Witness (Otter Creek 1) by Rebecca Deel

Lauren Hanney
Feb 14, 2021
7 min read

Synopsis:

"Four burglaries. Three assaults. One murder.

Not the crime stats Police Chief Ethan Blackhawk envisions for his first two weeks on the job. Ethan uncovers a link to his past, an assassin who bested him five years ago and again hunts in his territory. He welcomes a second chance to capture the assassin...until he falls in love with the only witness. This time a failure to unmask the assassin may cost Ethan everything.

Wielding a sharp knife, personal chef Serena Cahill dices vegetables and dishes dinner for clients. When she interrupts a crime in progress, Serena steps into the crosshairs of an international assassin. After a friend disappears and her business implodes, she joins forces with Ethan to trap a killer before he takes out the next target--Serena."

About the Book:

Witness is the first book in the Otter Creek series, following the first two protagonists introduced to us in this story. Now, the Otter Creek series consists of 15 books, which is a goldmine for those of you who love to read series'. However, it is important to note that the Otter Creek series intertwines with two of Deel's other series': Fortress Security and Maple Valley. I will post the recommended reading order at the end of this review. For those of you who like Crime-related, Young Adult and Romance novels, this book - and the entire series - is for you. Also, good news for all you kindle lovers out there: The Otter Creek and Fortress Security series' are available for free on kindle unlimited!

So with that said, it's time to talk about this particular book. Witness sets the story for nearly every protagonist that we will meet across the first half of the series. This story focuses on Serena and Ethan - the new police chief of Otter Creek and the small town's very beloved personal chef. The story progresses nicely, with it starting during an important scene to kick off the book. So for those of you who prefer action-packed from page one, this story may be for you. However, I will be the first person to admit that it may take a chapter for you to be fully enticed. My rating of the plot is 7/10.

So let's go into detail and break this novel down.

Initial Impression:

This book was recommended to me by my mam. She reads so much it's actually hard to find a book she hasn't read! So, with my brand new kindle, it was the first book that I downloaded. I will admit, I found the book to be a little ordinary at the beginning. Though the story began with Serena interrupting a crime in progress, I just found it a little hard to get into for the first chapter. It just went through the basic process of the beginning of every criminal investigation. Nothing really jumped out at me to say "Oh! This is exciting!" We're introduced to the characters right from the start, with little to no information given to let us know these characters. I believe that the first thing that I truly learnt about Serena was that she vomits at the sight of blood.

Although this was my initial impression of the book, I kept reading. I love stories based in small towns - especially surrounding small town crime - so I pushed through and kept on reading. I was not disappointed. By the end of the second chapter, the story was picking up the pace, characters were being introduced and I was learning more about each of them and the town where they resided.

The Characters:

There are so many characters to remember in this novel - and this series - alone. The way in which this series is told is this: each set of characters get their own book and their own story. For example, Witness is focused around Serena and Ethan; the second book, Hidden Target, focuses on Serena's sister Madison; the third book, Written in Blood, focuses on Serena's other sister Megan etc.

So for a series that's presented and written in such a way, readers would expect for the characters to be well developed. After all, each character makes an appearance in most books from the series, so it would be unrealistic for them to be underdeveloped. This is where I can say that Rebecca Deel did a very good job. Each character and their story is very well developed and planned out. Each mention about them is carried on from one book to another. I can say with utmost delight that, so far, there have been no inconsistencies. Now, because there are so many characters in this novel that impact the story, I won't list all of them out here. Instead, I'll just note the top characters for Witness specifically.

Serena - A triplet and a member of a big family, Serena Cahill is well known across the town. Another factor of her popularity in Otter Creek is her personal chef company, Home Runs Inc. Blonde, beautiful and kind, Serena makes for a well-liked female protagonist and recurring member of the Otter Creek series.
Ethan - New to town, police chief Ethan Blackhawk is everything women would drool over; handsome, dark-haired, broad and fit - not to mention an ex-Army Ranger. Who wouldn't want him? Ethan is determined to keep his new home safe, and the local chef who just happened to steal his heart.

One thing I will say about every character in this book is that they are all very real and believable. I give the characters a 7/10.

