Canaan's Gate by Kathryn R. Wall is the tenth book in her Bay Tanner series, and continues where Covenant Hall left off. Bay is an independent, determined, spirited, and compassionate private investigator on Hilton Head Island, who along with her business partner, Erik Whiteside, frequently accepts what appear to be mundane cases which turn into complicated and violent mysteries.
At the end of Covenant Hall, Bay discovers that she has half-sister, her beloved father, Judge Simpson, passes away, and she somewhat reluctantly marries Red Tanner, her murdered husband's brother and ex-deputy sheriff.
At the beginning of Canaan's Gate, Bay, contemplating her new status as an orphan and a new bride, agrees to help Cecilia Dobbs, who as an employee of a local bank suspects a fellow employee and a live-in nurse are embezzling a wealthy couple of millions of dollars. Shortly thereafter, Cecila's body is found in a lagoon off of Pope Ave. -- possibly a suicide or murder. Bay, shaken by Cecilia's death, is determined to discover, against her husband's advice, the truth of the matter.
As with the other mysteries in the series, the vicissitudes of Bay's personal life are as interesting as the mystery itself. In this book, it is her awkward relationship with her new husband, Red, especially since after leaving the sheriff's department, he is now working for her agency. Although they frequently clash, they try to make it work.
Although originally from Ohio, Kathryn Wall has assimilated the atmosphere and local color of the South Carolina Lowcountry so well that one would mistake her for a native. She surrounds Bay with an interesting cast of characters quite at home in the local islands and marshes.
This series will be of special interest to those have visited and vacationed in Hilton Head in that Ms. Wall uses familiar locations and restaurants readers will recognize.
At the end of the novel, a hurricane is approaching Hilton Head, and Bay's marriage is still questionable.
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