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Cynthia Hamilton

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Houses of Deception (The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series Book 6) Kindle Edition

by Cynthia Hamilton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 148 ratings

Book 6 of 11: The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series

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What readers are saying:

★★★★★ "Well Done!"
★★★★★ "I LOVE this series soooo much!!!"
★★★★★ "...a cleverly crafted and thrilling mystery..."
★★★★★ "It is easy to get lost in these pages and feel like you are part of the team."
★★★★★ "...Hamilton is an excellent writer, drawing the reader into the story from the first chapter."

While sneaking away from a 5th anniversary party Madeline’s Current Affairs orchestrated for Tara and Troy Richardson, she receives an appeal from Russell Barnett. The shifty P.I. needs their help tracking down Dylan Latham, the son of the P.I. Madeline hired during the implosion of her first marriage. Russell knows Madeline can’t turn him down because of her misplaced guilt over Burt Latham’s demise while trying to save her from a monster.

A frantic call from Troy Richardson at quarter to six the following morning wakes Madeline out of a troubled sleep. Tara is nowhere to be found.

This second missing person case quickly turns into a kidnapping for ransom, something the MDPI team doesn’t feel comfortable handling alone. But when they learn all local law enforcement is involved in a multi-agency operation, they have no choice but to stick with it.

Meanwhile, their search for Dylan leads them to the home of wealthy Cat Kingman, an eccentric widow in her late-70s. The case quickly turns into a search for two twenty-somethings. As they start wading through the past for clues to their disappearance, they uncover startling truths that could set off reverberations around the world.

Houses of Deception is the 6th book in the Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08H5NRRTH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Woodstock Press (July 20, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 20, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2288 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B0C5BMKDGD

Best Sellers Rank: #228,860 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,607 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books)
- #3,072 in Serial Killer Thrillers
- #3,269 in Murder

Customer Reviews:
4.5 148 ratings

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About the author

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Cynthia Hamilton

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A lifelong reader, Cynthia Hamilton turned to writing in 2000 as a means of coping with a debilitating illness. She now has 13 books in print, all of which are available on Amazon. In addition to THE MADELINE DAWKINS MYSTERY SERIES, she writes general fiction and some memoir: FINDING RUTH and ONCE UPON A LYME...A TALE OF TWO JOURNEYS.

The Madeline Dawkins Series has really captured her imagination. Madeline’s dual careers as private investigator and event planner to the Santa Barbara elite keep her on her toes. All the books in the series can be read as standalones.

Cynthia shares where she finds inspiration for her books at Chaucer's Bookstore with Justine Hamilton, and on SPEAK UP TALK RADIO with host Pat Rullo. You can listen to and view the interviews via the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEaLuU45Vd4

https://www.speakuptalkradio.com/cynthia-hamilton-speaks-up/

Website: http://cynthiahamiltonbooks.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/434917.Cynthia_Hamilton

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCynthiaH

Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y3sguv7m

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

148 global ratings

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Kindle Customer

5 Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2024

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5 stars for Houses of Deception (Madeline Dawkins Book 6). Mike and Madeline are busy again with two new cases. The son of Madeline's former PI is missing and there is a missing woman who was a customer of her event planning business. The action is fast paced and keeps you reading until the end.

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Houses of Deception was a really good book! Each story I think keeps getting better and better. Madeline Dawkins has led (and continues to lead) a very interesting life and ways prevails against all odds. This is a thrilling crime and sleuth series that is definitely worth the time of reading it. This book was no less disappointing at all. I love how Hamilton is able to capture your attention from the first page and hold it until the very end. I definitely recommend this book and this series.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Mesmerizing

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book kept me wondering who did what. This is a great book! Everyone will enjoy this book! Enjoy my bookworms!

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2021

5 Stars

Houses of Deception is the sixth book in The Madeline Dawkins series by Cynthia Hamilton. I know I say this with every new release, but I LOVE this series soooo much!!! I am so happy I discovered Cynthia Hamilton, and Madeline Dawkins- they are definitely at the top of my ‘must read’ list.
The story is very cleverly woven with lots of intriguing developments that pulled me further and further into the story. This story has all the ingredients that I have come to expect from a great read, and from Ms. Hamilton. There is plenty of mystery, suspense, danger, action, adventure, surprising developments, drama, tension, and other clever touches. As expected, Cynthia Hamilton, put Madeline and Mike through their paces- as well as crafting a very smart, tightly woven, and thought provoking mystery that had me glued to the pages as everything unfolded. I devoured it all in one sitting.
This is a fantastic addition to the series which seem to get better and better with each new instalment. This could be read as a standalone, but I do not recommend doing that as you would be missing out on 5 other superb books that contain so much detail, past ‘adventures’, and character development. Trust me, it is worth starting this series at the beginning!
So, if you love a cleverly crafted and thrilling mystery then what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a copy and dive in- but be prepared to develop a major addiction to Cynthia Hamilton’s stories- you’ll find that one book won’t be enough. So, limber up your ‘one-click’ finger and get set for an exciting ride!
Can’t wait for “Other People’s Money” (Book #7)- it can’t get here soon enough!

