Martha Powers has made a name for herself as a romance writer, using the nom de plumes of Martha Jean Powers and Jean Paxton, producing nine titles in that genre. She has also written three suspense novels under the name Martha Powers. Her latest endeavor, Conspiracy of Silence, combines both genres into delightfully well-blended bisque. In this novel, Chicago journalist Clare Prentice discovers that she is adopted just months before her wedding day. That revelation disrupts her life more than she could ever expect, starting with her broken engagement. Clare travels to the relaxed Minnesota community of Grand Rapids to dig into her roots and soon discovers some dark secrets in her past, including the fact that her mother was murdered, and some very real danger in her present. Aiding her in her quest are elderly Ruth Gunderson, her best friend’s aunt and the town librarian, a reclusive but handsome novelist and his young daughter, a backwoods painter, and a smelly but completely loyal mutt called Waldo.

The story has as many twists as a mountain road. It kept me guessing, not only about murder, but also about who people really were in the story, including Clare herself. And the accompanying romance was an interesting ingredient to this already entertaining story.

Since I’ve been to Grand Rapids several times, I did enjoy revisiting the town through Clare’s eyes. Martha Powers captured the color of the community, but I did wonder when she would comment on the mosquitoes in July. That didn’t happen until much farther in the book, even after having a meal with Ruth Gunderson on a porch. Depending on the wetness of the season, mosquitoes can be found in abundance almost anywhere in Minnesota and North Dakota, except for large cities that spray their urban areas. There is a reason locals call the mosquito the state bird and a lake, such as the one where this story is set, would be plagued with the little beasties.

The author did capture the flair of a small community event, such as Logging Days in Grand Rapids, which plays a role in the plot. Powers also identified some sites in the region, including the large Paul Bunyan statue in Bemidji to which novelist Nate Hanssen took his 11-year-old daughter. I wondered, however, why that would have been of significance since Hanssen had raised his daughter in Grand Rapids and that would have been something he would have taken her to see when she was five. Still, it made for a tie-in with the Logging Days in Grand Rapids.

Conspiracy of Silence is a great read and a wonderful introduction to Martha Powers’ novels. I will definitely put Martha Powers on my favorite authors list!