Bitter Roots

Written by C.J. Carmichael

Narrated by Andrew Eiden

Murder in a small town is always personal.

Dispatcher Zak Waller prefers working behind the scenes in the Sheriff’s Office of Lost Trail, Montana, but when a newcomer to the sparsely populated town is brutally murdered—and the Sheriff is quick to pin the death on an unknown outsider—Zak starts his own private sleuthing.

On the surface Lost Trail is a picture-perfect western town, offering a simple way of life revolving around the local ranches and ski hill. But almost everyone has a secret to protect, and no one knows that more than Zak. He’s part of a younger generation hoping to revitalize the town. But evil has dug in deeper than he knows.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tule Publishing
• Release date: Dec 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781951786984

C.J. Carmichael

CJ Carmichael gave up the glamour of income tax forms and double-entry bookkeeping when she sold her first book in 1998. She has now written over 30 novels for Harlequin, been twice nominated for RWA’s RITA award, as well as Romantic Time’s Career Achievement award. CJ lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her partner, Mike, and the family cat, Penny.

Reviews for Bitter Roots

[vesper1931 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Zak Waller likes his job as a Dispatcher in the Sheriff’s Office of Lost Trail, Montana. But when a young female is killed he joins with old school friend Tiff Masterson to try and determine who the killer is as he has little trust in the Sheriff's desire to find the real culprit.
An enjoyable mystery with some well-developed characters.
a NetGalley Book

[whybehave2002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book caught me right away! I read it in 2 days and loved it. My mind was working the mystery and my heart was pounding as I read each page.

[kbranfield-837433 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first installment in C. J. Carmichael's Bitter Root Mysteries series, Bitter Roots is a fast-paced and engaging mystery.

The day after Halloween is always a busy day for vandalism reports in the Sheriff's office. Zak Waller is not anticipating any kind of serious crime reports, so the discovery of the body of a young woman who has apparently been beaten to death is quite shocking. Even more disconcerting is the identity of the victim: twenty-two year old Riley Concurran, a young lady whom Zak knows in passing. Since she is a newcomer to the rural community of Lost Trail, MT, local Sheriff Archie Ford is certain her murderer is someone from her old life. Although Zak is content with his behind the scenes job as the dispatcher, he is frustrated by Ford's rush to judgment so he embarks on a bit of surreptitious sleuthing. When he uncovers some startling evidence, he turns the information over to Deputy Nadine Black to look into.

On the same day Riley's body is found, Zak is surprised to learn his old friend Tiffany "Tiff" Masterson has returned to town. Tiff left for college then moved to Seattle where she is an up and comer at an accounting firm. Unbeknownst to her friends and family, her life has undergone some upheaval and she is planning to move back to her family's Christmas tree farm. Hoping to open her own accounting business, Tiff is unhappy to discover her mom and Aunt Marsha have hired Kenny Bombard as the new manager of the family's business. Her first encounter with Kenny rubs her the wrong way and she grows even more suspicious of him in the coming days.

Several of Lost Trial's residents are in the midst of personal dramas of their own and curious minds will certainly wonder whether or not these issues have any bearing on the recent murder. Zak and Tiff's friend, Derrick Sparks and his wife Aubrey are new parents of an adopted baby boy and Tiff is shocked by the changes in her old friend. Local attorney Justin Pittman is recently married and he is very concerned about his new wife's puzzling behavior. Tiff wonders if there is any significance to an overheard conversation between her aunt and the local doctor. Will the ongoing investigation into Riley's murder reveal any connection to any of these well-known and respected citizens?

With plenty of twists and turns, a perplexing murder and intriguing characters, Bitter Roots is an engrossing mystery. C. J. Carmichael brilliantly keeps the killer's identity concealed as Zak pieces together the truth about what happened to Riley. While Riley's murder is solved, not all of the story arcs are completely wrapped up by the novel's end. These lingering questions will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next installment in the Bitter Root Mysteries series.

[lillian9maddocks9389 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Zac Waller knows that he loves his job as a dispatcher at Lost Trail's sheriff's office so when he gets a call about a body been found this heat up. Not many murders happen in their town and the murder victim is a young woman that is new to town. Zac knows that the young woman worked at his friend's family farm. He knows that this will hit the farm hard as their staff are part of the family so he hopes that everyone will be okay. Tiff Masterson is back in town and she had no idea that things had changed so much and she is surprised that there is a new farm manager and they have just found out that one of their new hires have been killed. Tiff wonders about the new manager Kenny as she doesn't know him but there is something about him that gets to her. Will she be able to get to the bottom of it. Zac knows that he shouldn't get this involved in the case especially;y now that it has taken a sinister turn and people that he knows could have had something to do with the young woman's murder. Will they find out who killed her and what secrets she had?A good read.

[vgrimli-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Too many characters to keep track of. Slow moving. A clean read, but had a hard time keeping with it.

[danysh2016 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable mystery, but for me there were slightly too many character's stories to follow, and it felt like some storylines were unnecessarily created in the effort to try to keep the reader guessing "who done it". The ending was good, and while not totally predictable, as these things tend to be, it was wrapped up fairly quickly and it was just a bit too pat for my taste. Otherwise, I think with some tweaking, the series will work out to be a success.

[rosapoma · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I won this e-book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. This is a quickly paced shorter mystery novel. The murderer wasn’t telegraphed and the solution tied everything together in an interesting way. The murder mystery didn’t always take the spotlight, a lot of it was more about little mysteries involved with characters’ relationships with their friends and families. I liked that it wasn’t a cutesy small town story or a super seedy small town where everyone’s secretly evil, which are the two types of small town stories I tend to see. People just seemed like normal people, for the most part, struggling with their relationships and their pasts. There were some typos and some odd info dumps and not a lot of description, so I wasn’t completely transported by the story, but it’s solid and I think a lot people would enjoy it.