The Writing:

It was such a relief to see that Deel took a simple approach to her writing. Instead of being complicatedly worded, Witness is a relieving easy read, ensuring that if it's only a light, relaxing book you're looking for, this is an easy choice. The book takes a third person perspective, while still telling the story from multiple character's points of view. Much like Truthwitch, Witness uses third person pov while still allowing us access to a character's opinion, thoughts, experiences, feelings and emotions.

Deel also makes it easy to recognise when a change of perspective is coming by adding a break in the paragraph followed by a # symbol and then continuing on with the story. Personally, I think it's a great idea as I'm not left confused as to what is going on and disliking the sudden change of perspective.

Aditionally, Deel is very good at writing the end to a particular character's pov or the end of the chapter. The reader is left wondering what is going to happen and what a character may have said. It is a very good way of enticing the reader to keep on reading. Her writing lives up to the name of this blog - Books 'Til Dawn - as you just want to keep on reading until it's suddenly very late. The writing in this novel deserves an 8/10.

The Atmosphere:

The atmosphere is very realistic for a small town setting. Many people know one another, there are plenty of small business around the town and everyone knows everything thanks to the grapevine. It can be very hard to write small town settings at times because it's somewhat expected that many of the characters know one another and, because of that, the author must ensure that no inconsistencies are made. I must praise Deel in this regard as I haven't come across any as of yet, and Otter Creek feels alive and real. People help one another in times of need, most people attend Sunday service, you can run into people you know at every corner, and most people are friendly. Yet, you still have those people that you'd like to smack or just tell them to shut up and go away. It's a very well thought out environment and, if not for the constant crime that seems to happen throughout the series, is a place where I'd like to live myself. The atmosphere receives 7/10.

Logic:

When writing a book or series of books that follows multiple characters in one town, one has to make sure that logic applies. And throughout Witness and the rest of the series, it does - for the most part.

What I mean when I say this is that after the initial crime takes place, it is logical that the police force investigate and people go about their lives. However, is it logical for a police chief who is investigating the crime that occurred to keep the witness to said crime in the loop and involve him/her in the investigation? I don't believe it is, and if I'm correct, this book is not logical in that sense.

There is another part of the storyline, and I will tell you now that it is applied to all books of the series, is how quickly the romance and relationships escalate. I'm not 100% sure on the timeframe of Witness, but in the amount of time that Serena and Ethan know each other, their relationship escalates almost too quickly. I just found it unrealistic. To each their own, I suppose, but if you're a big fan of Romance, you might just enjoy it.

Due to these logical questions, my rating is 5/10.

Intrigue:

The Intrigue throughout Witness is mainly focused on one question: who is the assassin? And for the majority of the book, I was left guessing. There were many people I suspected, but only managed to guess who it was a chapter or so before it was revealed near the end. There are multiple character storylines, however, that keep you guessing. Evidence that surfaces, people who go missing, characters who come back to town etc. The story definitely has a very broad scope, so to speak, leaving you with questions and wanting answers. Intrigue gets 6/10.

Enjoyment:

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. Honestly, I finished Witness and then went on to read the next three books of the series one after another. Each story has their own satisfactory ending, or a satisfactory cliffhanger, which leads on to the next book in the series and across to the other two series' in the world that Deel created. I'm a fan of crime and a bit of romance myself, so reading Witness provided the right amount of enjoyment in each area without going overboard on each theme. It's definitely a recommended read. Due to this, my enjoyment is 7/10.

Overall Rating:

Witness is a good book to set up the stories of those that follow it. Though it was slow at times, or not completely believable, I still very much enjoyed it. After all, it is fiction.

Witness receives an overall rating of 6.71/10 and 3 stars.

Happy reading!

Otter Creek/Fortress Security/Maple Valley Reading order:

Otter Creek 1-5
Fortress Security 1-3
Otter Creek 6-7
Fortress Security 4
Otter Creek 8
Fortress Security 5
Otter Creek 9
Fortress Security 6
Otter Creek 10
Fortress Security 7
Otter Creek 11
Fortress Security 8
Otter Creek 12
Fortress Security 9
Otter Creek 13
Fortress Security 10
Otter Creek 14
Fortress Security 11
Otter Creek 15
Fortress Security 12
Maple Valley 1
Fortress Security 13