Kudos! and thank you Cynthia Hamilton!

3 people found this helpful

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Mystery Lover

MDPI are back at it with their usual tenacity!

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Interesting lead characters. I really liked them and went back to the start of the series to get to know them better from the five prior books. Dialogue in this book was repetitive at times. The story was a bit contrived and amateurish and conclusion could be seen coming a mile away. I had the sense this story might have been rushed just to get the book out. I do look forward to Maddie and Mike's next case though. They are comfortable friends.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Truly enjoyable!

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2021

Houses of Deception Review

I thoroughly enjoyed “Houses of Deception” by Cynthia Hamilton. This is the first book I’ve had the pleasure of reading by this author. I guess I have some catching up to do with hopes that her previous books are as good.

From the beginning of her involvement with Troy and Trudy, I formed an opinion, and it panned out. That didn’t take away from the enjoyment of seeing how Ms. Hamilton pulled the story and great plot together. She did very well at painting the events instead of just reading them. I was able to form visually the action as they happened. When it came to the part of Trudy’s “miraculous” return, my thought was “really, no one noticed a scantily clothed woman walking barefoot over rough terrain and didn’t over help?” I did have one issue with this cast of characters including Troy’s Dad, Stanley. I don’t believe that people of a certain education or status level would have grammar as bad as they did. That's just my opinion.

As far as the part of the plot concerning Dylan and Paige, Cynthia Hamilton did very well with that also. Again, I knew things would tie to Cat somehow but didn’t expect it the way it unfolded. However, I would put some of the fault of the outcome in her (Cats’) hands. The plot and the carry-through ran smoothly.

There isn’t a “main” plot in this book, but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading it. With that said, the ending needed some work; it wrapped up weird and unrealistic; too hurried, as if she was just tired of writing.

I'm Debra Hurst, an advance reader, for an honest review.

One person found this helpful

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Anne

Too predictable

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2021

When the publisher offered my an ARC of this book, it was the first time I'd heard of the author and series, but the blurb looked interesting. It stood alone fine. My honest opinion is that the two story lines were totally predictable, but the writing flowed well. The book would have been better if one storyline was used with more detail and suspects thrown in.

Maybe this is a hallmark of the series that I am unaware of, that like Columbo, the detective knows whodunnit from the start, but you read about the steps the detectives take to solve it, a detective procedural, if you will. Madeline, like Columbo, just always seems to "know" things. If that is the case, I will say I like the fact that Maddy and Mike do a little more than just stake outs.

Side note, Mike was a bit smoochy at the beginning of the book for someone that had been in a relationship for 7 or 8 years and in a mystery instead of a romance, but thankfully, that stopped when the mysteries got going.

It was good enough to give an ok rating and consider reading another, but it didn't provide enough satisfaction for me to recommend it except to someone looking for a light mystery read.

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Diogenes

Mystery with a Human Touch

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2021

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‘Houses of Deception’ is the sixth novel in the Madeline Dawkins Series. Madeline and her husband Mike find themselves investigating not just one missing person, but three. Madeline’s past continues to cast dark shadows, and a complex plot (or perhaps one should say plots) begins to unfold.
No spoilers but the reader needs to keep their wits about them!
Cynthia Hamilton’s mysteries show no sign of running out of steam, and her writing continues to be punctuated by charm and incident. There are many ‘human’ touches – so necessary in this type of novel to prevent the characters being two-dimensional and serving as mere puppets to the plot. Examples:
“Thinking of what she was about to delve into, she went to get a caffeine fix to fortify herself before calling Burt’s former wife.”
“His babbling was the coping mechanism keeping him from a complete emotional and physical collapse.”
“Even though they felt the urgency of the task ahead of them, they were momentarily arrested by the view to the south, through the trees, toward the ocean. The sun had dappled the scene with golden light, making the leaves shimmer.”
Although ‘Houses of Deception’ is a stand-alone novel, I would highly recommend new readers to start with ‘Spouse Trap’ (Book One in the Series) so as not to miss any of Madeline’s back-story and the development of her character.
Highly recommended.

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Houses of Deception (The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series Book 6) Kindle Edition

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