels in A Hope Street Church Mystery series. I just felt the book was lacking which is very atypical of Ellery Adams’ novels.

[becky_l-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fate of the Fallen, Book #5 of the Hope Street Church Mysteries by Ellery Adams, starts out slowly for me.The Sunrise Bible Study group, including Cooper Lee and her fiancé,Nathan Dexter, become embroiled in solving another murder when Nathan's sister, Christine, is accused of offing her boss at a public festival.Tension is provided in many arenas. Officer McNamara, of course, is not pleased to have the group messing in police business. Time is of the essence to keep Christine out of prison. Also, Nathan has big news for Cooper that has her re-evaluating the relationship.This was a clean read, which I much appreciated,in my favorite genre. It seemed to take a while to develop any real excitement or for me to make a real connection with the book. Notice this is book 5 and I jumped in cold, so maybe that affected the speed at which I warmed to the story.Once the action finally took off, I found the mystery fun and enjoyable. One thing I liked about the novel was the believability factor. The action and characters were all very plausible. Some stories are fun, but one doubts about whether they could really happen.This is definitely a book and series to look into, but I suggest reading the books in order.I gratefully received a copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.