This is the third book in Ms. Davisson’s wonderful Logan McKenna series. I am a Logan fan and this story is filled with the author’s very real and human characters, which is what makes the books work. If you are reading Devil’s Claw as your first dip into this series, make sure to give it ten chapters or so to get you hooked. You won’t regret it. (Devil’s Claw is a place – a dangerous outcropping of rocks on the So Cal coast near Jasper, CA, the location for this story.)

The later books in the series are better crafted and get to the mystery and/or murder(s) quicker, but this early instalment picks up momentum in the middle. We experience and relate to the characters and their troubles (and, of course, what they are cooking and eating) and end up caring intensely about how Amy (Logan’s adult daughter) will come through the ordeal.

The main plot involves the lengths to which some people (men) will go in the pursuit of wealth and how some things in this world have value beyond the Almighty dollar. Logan finds herself caught up in the intrigue and the story flows nicely one it gets going.

There are a few elements of the book that could have been a touch better. The climax is a bit abrupt and the wrap up a bit too neat. The resolution to one of the key plot points is dismissed with a quick sentence. But the overall feeling here is satisfaction for the reader and a keen interest in reading more about these characters.

I highly recommend this series, and Devil’s Claw is a key cog in the development of Logan’s relationships and her very entertaining world.