KN Magazine: Reviews
Merlin at War by Mark Ellis / Review by E.J. Boyd
Merlin at War
By Mark Ellis
London Wall Publishing
$17.99
ISBN 978-0995566712
Published October 12, 2017
Book of the Day
Merlin at War is the 3rd installment in the Dci Frank Merlin series by Mark Ellis. It begins in the summer of 1941. Europe is at war against the Nazi's and Vichy France has fallen under Nazi rule. England has survived the Blitz and is holding on, but the future is very uncertain. The British Army has just withdrawn from Crete with significant casualties. But, life (and death) goes on in London. There, Inspector Merlin is set as lead investigator in the separate deaths of an unknown young woman from a botched abortion and the murder of a Jewish French National. He is also approached by an old friend seeking advice about the execution of a dying request made by his commander during the fallback from Crete.
Merlin is a depicted as a very relatable character. He stumbles a bit as he tries to balance his professional life and personal life. He is honorable and honest, but not afraid to take chances and willing to challenge traditional mores of the time. Cognizant of his own faults he is able to understand the motivations of others and uses that knowledge to sort out clues that might go otherwise unnoticed. Even when his personal and professional life does collide he is able to keep his head and do what needs to be done.
Ellis has written a wonderfully detailed and layered story – cleverly fitting together all of the pieces. Backstories and side stories are laced with historical facts, detailed descriptions of actual places and cameo appearances of several important real-life figures. It feels very real. One can almost smell the French cigarette smoke wafting through the air. There are so many fun, little, Easter Eggs hidden throughout the book I know I will need to read it again just to find them all.
This is the first Dci Frank Merlin book I have read. I certainly did not feel like I was jumping in mid-story. It can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. I also was able to swing between the Audible version and the Kindle version (I'm not one to stop reading just because I have to drive or walk the dog). The narrator, Matt Addis, was exceptional. He easily slipped in and out of a myriad of accents and maintained the cadence of the era. I will certainly be looking for the first two in this series, Princess Gate, and Stalin's Gold.
E.J. Boyd is a new to Killer Nashville. She lives in Upstate New York with her dog, Meggie. E.J. earned her Bachelors in English Literature from SUNY Oneonta.
The Lost Property Office by James R. Hannibal / Review by Elise Knapp
Book of the Day
The Lost Property Office is the first book of the fantastic Section 13 series by James R. Hannibal. It is the story of Jack Buckle, a thirteen-year-old American boy in the midst of a family crisis. His father has disappeared while working in England. His mother is on the verge of breaking down. Everything is out of his control. But Jack is about to discover that nothing is as it seems and he maybe the only one that can save his family.
The novel begins with Jack and his little sister, Sadie, who are left alone in a London hotel while their mother desperately searches for their missing father. Jack suspects the worst but doesn’t want to upset his sister with his suspicions or make things worse for his mother by asking questions. All he wants to do is put on his earphones and shut out the world. But when his sister runs out of the hotel babbling about seeing their father walk by he is forced to face the world.
Jack is hyper-aware of the world around him which allows him to follow minute clues and brief glimpses of Sadie as she runs through the crowded street of London and down into the complex subway system below. Reunited with his sister, the pair stumble upon The Lost Property Office. This office is not a simple lost and found. A bit like Alice going down the rabbit hole, Jack is led deeper and deeper into the endless sublevels of The Ministry of Trackers. His case is turned over to Gwen. Though she is only 12-years-old herself, Gwen is a well-trained and capable Assistant Clerk at the Lost Property Office. Like a young Robert Langdon and Sophie Noveau, Jack and Gwen follow a trail of clues through London—racing to try and save Jack’s father.
Although written for young readers, Hannibal’s cleverly crafted story is enjoyable for adults as well. While certainly fantastical, the story is wonderfully logical. Science is magic explained. Hannibal’s characters are well-developed and relatable. The conclusion is satisfying while still leaving plenty of room for more. Jake Buckles is a character on par with Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, or Jacob Portman. I am very eager for the next book in the series, The Fourth Ruby that will be released in October 2017.
