Since first discovering J.T. Ellison’s Dr. Samantha Owens series a couple of years ago, I’ve been meaning to read all the book in the series. The novels are set in Washington, D.C. and follow Dr. Owens, a medical examiner. This is a review of the third in the series, entitled When Shadows Fall, coming after Edge Of Black and before What Lies Behind.

In this particular installment, Dr. Owens receives a letter from an unknown man named Timothy Savage asking her to solve his death. The problem is, his death in a remote cabin in the Virginia woods was deemed a suicide by the authorities. However, Sam grows curious when his will requests her autopsy his body and names her a beneficiary to a certain amount of money, along with several others. Aided by her boyfriend Xander and friend Detective Darren Fletcher, Sam uncovers the web of mysteries that involves old kidnappings, cover ups, and a cult in rural Lynchburg, Virginia.

The story is told in both third and first person. The third person focuses on Sam and one of the antagonists. The first person focuses on another person who might be either a good or bad person. I found the first person one the most fascinating since it’s an unreliable narrator, in which the reader is not given all the information and must decide whether the person is telling the whole truth. It definitely keeps your attention.

The novel also touches on the idea of how much you can find out about someone without even meeting them through the Internet and media. Sam has become semi-known through her involvement in the Washington Metro attacks in the previous book, and Savage used his knowledge of her through the media to profile and contact her. It’s a somewhat creepy highlight, because it shows the danger of stalkers and others with unknown purposes.

One of the continuing features of the series I’ve appreciated is Ellison’s decision to make the protagonist a medical examiner. There are a majority of series that focus on the detectives, officers or the victims. From the medical examiner’s point of view, the reader gets an interesting perspective of situations. For example, when Sam autopsies the body, she uses physical evidence and deductive reasoning to determine a cause of death. In another example, when a person is wounded, Sam is able to pinpoint the type of medical attention they need to prevent them from dying.

When Shadows Fall isn’t my favorite in the series, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

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