[carole888fort · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thank you to LibraryThing and Tule Publishing for providing me with an e-copy of Bitter Roots by CJ Carmichael in exchange for an honest review. This mystery begins with the brutal murder of a newcomer to the small town of Lost Trail, Montana. Her name is Riley Concurran. She had been living out of her car while working at the local Christmas tree farm owned by the Masterson family. No one seems to know anything about her past life. Tiff Masterson has recently returned home to get her life in order and help her mother with the tree farm. Because the deceased was not known by many in Lost Trail, the sheriff's department is not sure whether to investigate the young woman's past or the short time she was in town. Zak, the police dispatcher, is an old friend of Tiff's and the two start investigating the murder on their own. The novel moves at a quick pace: there are several possibilities as to who could have killed Riley. This whodunit keeps you guessing to the very end. Good story, satisfying resolution of the crime, interesting interpersonal relationships. I enjoyed this book very much.

[madlibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a lot of serious crime happens in Lost Trail, Montana. But then the body of a young woman is discovered the morning after Halloween, it shakes the entire town. Dispatcher Zak Waller prefers to keep his head down but he can't help but follow the evidence. His newly returned childhood friend, Tiff Masterton, is also conducting her own investigation as the victim was a recent hire at her family's Christmas tree farm and Tiff is suspicious of the farm's new manager.There is a mystery here and the investigation and ultimate solution are handled quite nicely. But what I really enjoyed in this book are the stories of the residents of Lost Trail. There is Justin Pittman, a lawyer with a new wife and adopted daughter who is worried about his marriage and the possibility of the return of the cancer no one in town knows about, including his father, Lost Trail's doctor. Derek and Aubrey Sparks have recently adopted after years of infertility but all is not baby joy. I want to read more about these people and want to learn the stories of the rest of the people introduced in this story. If more people have to die for these stories to be told, bring on the carnage.

[robant-955031 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book. From the moment I stared reading Bitter Roots I knew I was going to enjoy it. The characters are well developed, offering a glimpse into their past and present lives with just enough information leaving you wanting to know more about them. It is very easy to identify with the characters and, at times, to sympathize with them.The story line was very enjoyable, and the many twists in the case kept me turning the pages. Beautifully written and well thought out. I will definitely be reading the next books in the series.Well done!

[wulf_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I picked this book up, I admit I missed the fact that its author is billed as a leading exponent of "romantic suspense". That isn't really my bag so I may be doing the book a disservice by wanting to think about it as a crime drama. Actually, the crime drama aspect isn't too bad there is a mystery and the protagonist, Zac, works it out with a combination of brilliance and hard work even though, as a police dispatcher rather than a police officer, he has to drive from the back seat.However, I still found the characters and the writing style pedestrian rather than thrilling. A lot of details are merely written down rather than evoked and I was left feeling that I was reading a detailed set of notes rather than a truly gripping and suspenseful story. I don't feel bitter about having put the time into reading it but I'm not inclined to put my roots into the rest of the series.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

"...“What kind of sandwiches should I make?”“I was thinking chicken salad. If you’re okay doing the sandwiches yourself, I’ll run upstairs to shower and change.”“Sure, I’ll be glad to.” She found cold chicken breast in the fridge, which she mixed with chopped celery, chives, apples, and walnuts. Then she blended in some mayo and a little curry powder...”/Quote, p. 170.The synopsis of this book “Bitter Roots", was touted by the publisher as a murder mystery and featured an interesting character, Zak, the police dispatcher. Sounds promising, no? And I like murder mysteries, so when I chose the book on the LibraryThing early reviews, I expected mystery. However, perhaps you read the quote above and wondered... what the heck? Me too, because this story, for all that there is a homicide, is full of inane housekeeping detail plus a superfluous amount of romantic relationship angst.So from the solving mystery point of view, the story gets a 1-star rating. From the romance-chick lit genre, another 1-star. As a well-written, tight novel, no stars. I tried hard to overlook my lack of interest for modern romance literature (I am very happy to read Georgette Heyer's Regency romances) but I felt that in this Bitter Roots mystery, Carmichael's attempt at character development and weaving personal stories didn't come up to scratch.And in writerly terms, the plot trudges along, mired in too much detail until the final chapter or so, when it gallops to the final reveal. The author has yet to master (in this novel, at least) the art of the backstory. The irrelevant detail and side stories tend to point to needing more editorial oversight: I couldn't see what contribution the Willow, Justin and Geneva scenario make to the actual mystery or even the other characters' development; and we are left hanging by the reference to Justin's cancerous mass. This side story was merely distracting. As well, there are typos (e.g. p. 298) and inconsistencies (p. 143, the wrong name was used; it should be 'Kenny' not Zak). For all my critique, the foundation of the story was really quite decent but the execution could benefit more refining.P.S. I am very grateful to receive this e-book through the 'Early Reviewers' group on LibraryThing. The agreement was to provide my own opinion on the book. This opinion does not extend to any other writing by the author.

[katkealy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got a free copy of this from Early Reviewers and really enjoyed the book. The central character, Tiff Masterson, is intriguing. The mystery surrounding the death that occurred in her small town just before she returned kept me read interested. There are enough off shoots with different characters that the killer isn't clear super early in the book, which I appreciated. The author did a good job of keeping me guessing and entertained. If you're looking for a fast beach read, this would be a good choice.