I just pray that when the movie adaption happens they don’t muck it all up….
Fake by Twist Phelan / Review by Clay Snellgrove
Fake
By Twist Phelan
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
$9.99
ISBN 978-1533560599
Published May 31, 2016
Book of the Day
Author Twist Phelan introduces readers to corporate spy Finn Teller in her highly entertaining thriller Fake. The first in what looks to be a long series of mysteries featuring the savvy, capable spy is the perfect coming out party for Finn. Equal parts Jack Reacher, Stephanie Plum, and Jack Ryan, Finn Teller is not afraid to let her moral compass lead her into danger. While not always the best at taking orders, Finn has a bevy of other talents, some of which were surely honed while in the CIA. No longer in the government’s employ, Finn contracts for Strategic Information Associates (SIA), a job that takes her from the world of high fashion in Milan to the industrial landscape deep within war-torn Europe.
When a train derails in Croatia, a shipment of a much-needed vaccine headed for Africa is feared lost. Efforts to salvage the life-saving drug reveal the vials of medicine on the train to be counterfeit. Corporate titan and aspiring politician, Petar Moric needs to find out why his company’s train crashed and where the vaccine that his labs produced ended up. Fearing an inside job, Moric reaches out to SIA and requests the investigative services of Finn Teller. Having suffered her worst professional failure years before in the country, Finn is reluctant to return to Croatia. But using a deep cover, she ultimately takes the job.
Finn’s initial efforts to root out the truth behind the crash turn up a convenient tale of corporate espionage. Two patsies are arrested, and Petar Moric deems his business with SIA over. Sensing more to the story, Finn ignores orders to return home and perseveres. Armed only with her wits, her hands, and a single shot pen-gun, Finn will uncover a multi-national criminal enterprise whose nefarious activities threaten the lives of thousands around the globe. Finn must not only identify the ringleaders but escape alive to warn the world of the imminent danger.
Fake delivers thrills and suspense. With gritty detail and seamless action sequences, Twist Phelan makes it easy for readers to suspend disbelief. The writer’s totally cool, tough, ass-kicking heroine comes equipped with a sense of humor and sex-appeal. Finn Teller is a memorable character that feels capable of anchoring at least twenty more books. Her series of mysteries could not have gotten off to a better start.
Clay Snellgrove is the author of The Ball Player. He’s a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. A former professional baseball player, Clay holds an MFA in creative writing from Converse College.
The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan / Review by Laura Stewart Schmidt
The Immortal Irishman
By Timothy Egan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
$28.00
ISBN 978-0544272880
Published March 1, 2017
Book of the Day
The Immortal Irishman (Timothy Egan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is the story of Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Muh-HAHR), an important figure in Irish history and the man who designed the Irish flag as we know it. Even to the reader who doesn’t trace his or her roots back to Ireland, this fascinating book is well worth reading for the historical significance of a man who spent his life struggling on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. Meagher’s life is well documented, but his death under mysterious circumstances in 1867 was never adequately explained.
Meagher grew up in an Ireland suffocated by English rule and dismissed in an unconscionable manner when catastrophe struck. Potatoes were the major crop, and because they were easy to grow in their many varieties, often fed entire large families. The potato famine, brought about by a fungus believed to have arrived on a ship from the young country of America, devastated Ireland. The people basically had two choices—flee or die of hunger. Many couldn’t afford passage, and the ones who tried often died en route to another country, or arrived as indentured servants, owing more for their passage (and that of deceased family members) than they could hope to pay. The ones left behind were not a concern to the ruling English, whose treatment of the starving Irish was appalling. They promised “relief”—but only to those who could pay for it.
Young Thomas and his friends, incensed and tired of being second-class citizens, staged an uprising. Unfortunately, they were eventually caught, tried and sentenced to Tasmania at a time when England used its new colony of Australia as an Alcatraz of sorts. Meagher ultimately escaped and fled to America, which was on the verge of the Civil War. The blacks’ struggle for emancipation hit home with Meagher and he joined the Union army. Although many of his fellow Irish immigrants, finding themselves on the bottom rung of society in their new home, despised blacks and had no interest in fighting and dying for them, Meagher saw the Confederate States behavior as allegorical to the English treatment of his own people. He wasn’t fooled by politicians who spurred poor whites to hate blacks and immigrants, understanding better than most the destructive results of such divisionary tactics.
