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Review: Blue Twilight (Wings in the Night series #11), by Maggie Shayne

by Kenra DanielsAugust 31, 2011

TLDR recap:

Mad Maxie Stuart and her best friend, Stormy Jones, are starting their own private investigations agency, with a twist – they investigate paranormal and supernatural cases. An old friend calls to ask them to find his missing sister and her friend, their very first case. Lou Malone, the retired cop Max lusts after, agrees to go along, after she twists his arm. They find a strange pall hanging over the little town, keeping its citizens from caring about anything, and a long list of women who’ve gone missing. The search for the missing little sister almost seems futile, but they persist, even when Stormy starts blacking out, talking to wolves, and attacking Max and Lou. Whatever is happening to Stormy might be related to the disappearances, so Max is determined to get to the bottom of the whole mess. Blue Twilight is a nice read with a life and death mystery, interspersed with fun as Max attempts to seduce Lou.

Title: Blue Twilight
Series: Wings In The Night (Twilight Vampires) Book #13
Author: Maggie Shayne
Prominent Characters: Max Stuart, Lou Malone, Stormy Jones
Recommended reader age: 16+
Sexual content level: light

Thoughts:

Maggie Shayne deftly carries the sense of mystery from beginning to end in Blue Twilight, all while keeping the secret tightly under wraps until the last few pages, dropping little hints that all come together in a stunning conclusion. Her descriptions convey the ancient evil that has invaded the very fabric of life in Endover, New Hampshire, while managing to create sympathy for the being behind it all.

Max, Lou, and Stormy keep running into brick walls in their investigation when every local they question about the missing girls results in the same answer. Go home and wait, they’ll show up safely. Max wants to shake the answers out of them, but Lou insists on caution. The locals are all like talking to the same person, over and over again, and he’s sure they don’t know what’s going on. Ms. Shayne doles out bits of information and intuition, never quite enough to glimpse what’s really going on.

Through all the mystery and suspense, Max has another puzzle to solve. Determined to convince Lou her feelings for him are real, she has to figure out how to make the jaded cop take her seriously. Just when it looks like she’s finally succeeded, Ms. Shayne pulls the rug from under her, intensifying the conflict.

It all works out in the end though, except Stormy. Her story is just beginning.

Memorable quotes:

“Even so, Lou, the only thing keeping me from going off the deep end over this is having you here. Knowing you’ve got my back even if you don’t agree with me. You’ll hold me together if I start to fall apart. I trust you like no one else. I trust you with my life. And with Stormy’s. And I can’t even tell you how glad I am that you’re coming with us tomorrow. Because I’ve got a bad, bad feeling about all this.”

He felt something for Max, though. Hell, he had a pulse. Naturally he felt something for her. Who wouldn’t? The thing was, it went way beyond attraction. But dammit, he just wasn’t ready – didn’t think he would ever be ready – for a relationship like one with her would have to be.

If you like Blue Twilight…

If you enjoyed Blue Twilight for its suspense and vampires, you may also like Maggie Shayne’s Twilight Hunger and Prince Of Twilight, the books before and after Blue Twilight in the Wings In The Night Series.

If you enjoyed Blue Twilight for its mystery, and some of its lighter aspects, you may also like Born To Bite: An Argeneau Vampires Novel by Linsay Sands

Final thoughts:

Blue Twilight’s appeal is reaching another batch of readers since the 2010 re-release. Nothing but good can come of converting more readers to the Big Girl’s version of Twilight!

Some of the other stories in the series are a darker, especially the later ones. This one isn’t going to change your outlook on life, but it satisfies readers of the series by showing the rest of Max’s story, and the beginning of Stormy’s.

Rating: Blue Twilight