Never Hollowed By The Stare

Subtle Deceptions: The Last Grift by Elle Keaton

It’s road trip time. Semi-retired grifter Gabriel Karne is in deadly trouble. If he gets out of this ‘situation’, he’s leaving everything behind and heading someplace where no one knows his name, or his face. Heartstone Island or bust.

The plan is to collect his inheritance and move right along. No one will need to know his past.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine.

Less than 24 hours on the island and Gabe’s made an impression on the locals–possibly not the best. A trespassing citation from an infuriating but compelling forest ranger, and he’s interfered with two local good ol’ boys plans. Not a great way to stay off the radar.

Then, when a local goes missing, Gabe offers to help find him.
Being off his grift is the only explanation as to why Gabe would rather focus on a stranger’s bad luck than his own. But the fact is, he’s always had a soft spot for losers.

Jim Rockford’s got nothing on Gabriel Karne.

The Last Grift is the first installment in the Subtle Deceptions series, a small town mystery with romantic elements. The series, part of the Piedras Island and Veiled Intentions universe, is written in the third person and follows the unplanned adventures in the life and love of the disreputable Gabriel Karne.

---

Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

Soundtrack: Grifter’s Grief
Artist: Yard Act
Album: Where’s My Utopia?

---

Subtle Deceptions: Bait and Switch by Elle Keaton

Gabriel Karne is back

The plan?

Lie low on Heartstone Island and wait for the dumpster fire that is his past life to burn itself out. So far, so good. Until it isn’t.

Gabriel has avoided Ranger Man for days, made a few important repairs to his sailboat, and put a dent in the stack of dime-store mysteries Elton loaned him. Life is at least okay.

Eight days in and his strategy crumbles like a wet cookie.

His ex-partner-in-crime returns, but this time he is very dead. And wearing a baby blue tracksuit, which somehow makes his murder even worse.

Is his body a message from the crime family they mutually pissed off? Did Peter have connections to Heartstone? And if he didn’t, how the hell did he know he’d find Gabe there?

With yet another exceedingly ill-timed murder, Gabe’s luck is once again not the Good Kind. Then there’s his simmering attraction to Casey, which he’s actively sweeping underneath his mental throw rug. Lundin is definitely not Gabe’s type. He’s a walking-talking moral compass that never seems to cease pointing out everything he’s sure is wrong about Gabe. But damn, that man’s uniform fits him like a custom glove.

Adding to it all, snow is in the forecast, there’s a missing brush worker up the valley, and Calvin Perkins is still on the loose. Gabe’s not even going to think about the spiders.

Everything will be fine. FINE.

Bait and Switch is book two in the Subtle Deception series.

---

Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Make The Weather
Artist: The Waitresses
Album: Bruiseology

---

Subtle Deceptions: Skin Game by Elle Keaton

Gabriel Karne is cautiously optimistic. Life seems to be settling down into a nice even keel.

It’s a new year and the former con artist has a permanent-for-now address. Even Keith-the-cat seems to like it there. No more rickety sailboats and living out of go-bags for Gabriel Karne. No surprises. No dead bodies.

Romance-wise, he and Ranger Man are easing into being a couple. A lifetime of habits is hard to break for both of them but they’re getting there.

Gabe even has a job. Will he regret agreeing to it? Probably but it’s almost legal, so baby steps.


Then a strange young woman claiming to be his long-lost daughter appears on his new doorstep, and she has some sketchy documentation to prove it. It’s not impossible, but Gabe wasn’t born yesterday, and Heidi Karne was his mother, after all.
And another damn letter—this one from a stranger—shows up. The author claims to be a friend of Heidi’s and to have some of his late mother’s belongings. Just great.

It’s pretty clear that the past isn’t done with him yet.

It will be fine. Everything will be fine.

---

Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Skin In The Game
Artist: Backroad Raised
Album: Skin In The Game

---

Subtle Deceptions is another series in Elle Keaton‘s interconnected world set in the US Pacific Northwest archipelago. It follows semi-retired con man Gabriel Karne as he leaves his past behind and starts over at Heartstone Island.

The Last Grift is Gabe newly arrived at Heartstone Island to claim his inheritance, a rusty, barely livable boat called Golden Ticket. He immediately clashes with grumpy forest ranger Casey Lundin who turns out to be his pier neighbor. He also meets his late mother’s old friend, the spritely octogenarian Elton, who becomes a father figure to him and Casey.

Gabe’s sordid past seems to catch up to him when a dead body is discovered and he is the top suspect. It didn’t help that he has strained ties with the deputy and his reluctant favorite Ranger Man.

Bait and Switch has Gabe’s ex and fellow con man showing up on his doorstep only to end up dead. Gabe is afraid that the crime family he’s hiding from finally finds him. Also, more missing people that Gabe can’t help but insert himself in the investigation because of his do-gooding tendencies. Meanwhile, Casey is slowly falling under the spell of Charming Fucker who is wooing him with ice cream and persistence.

Skin Game has a young woman claiming to be Gabe’s daughter. But you cannot con a con man and so he rejects her only for the girl to turn up dead. Gabe also recieves a letter asking him to claim his mother’s things and Heidi Karne’s cryptic diaries gives him more questions than answers.

The books should be read in order, each ending in cliffhangers and HFNs. While we also get Casey’s POV, this is firmly a Gabe-driven series. The first book was too slow, with only hints of attraction and mainly antagonistic interactions. The first half is spent setting things up with the second finally getting the plot moving.

But just like Casey, Gabe slowly but surely worms his way to everyone’s hearts and before I know it, this has become a comfort series for me. I loved the idea of a semi-reformed con-man using his grifting powers for good and of course he just has to fall for an LEO.

Gabe was trained in the game by his enigmatic mother. Her presence is so strong that even after death, Gabe hears her in his head reacting to different situations he’s in. Heidi has a way of succintly putting things in persective that punctuates a scene. She is one of the major mysteries in the series, Gabe hardly knowing anything about her that’s not part of a con.

At 44, Gabe might be a seasoned grifter but at heart, he’s a serial do-gooder who operates in grey areas. He has an easy-going, naturally chatty personality that makes people warm up to him. The 30-something Casey, prepared to hate his guts, ends up begrudgingly charmed dubbing him “Charming Fucker”. Tickles me pink everytime he calls Gabe “Charming” and Gabe calls him “Ranger Man”

The succeeding books hit their stride, the romance sparks, Gabe integrates into in town life, and Casey’s brother returns. Elton quickly becomes my favorite character, the formidable old man is protective and sharp, his found family dynamic with Casey and Gabe the beating heart of the series.

The writing is immersive and atmospheric. The plot is slice-of-life mystery, light on the action with mostly Casey and Gabe going about their days. There might be dead bodies, missing people, corrupt cops, petty criminals, and an oft-mention crime family haunting Gabe’s conscience yet the vibe feels cozy to me.

The Delacombes make their appearance when it was revealed Gabe is half brother to Shay (West Coast Forensics) and Niall Hamarsson (Veiled Intentions). WCF is also involved in the investigation of one case. It’s not necessary to read the other series but they’re worth a try. I always enjoy how the author makes the world of Piedras Island come alive.

Subtle Deceptions is an ongoing saga of fresh starts, irresistable charms and inescapable legacies. Slow-paced, and slow-burn, overall, deceptively cozy, subtly compelling, and ultimately comforting.

---

If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Last Grift, Bait and Switch, and Skin Game. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

THE LAST GRIFT: Amazon UK | Audiobook
BAIT AND SWITCH: Amazon UK | Audiobook
SKIN GAME: Amazon UK | Audiobook

If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!