Following the war, Meagher found himself in Montana, acting as territorial governor. He helped to establish a “New Ireland” in his adopted home, but not without a further struggle. A gang of vigilantes terrorized the settlers, accusing and passing “sentence” on anyone they did not like. Meagher was wearying of serving as governor, an unpaid position when he was sent to pick up a cache of arms from a riverboat. Ultimately he ended up in the Missouri River, and his body was never recovered.
The leader of the vigilantes gave an account of Meagher’s actions, implying the governor had committed suicide. This is possible; however, when the story of a man’s last day is iterated by his worst enemy, it doesn’t quite pass the smell test. Egan examines the various possibilities (suicide, accident, murder) and offers a plausible theory as to what really happened to Thomas Meagher. The book reads like a novel with history lessons, both educating and entertaining readers. Among the fascinating tidbits are names of famous Irish emigrant families and the parentage of playwright and poet Oscar Wilde. Unfortunately, many of the accounts of ill-treatment of entire races and classes are not unfamiliar to modern readers. Perhaps we can learn from history and try to stop repeating it.
Laura Stewart Schmidt is a lifelong reader who was inspired by “good books for bad children” such as Harriet the Spy and Otis Spofford. She has a degree in Political Science with a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Laura worked for several years as a community education coordinator, encouraging parents to read to their children and setting up reading clubs for middle-school students.
Laura spent two years as a family court advocate for at-risk youth and parents suffering from substance addiction. She also worked for several years at an agency offering one-on-one support for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.
Her current writing project is:
DON’T FEAR, MY DARLING, a suspense novel in the tradition of Hallie Ephron’s THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN. Louisa is grieving her cherished grandfather’s death and stumbling through a series of demeaning jobs when she finds the perfect position–a live-in secretary to an elderly author, Marguerite Roberts. Louisa’s Native American heritage teaches respect of elders, and she is puzzled that Marguerite’s family members have nothing to do with her. But Louisa soon realizes there is much more to the job than she expected. Nothing in the family is what it appears to be, and Louisa begins to fear for Marguerite’s life–and her own.
Laura lives near St. Louis with her husband and two dogs. She is a member of Sisters in Crime http://www.sistersincrime.org/ and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) https://www.scbwi.org/.
The Marianated Nottingham and Other Abuses of the Language by Charley Pearson / Review by Laura Hartman
The Marianated Nottingham and Other Abuses of the Language
By Charley Pearson
Charles E. Pearson
$14.98
ISBN 978-0997299304
Published April 1, 2016
Book of the Day
2017 Silver Falchion Winner Best Anthology or Collection
The Marianated Nottingham (yes, I have spelled the title exactly as the author intended. Once you read it you will understand) is a fun YA compilation of screenplays, ballads, and a few short stories. At the beginning of the book is the foreword, do not skip these few pages. They are a glimpse into the thoughts of a very funny man who will delight and entertain you for the next few hundred pages.
A series of short screenplays are sprinkled throughout the book. They are based upon the same company; Microhard Software Company. It is not for the faint of heart, but definitely for the people who find hilarity in odd situations like I do.
The main screenplay, The Marianated Nottingham is the true story of Robin Hood as told by Pearson. It is a totally different Robin and band of Merry Men than you have read before. The characters are the same, but they play many different roles than in the previous telling of their tales. I love the crazy spin on a classic that Pearson takes. Reminiscent of fractured fairy tales for children, Pearson brings us the adult version. It is smart, witty and absolutely laugh-out-loud funny at times. I don’t want to add a spoiler here, so will suffice to say the recurring references to things that have not been invented yet were some of my favorite parts.
The author’s wit and humor makes this book a fast and fun read. He pulls you into his crazy version of Nottingham making it a totally believable place with the usual characters spun differently supporting the depth of the tale. At first, I was leery of the screenplay format. But honestly, Pearson was brilliant by not writing this in prose. The story flows swiftly and surely via conversations and stage directions. After a few pages I didn’t even notice the difference between a conventional novel verses screenplay other then it was a much easier, faster way to digest the action.
