Before starring in her own series, Noelle Marshall appeared in Kendra Elliot’s Columbia River novels as a minor character. But don’t worry if you, like me, didn't read her prior series. You will be drawn into this new set of characters and events right away. Noelle is a fascinating and complex protagonist, but there's an equal amount of focus on Max Rhodes, the FBI agent who met her while investigating her in the opening installment of this series, HER FIRST MISTAKE. 

Noelle was almost killed when her second husband was brutally murdered, but she also became a suspect in that case. The resulting concussion left her with some memory issues, but she has put the past behind her and works as a Deschutes County detective in Oregon. She moved from Sacramento, where she lived with her wealthy husband and his high-society family. Unlike that gilded existence, her life now has purpose. 

"We want to keep reading this series as much for the fine writing as to keep track of Noelle and Max and see what the future holds for them."

Noelle inherited her late husband's millions and doesn't need to work, but she enjoys her job. So while she lives in a huge home and wears custom-made Italian suits, she also is down to earth and generous. She lives with Max, her boyfriend, and Emma, whom she met in a previous novel and who had a horrific childhood. Emma has been collecting stray animals, and everyone loves her cat, Cornbread.

Elliot opens UNTIL SHE DIES with a gruesome scene that is clearly labeled as happening 10 years ago. A lady named Crystal follows her husband and a woman from a bar expecting to find that he's having an affair. Instead, she sees them meet a man, and after arguing with her husband, the stranger shoots the woman. Crystal runs, but she is caught by the man, and we don't know what happens to her after that. 

The action then switches to the present. Noelle is taking a walk in the forest with her friend, Rowan, and Rowan's search-and-rescue dog, Thor. Suddenly, Thor alerts them to a corpse. Then another. Noelle and Rowan realize they are standing on ground that is littered with buried bodies. It seems there is a serial killer.

But the bodies don't provide much information, and what they do offer is confusing. One of the deaths was recent, but others go back more than a decade. All of them are young females except for one, who is male. One is identified from her breast implants as Sydney Beason. Noelle can't understand why, if she died over a week ago, no one has reported her missing. Even more concerning is that when they go to Sydney's house, they see she has a young daughter who is nowhere to be found. Where is Belle?

This mystery is complex, and between the missing child, the bodies showing up, and people with false identities, there is a lot going on. We also are privy to Emma's growing romance with Ollie. Both are quiet and thoughtful young adults who have much in common. Ollie experienced severe childhood trauma, as did Emma. But Emma somehow is part of the whole mystery in ways that no one can divine.

Elliot manages to keep the different threads aligned perfectly as she also makes sporadic trips back in time so we get an idea of what happened to Crystal. UNTIL SHE DIES clearly demonstrates the importance of family --- no matter how that family was made or who the family members are --- and the love and caring that having a family provides. Elliot creates a balanced novel with an emphasis on the mystery, but also the development of the relationships in Noelle's makeshift family as she, Max and Emma (and, of course, the cat, horse, donkeys and goats) grow to trust each other and bond. 

We want to keep reading this series as much for the fine writing as to keep track of Noelle and Max and see what the future holds for them.