Book Review: Invisible Path by Marilyn Meredith

Deputy Tempe Crabtree is back in this superb addition to Marilyn Meredith's award-winning series that blends Native American mysticism, the beauty of the Sierra foothills, and a mystery to solve.

Tempe's son, Blair, returns home to celebrate Christmas, bringing along his college roommate. The boys are curious about some pseudo soldiers they've seen driving through town and ask Tempe what she knows, which isn't much.

When a young Indian is found dead near the recovery center on the reservation, Tempe is once again called in to investigate. Jesus Running Bear, a newcomer to the reservation who has been getting help with his addictions, is the prime suspect. But Tempe isn't so sure he's guilty. A secret, a quest to find an Indian legend, and a visit to the para-military compound put Jesus and Tempe in danger.

Can Tempe solve the mystery and save both their lives?

Marilyn has been my client for at least two years now. I got turned onto the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series before I worked for Pump Up Your Book. I loved Judgment Fire so much, that I later went on to purchase the previous books in the series. With Invisible Path, the author has brought back one of my favorite characters from the series, Tempe's son, Blair.

Blair has been away at college, so it's been awhile since we've heard much from him. It was nice to see Tempe and her husband, Hutch's relationship develop outside of being Blair's parents, but it's great to see them together again. It was also satisfying to see Blair, along with his roommate, be sent off to unofficially help uncover clues to the murder. He's no longer just a kid who you have to come up with storylines for every once in a while to make sure readers don't forget he exists.

Invisible Path is phenomenal! The series improves as time goes on. The last book, Dispel the Mist, included the Native American legend of the Hairy Man. He also helps to move the plot in this new installment along. This, and Tempe's continued confusing dreams, which Nick Two John (the innkeeper and Tempe's friend) doesn't really help Tempe decipher, give this mystery series a unique element.

What the author has always done well in both her series is showcase how a law enforcement career can impact family life. While for Tempe that usually means missing dinners or working on her day off, this makes her a character that readers can relate to.

I eagerly await the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery novel.


Title:  Invisible Path
Author:  Marilyn Meredith
Publisher:  Mundania Press LLC
ISBN-10: 1606592394
ISBN-13: 978-1606592397
SRP:  $12.95 (Also available in a Kindle format)

Deputy Tempe Crabtree is Back with a New Mystery to Solve in Dispel the Mist

Author Marilyn Meredith returns to the blogosphere in October 2009 with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Public Relations. During Marilyn’s fifth virtual book tour she’ll talk about the latest release in her award-winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, Dispel the Mist.

A Tulare County Supervisor, with both Native American and Mexican roots, dies under suspicious circumstances. Because of Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s own ties to the Bear Creek Indian Reservation, she’s asked to help with the investigation. To complicate matters, besides the supervisor’s husband, several others had reason to want the woman dead.

Tempe has unsettling dreams, dreams that may predict the future and bring back memories of her grandmother’s stories about the legend of the Hairy Man. Once again, Tempe’s life is threatened and this time, she fears no one will come to her rescue in time.

Praise for other books in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series:

“A smashing story, and ending." -- Gay Tolti Kinman, DorothyL on Kindred Spirits.

“Meredith’s latest work is richly textured with interesting, well developed characters and a story line that leaves you guessing to nearly the last page.” -- Claudia Elliott, Editor, Southern Sierra Newspaper on Kindred Spirits

“Marilyn Meredith takes us into the spiritual world of the American Indian while she weaves Tempe’s story of arson and murder to a surprising conclusion in a well written book that’s over before you would like." -- Wanda C. Keesey, author of “Lost In The Mist” on Judgment Fire an EPPIE 2008 Finalist


Marilyn Meredith is the author of over twenty-five published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Dispel the Mist from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series. No Sanctuary is the newest from Oak Tree Press.

She is a member of EPIC, four chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, WOK, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville CA, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and at her blog - http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/.

“It is always wonderful to have Marilyn joining us on tour,” says Cheryl Malandrinos, Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion. “I found ‘Dispel the Mist’ to be engaging, and it might just be Marilyn’s greatest book yet.”

If you would like to follow Marilyn on her virtual book tour, visit the official Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour site at http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/.

Marilyn’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a virtual book tour agency for authors who want quality service for an affordable price. More information can be found on their website at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com. Sign up for our 12 Days of Christmas Tour Special! Deadline to register is October 30, 2009.

Dispel the Mist by Marilyn Meredith -- Book Review

In this latest installment of Marilyn Meredith's award-winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, a Tulare County supervisor dies under suspicious circumstances. With her Mexican and Native American roots, Lilia Quintera was certainly a person to have on your side. Because of Tempe's ties to the Bear Creek Indian Reservation, she is called in to investigate Lilia's death. Tempe soon discovers that several people, including Lilia's husband, might have wanted her dead.

Tempe's unsettling dreams bring back memories of her grandmother's stories about the legend of the Hairy Man. Wishing she had thought to ask her grandmother more about the Hairy Man, Tempe wonders if these dreams predict the future. Once again, Tempe finds herself in danger. Only now, she fears no one will come to her rescue in time!

Dispel the Mist is an excellent new addition to the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. I have been a fan of this series since Judgment Fire--the first of these books that I read--and they just keep getting better.

Hutch and Tempe are on track with their marriage, but that certainly doesn't mean life is dull. A new golf course and hotel project planned at the Bear Creek Reservation could threaten the amount of business heading to Bear Creek Inn, owned by Tempe's friend, Claudia Donato, who also runs the inn with the help of Nick Two John. The opening up of a home for women with disabilities in the new gated community of Shadow Hills has some of the residents up in arms. And Lilia Quintera had connections to both projects. So, again, Tempe doesn't expect things to go easily when Detective Morrison asks her to investigate the possibility that Lilia died under mysterious circumstances.

The unsettling dreams that Tempe experiences, along with continued involvement at the reservation, bring in the Native American elements that flow through the Crabtree books. One can certainly tell the level of research Meredith has undertaken in order to create this series. In addition, the author's past experience as a caregiver may have played into this book as well.

If you're looking for an excellent fall read, look no further than Dispel the Mist by Marilyn Meredith. Filled with suspense, mystery and legends, you'll keep turning pages until you reach a satisfying conclusion.


Title: Dispel the Mist
Author: Marilyn Meredith
Publisher: Mundania Press
ISBN: 978-1-59426-402-3
SRP: $12.95 (U.S.)