Pearson is a best-selling author just waiting to be discovered by the masses. If you are a fan of Christopher Moore, you will love The Marianated Nottingham. The minute I began this book it reminded me in spirit of the sharp, funny writing of Lamb and Fool by Moore. Now that Pearson is on my radar, I will be sure to seek out his other books as soon as they are available.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from the publisher/author in connection with Killer Nashville in return for my review. Copyright © 2017 Laura Hartman
Laura Hartman is a short story author and book reviewer. She has work appearing in A Woman’s Touch: 11 Stories of Murder & Misdemeanors and The Killer Wore Cranberry, A Second Helping. She began reviewing books for GenReviews in 2011 and currently reviews for publicist Maryglenn McCombs, Penguin First to Read and NetGalley. She is a writer by day and a reader by night.
The Jealous Kind by James Lee Burke / Review by Laura Stewart Schmidt
The Jealous Kind
By James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster
$27.99
ISBN 978-1501107207
Published August 30, 2016
Book of the Day
Anyone familiar with the music of alt-country artist Rodney Crowell knows that 1950s Houston had little in common with the 1950s of television sitcoms. In James Lee Burke’s The Jealous Kind (Simon and Schuster, 2016), seventeen-year-old Aaron Holland Broussard’s life bears no resemblance to TV’s Cunninghams or Cleavers. His gritty Houston is a darker West Side Story, with a skyline the color of “the glitter of thousands of razor blades.” There are violent teenage gangs everywhere, toting chains and switchblades, and no one dares to cross into the opponents’ part of town. Moreover, oil has created wealth, and wealth begets people to exploit it—the kind who “look like they’re glued together from other people’s body parts.” This is the world Aaron is cautiously navigating—until he dumps caution to the pavement and spits on it.
Aaron gets on the mob’s bad side when he interferes with Grady, a connected man’s son who is mistreating his girlfriend. Aaron instantly falls in love with the girl, Valerie, further enraging his new nemesis. Aaron’s best friend, Saber Bledsoe, is foolish without fear and finds ingenious ways to enrage their enemies. The bad guys strike back, framing Aaron and Saber for a nasty crime against a man the boys have good reason to hate.
Saber befriends two criminals in his short jail stay, and suddenly Grady’s expensive cars come up missing. Saber clearly has more moxie than brains, and Aaron reflects that a conversation with him is akin to “talking to the driver of a concrete mixer (backing through) a clock shop.” But Aaron refuses to turn his back on his friend, even when the organized criminals suspect him of wrongdoing and threaten to hurt Valerie, Aaron’s pets, and his parents. The mob doesn’t forgive and forget. Aaron must come up with another way out of the trouble he and Saber are in—as well as try to figure out who is responsible for a murder the police aren’t interested in solving.
It is obvious Aaron survives to tell us the tale. The reader isn’t sure if the same is true for Saber and Valerie, as there is a sense of escalating danger and impending doom for most of the story. Houston as a setting is so vividly drawn it is a character in itself. The sparkling image of the 1950s that post-Baby Boomers were raised on is clearly a whitewash this book corrects like a slap to the head. The Jealous Kind is a mystery, a love story, and a coming-of-age story, wrapped up in one excellent package. Open it and enjoy the gift.
Laura Stewart Schmidt is a lifelong reader who was inspired by “good books for bad children” such as Harriet the Spy and Otis Spofford. She has a degree in Political Science with a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Laura worked for several years as a community education coordinator, encouraging parents to read to their children and setting up reading clubs for middle-school students.
Laura spent two years as a family court advocate for at-risk youth and parents suffering from substance addiction. She also worked for several years at an agency offering one-on-one support for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.
