BOOK REVIEWS FOR LOST & FOUND CAFE

K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite – A 5-Star Review

“LOST & FOUND CAFE by Steven W. Horn is a compelling mystery steeped in atmosphere and emotional resonance, set against the stark backdrop of rural eastern Wyoming. We’re with Sam Dawson and his daughter, Sidney, when they stop at an unmarked roadside cafe during a photographic detour. We see them drawn into the haunting stories of five strangers, each hiding deep secrets. From a vengeful dishwasher and an abused waitress to a woman on a quest to find her father, every character’s past threatens to collide with the present. As a violent storm brews and two murders shake the cafe, secrets unravel with gripping intensity. With Sidney grappling with her challenges, including vision loss and heartbreak, the stakes become deeply personal. Horn masterfully blends suspense with soul-searching drama, exploring how far people will go to protect those they love.

Author Steven W. Horn keeps the reader on edge, and there are so many well-penned clues and compelling, emotional twists in this haunting, character-driven mystery that make it rich with tension and depth of feeling. I was hooked from cover to cover by the intriguing premise as the mysteries of the strange cafegoers intensify, and the blend of dark secrets and quiet moments is both moving and suspenseful as we get to know each one and the secrets they hold. This is an author who knows his genres well, mixing all the suspense of classic noir with beautifully crafted sleuth dialogue and a setting that evokes a gritty, cinematic ambiance to suit mystery fans. The challenges that Sam goes through and learns from are immense on the emotional scale, too, making this a standout entry in the series, filled with psychological insight and humanity. Overall, I would certainly recommend LOST & FOUND CAFE to mystery fans everywhere, and I can’t wait to read more sleuthing adventures from this talented writer.”

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, New York Times bestselling authors of BUFFALO JUSTICE

“With LOST AND FOUND CAFE, Steven W. Horn has penned his masterpiece. What Horn does with character is magical, building tension in the most improbable of settings. It’s just an isolated cafe and a chance collection of strangers powered by some of the most masterful prose you will ever read. Horn slices open the human soul and dissects it on the page like no other author. This isn’t just a good book, it’s brilliant. LOST AND FOUND CAFE goes into our collection of all-time great novels. Open the first page, start reading…and fall under Horn’s spell.”

D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

LOST AND FOUND CAFE is a Sam Dawson mystery that follows Sam and his daughter on a day trip to a cemetery in eastern Wyoming. Their lunch at a small isolated rural cafe turns into a confessional about haunted lives and murder as truths emerge to surround them with quandaries and danger.

The story is sparked by the death of local CEO Winston Tucker, once a presidential hopeful shot to death at his ranch. Cafe dishwasher Brad Holcomb is shaken by the news even as others debate the circumstances surrounding the magnate’s demise and how he possibly “got what he deserved.”

Brad has struggled with other indefinable feelings:

Lately, he had felt as if the earth was quaking, some seismic event that no one else seemed to notice.

Death always seems to surround him, as he’s survived military service and battles that came home to roost in his own backyard.

Other characters (besides Sam) swirl around Brad, from Jessica Martindale, who has long sought answers about her father’s disappearance, to waitress Ida Faye Mensinger, who harbors her own angst and secrets.

The events which force a cafe of strangers to talk to each other about murder, mayhem, and matters of their hearts make for an engrossing overlay to a story of how disparate characters come together under unusual circumstances to bare their souls and reconsider their choices past and future.

Steven W. Horn creates more than a captivating murder mystery. Embedded within his tale (and reinforced by the novel’s shifting viewpoints) are thoroughly engrossing insights on how strangers come together and are influenced by each other’s experiences.

Also notable are the different types of crossroads each individual faces that coalesce under the umbrella of solving not just a murder, but bigger life challenges.

Libraries seeking a murder mystery that embeds powerful psychological revelations into its tale of how connections are made, lost, and challenged will welcome Lost & Found Cafe whether or not they have any other Sam Dawson mysteries in their collections.

Powerfully insightful, containing a myriad of well-developed, disparate characters who each have their nightmares come to life in unexpected circumstances, LOST AND FOUND CAFE is a winning probe of relationships, outcomes, and intrigue. It will find its home in many a book club where murder mystery probes are but the icing on the bigger cake of life experience.