In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue, #4) by Katie Ruggle 
Series: Search & Rescue #4
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on October 4th 2016
Genres: Blue Collar, Crime Drama, Police, Small Town
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]You would think that a story about a shut-in as part of a murder investigation would get boring since it is written in first person and she doesn’t leave her house, but it was full of excitement and intrigue as Daisy and her home become an intricate part of the final climax of the story. [/box]
In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder…
It’s all come down to this…
Daisy Little has lived in agoraphobic terror for over eight years. Trapped within a prison of her own making, she watches time pass through her bedroom window. Daisy knows she’ll never be a part of the world…until the day she becomes the sole witness of a terrible crime that may finally tear the Search and Rescue brotherhood apart for good.
If you have been following the series, we know who the killer is now and that will change up everything that unfolds here in this final chapter of the series.
Daisy Little watched as her mother was murdered before her very eyes when she was only 16 years old. Since then, Daisy hasn’t been able to venture out of the house and keeps the world away with barred windows and a plethora of locks. The only people that Daisy’s sees and interacts with are her father, who spends as much time away from Daisy as he can, and Daisy’s only friend, Deputy Chris Jennings.
It is on one of Daisy’s many sleepless nights that she notices a man coming out of the vacant house across the street carrying what looks like a body wrapped in a tarp. A call to 911 puts Daisy right in the cross-hairs of the killer since no one likes to gossip more than the men and women of emergency services.
The killer has been working very hard to keep his/her identity a secret. Their first idea is to begin discrediting Daisy as a witness since she’s the loony who can’t leave her house and she must be soft in the head or simply an attention seeker who spends so much time watching her neighbors. All attempts to discredit her fail since Chris has already introduced Daisy to Lou and Cal, who are keeping their own whiteboard and notes on the murder and continuing their own Scooby-Doo investigation.
After meeting Lou, Daisy is welcomed into the group of heroes and heroines from our prior novels in the series and for the first time since high school, Daisy has a social circle. This, and her desire to have a real relationship with Chris finally give Daisy the confidence to start working towards someday leaving her house. It is not an easy task and starts with just leaving one of her many chains unlatched (which causes a panic attack) but uncontrollable fears are just that, uncontrollable, and we can admire Daisy simple attempt to get better.
Daisy and Chris are an adorable couple who you can’t help falling in love with. Knowing who the killer is changes up our view of the whole series since we can see the killer trying to cover up their tracks, including Daisy’s knowledge and we have the added tension of knowing when the wrong person has been let into the inner circle of information.
Being trapped in Daisy’s house is like watching a one background play but it never lacks for thrills or tension. As Daisy’s world expands with new friends and new love, she might just lose everything since she can’t escape a killer at her door.
This is the final book in the Search & Rescue series but Katie Ruggle has a new K-9 Rescue series which will come out next year. I will definitely take a look at that.
Favorite Scene:
“So, Chris wants me to tell you what I saw this morning so you can add it to your killer board?”
“Murder board.” Lou was actually bouncing on her sofa cushion. Daisy understood why she’d declined caffeine. Even without it, Lou looked about ready to rocket into space. “What did you see this morning? Did Chris actually think it was related to Willard’s case? You need to start spilling immediately. I’m dying here!”
“I’m spilling! I’m spilling!” Daisy hurried to explain before Lou started levitating. “I think I saw someone moving a body.”
Lou went perfectly still before shrieking, “What?“
Wincing, Daisy shot the other woman a look.
“Sorry,” Lou mumbled through the fingers she’d clapped over her mouth. After a few deep breaths, she let her hand drop back to her lap. “I get excited when someone mentions dead bodies. Oh, wow, that just went to a really wrong place, didn’t it? Okay, so forget my disturbing remark and get back to your story. I promise there will be no more screaming, unless you reveal something totally shocking. Let’s just say that I will attempt to keep my verbal exclamation points to a minimum, how about that?”
“Um…sure. This morning, around three thirty, I saw someone loading what looked like a tarp-wrapped body into a vehicle.”
Instead of screaming, Lou just stared, her mouth open. Daisy sipped her coffee to let the other woman process the information. After several moments passed, Lou finally moved. She set her water bottle on the coffee table with the utmost care. Pulling her cell phone out of her back jeans pocket, she jabbed at the screen and then put the cell to her ear.
“Cal,” Lou said into her phone, “you need to bring the whiteboard over the Daisy Little’s house. I’m getting vital information here. I need my markers.” Her forehead creased at his response. “The whiteboard is an important part of our investigation team, Cal. We need him here.” She continued in an overly patient tone, as if the answer should’ve been obvious. “Of course the whiteboard is male. I named him Emerson.” Lou paused again. “Because someone named Emerson has to be intelligent. So, are you up for a whiteboard delivery?”
By Lou’s crestfallen expression, Daisy was pretty sure the answer was “no.” “Fine. I still love you, even if you are leaving me lost and whiteboardless.” She glanced at Daisy and gave her an apologetic look, mouthing no whiteboard. “Daisy Little’s house. Uh-huh. That Daisy Little.” Absently, she reached out with her free hand and started turning her water bottle in circles. “Deputy Chris drove me here. He was being really insistent in a weird and vague way about how I needed to talk to Daisy. Apparently, she saw someone moving a dead body really early this morning.” Lou listened for a minute. “That’s okay. Chris can give me a ride ho–fine! I’ll call you. You know,” her tone turned crafty, “if I bought that old International pickup I wanted, you wouldn’t have to be my taxi service.” Her disappointed, no-whiteboard frown returned. “But it’s adorable. Who needs modern safety features when I’m driving something so awesome. Yes. Okay. We’ll argue about this later. I need to get all the body-moving details from Daisy now.” Lou looked a little too excited by the prospect. “Uh-huh. Love you, too. Bye.”
After poking at her phone again, Lou tucked it into her back pocket. “No whiteboard.”
Daisy snorted. “I got that.”