Her current writing project is:
DON’T FEAR, MY DARLING, a suspense novel in the tradition of Hallie Ephron’s THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN. Louisa is grieving her cherished grandfather’s death and stumbling through a series of demeaning jobs when she finds the perfect position–a live-in secretary to an elderly author, Marguerite Roberts. Louisa’s Native American heritage teaches respect of elders, and she is puzzled that Marguerite’s family members have nothing to do with her. But Louisa soon realizes there is much more to the job than she expected. Nothing in the family is what it appears to be, and Louisa begins to fear for Marguerite’s life–and her own.
Laura lives near St. Louis with her husband and two dogs. She is a member of Sisters in Crime http://www.sistersincrime.org/ and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) https://www.scbwi.org/.
Seven Suspects by Renee James / Review by Danny Lindsey
Seven Suspects
By Renee James
Oceanview Publishing
$26.95
ISBN: 978-1608092550
Published: October 3, 2017
Book of the Day
Seven Suspects is the third and latest installment of The Bobbi Logan Detective Series. I'm not sure why I chose this book. After all, a deep South, straight, male, baby boomer, retired Army officer is hardly the intended audience. Add to that the fact that I am not accustomed to, and usually not appreciative of first-person present tense writing, particularly from the POV of a transsexual woman.
Bobbi Logan has seemingly made a successful transition from male to female. Her salon is successful, and her life (mostly) in balance. Sex appears to be confusing, as one who has not chosen her path might imagine. She is haunted by the memory and experience of being raped, and her freedom of movement is circumscribed by that. A stalker exacerbates the situation, and Bobbi decides to take the initiative. Her list of suspects, and their interactions with her form the bulk of the book. A former lover and police detective at various times supports her, assists her, and attempts to dissuade her from aggressively ferreting out her adversary, all the time adding to the tension. The ending and the denouement leave the reader surprised, satisfied, and prepared to follow Bobbi’s character into the next installment in the series.
I did not expect to like it. Funny thing is, I liked it. A lot. Quirky? Yes. Overly (to me) concerned about being assaulted? Yes. Unrealistic? Yes, again, to me. But I liked the flow, the story, the book, and would most certainly recommend it. I'm still not sure why. But I may re-read it, and will certainly look for Renee James' next work.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice - so he will not be unpublished for long!
The Right Side by Spencer Quinn / Review by Clay Stafford
The Right Side
By Spencer Quinn
Atria Books
$26.00
ISBN 978-1501118401
Published June 27, 2017
Book of the Day
The Right Side is a new novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Abrahams writing under the pseudonym Spencer Quinn. The protagonist is a female soldier who comes home from Afghanistan after a horrific accident only to find the civilian world just as tough, if not tougher, than war itself.
LeAnne Hogan is a proud, independent woman who is now disabled. She does not take it well. At times, it is difficult to like her. She’s cutting, she’s rude, but she is hurting psychologically. She has witnessed the death of those close to her. She has guiltily lived and they have not. She feels betrayed. She feels it all her fault. And, saying all this, Spencer Quinn writes her in a way that the reader can’t help but root for her. You want her to do well. You want her to survive.
There are two things going on chronologically: we learn of the events leading up to the accident in Afghanistan, and we share the unfolding as LeAnne struggles to make her way in the civilian world. The mystery is what really happened in Afghanistan. She doesn’t want to believe it. Truthfully, neither does the reader. There are elements that made me physically angry. I credit Quinn for writing it to produce full-effect.
Part of the damage done to LeAnne is facial. She has lost an eye. I love the thematic symbol in this. Her depth perception is lost. She is blind on one side. It all plays into the storyline’s issue of trust and truth. In love, sometimes we are blind to what others can see; we see the relationship, but not its true depth.
The Right Side is not a thriller or even suspense. It is only remotely a mystery. It is a character study, and well-done at that. I do not want to give away more than I have to, but the ending satisfies. You need to read this novel. It will make you feel extremes along with LeAnne. It will make you want more. It will make you sad. And it will make you smile. Satisfaction will come on the last page. No need for a spoiler alert, just know: this is a book you’ll want to read.
Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 1.5 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed internationally in over 14 languages. Four of his five staged murder mysteries have had Los Angeles premieres. He has reviewed books, plays, and films, writes near-daily book reviews for the Killer Nashville Book of the Day, has been quoted on book jackets, and has edited several PBS companion books associated with national series. Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13). He is the founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine (www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com). He has served on the board of numerous nonprofits. Clay has a B.A. and M.F.A. and has been a professor or lecturer to several major universities. His list of current projects includes the award-winning feature-length documentary “One Of The Miracles: The Inge Meyring Smith Story” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” with fellow mystery writer Jeffery Deaver (www.JefferyDeaverXOmusic.com). Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently President / CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), a publishing / film and television / music / entertainment company near Nashville, Tennessee. More information can be found at www.ClayStafford.com.
Murder at Venegoni's by Mr. Christopher M. Rutledge / Review by G. Robert Frazier
Murder at Venegoni’s
By Mr. Christopher M. Rutledge
CreateSpace
$13.99
ISBN 978-1537377957
Published 9/23/2016
Book of the Day
Alright, youse guys, listen up. There’s this book about mobsters, see… Murder at Venegoni’s. Written by some wiseguy screenwriter by the name of Christopher M. Rutledge. It’s like The Godfather--you know, that magnum opus of the Family Corleone by that Puzo guy. Now, it ain’t as long as Puzo’s book, so don’t get your panties in a wad. You can probably read Murder in one sitting, but it’s got just as much action as The Godfather, if not more. I mean, right from the start the bullets are flying and the bodies are dropping like flies. It’s like an endless slice of mob-on-mob violence. Dark and brutal. There’s even a couple of molls and a corrupt cop plotting double-crosses. Only thing missing is all that ruminatin’ that characters do. You know, the inner thinking and musing stuff. There’s some of it, yeah, but if that’s the kind of read you’re looking for, fuhgeddaboutit! Rutledge ain’t got time for that. There’s too many shootouts to get through to be wasting on a bunch of mushy character stuff. Anyways, it’s a book about these two mob families from the old country, see. The Venegoni's and the Graziano's. They’ve been warring since the early 1800s. Started with some dispute over a winery fire and the bad blood’s continued to this day, all the way to the Windy City. And after 200 years of feudin’, it’s all reached a boiling point. So’s the Graziano's put a hit on the Venegoni's and take out their don in a hail-o-bullets. That puts Joseph next in line to lead the Venegoni's. Along with his somewhat psycho brother, Michael, he vows revenge and the war is back on in a big way. And before you know it, one hit follows another and the bodies start piling up.
You get the idea. Salute!
When he’s not working on his own novel or screenplays, G. Robert Frazier writes about other writers and their works on his blog and other sites such as BookPage and US Review of Books. He is a script reader for both the Austin Film Festival and Nashville Film Festival screenwriting competitions and is a member of the Tennessee Screenwriting Association. He used to write and edit stories for several newspapers in the Nashville area until the industry caved in on itself and set him free. And he once won a flash fiction contest in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, so there’s that.
The 7th Canon by Robert Dugoni / Review by Kelly Saderholm
The 7th Canon
By Robert Dugoni
Thomas & Mercer
$15.95
ISBN 978-1503939424
Published 09/27/2016
Book of the Day
In Dugoni’s book, “the seventh canon” states that a lawyer shall represent his client zealously within the bounds of the law, which is great, but what if your client is a priest accused of killing a minor under his care? And what if the lawyer in question is a 28-year-old, still wet-behind-the-ears defense attorney who has only been practicing three years under the sharp eye of his uncle’s law firm?
Robert Dugoni’s The 7th Canon is a well written legal thriller that grapples with these and other legal quandaries, while also delivering a fast-paced thriller, which will keep the pages turning to the exciting end. The main character, 28-year-old Pete Donley, shows promise as a young attorney but doubts himself, and with good reason. He grew up with an abusive father, and that past still haunts Donely. He is also anxious about his future which includes his young wife and toddler son. Donley is considering taking a higher paying job at a more prestigious law firm when his uncle, Lou Giantelli is suddenly taken out of commission just as Lou’s longstanding client and friend, Father Thomas Martin, desperately needs an attorney. Donely accepts the case and discovers that what appears to be an open and shut case is anything but. He finds himself in way over his head as he struggles with City politics, rogue cops and the dangers of San Francisco's Tenderloin area of the late 1980’s.
