This review of Cliff Hanger first appeared July 16, 2019 on Map Your Mystery, a review blog by Christine Gentes.

What starts as an organizing job at a beautiful coastal resort in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in California turns into a nightmare for Maggie McDonald and her family. In Cliff Hanger by Mary Feliz, the boys see an ultra-light crash into the cliff side and race down to aid the pilot. (Cliff Hanger will be released by Kensington Publishers on July 16.)

Grad student Jake Peterson loved to fly and was meticulous about safety. When the boys reach him he is mumbling something they cannot understand and they call for EMS to airlift off the dune. When he dies at the hospital, everyone thinks it is an accident. Jake's parents, grieving his death, lash out the boys and try to blame them for Jake's death.

On the job front, Maggie is having difficulty connecting with her contact Renee, the complex's manager. Because they cannot make contact with her, the family is shunted off into a disgustingly dirty condo and Maggie thinks she may have made a mistake taking the job.

The next day they are able to move into the promised three-bedroom condo, and they traipse off to the beach. One of the boys is injured by a seemingly misplaced metal spike in the sand cliff. When Maggie sees strange lights on the water at night, she wonders if this job was a mistake. When more odd things begin to happen, she calls in her law enforcement friends from back home as reinforcements to try to solve the mystery.

Maggie is the most organized character I've ever read about. I only wish I had as much energy to be organized as she is. I always enjoy the organization tips at the beginning of each chapter.