Lovers of legal thrillers will enjoy this book, but honestly, it’s a great read for just about anyone. Although Dugoni is known for his series novels, this novel is a stand-alone and is a quick read. Set in 1980’s San Francisco, this novel does not get bogged down in arcane legal jargon but moves at a quick pace to an exciting ending which this reviewer found quite satisfying. The characters are well drawn. The opening scene, in which Donley calls a parrot to the witness stand, not only draws us into the book, and adds a touch of humor, but also gives the reader a look into Donley’s character and his readiness to go outside the box to defend his clients. His creative thinking will certainly be useful as the story unwinds.
Kelly Saderholm has written, blogged, and lectured about aspects of the mystery novel. She has moderated panels and presented papers at literary conferences, on both the Mystery Novel and Urban Fantasy. She is currently writing a non-fiction book dealing with Folklore in the American South. She is a recipient of a Kentucky Foundation for Women Writer’s grant. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her family and two feline office assistants.
A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum / Review by Laura Stewart Schmidt
A Brilliant Death
By Robin Yocum
Seventh Street Books
$15.95
ISBN 978-1633881280
Published 04/05/2016
Book of the Day
A review should avoid gushing. But I have nothing bad and everything good to say about this gem of a book. A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum (Seventh Street Books) is the story of Mitch and his best friend Travis, growing up in Ohio steel country in the early 1970s. Travis’ mother disappeared years ago, and it is presumed she drowned while absconding with a lover—at least, that’s what everyone thinks, and it’s the story Travis’ father, “Big Frank,” has always told his son.
But Travis doesn’t believe him. He has no reason to—Big Frank is a violent bully who terrorizes everyone around him. Travis is convinced his mother would never run away and leave him with Big Frank. Therefore, Travis reasons, she must have been murdered. But why has no one ever found her? With no other family around, and no one other than Mitch who cares about him, Travis wants to find his mother’s body and know once and for all what really happened to her.
Mitch signs on to “Project Amanda” out of love and loyalty for his friend, and immediately finds himself doing work more dangerous than he imagined. Project Amanda is a multi-year endeavor, requiring detective work worthy of the FBI. It’s an uphill battle because the townspeople are so afraid of Big Frank they won’t talk. The law enforcement officers who investigated the case are no help—they may be involved in the deaths of Amanda and her unknown companion, and one cop went to prison for tampering with evidence. As Mitch and Travis get closer to the truth, Big Frank gets more hostile and threatening, and no one will intercede for the boys.
Big Frank could have been perhaps more dimensional; he is so evil as to be almost a caricature. But everything else in the book is close to perfection. Mitch and Travis are sympathetic characters with compelling motivation, and the Vietnam-era Ohio River Valley comes to life through Mitch’s descriptions and experiences. Yocum is a master at creating and building suspense. The boys’ mission appears so treacherous the reader is almost afraid to keep reading for fear of what will happen to them and their occasional ally. But it is worth the roller-coaster ride to take Mitch and Travis’ journey, culminating in an ending which is redemptive without being unrealistic. Mr. Yocum has a new fan, and I can’t wait for his next book.
Laura Stewart Schmidt: A lifelong reader and writer, inspired as a child by Harriet the Spy and Emily of New Moon. She minored in criminal justice in the hope that it would make her a more effective and knowledgeable mystery writer. Her Young Adult novel, Sweeter Than Life, was published by Martin Sisters Publishing in 2015. She has spent several years working as a community education coordinator, encouraging parents to read to their preschoolers and starting reading clubs for middle-school students. She also worked as a family court advocate for at-risk youth and parents suffering from substance addiction. Laura is also a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson / Review by Kelly Saderholm
In the Valley of the Sun
By Andy Davidson
Skyhorse Publishing
$24.99
ISBN 978-1510721104
Published 06/06/2017
Book of the Day
Andy Davidson’s debut novel gives us yet another reason to steer clear of run-down motels off the beaten path. His novel In the Valley of the Sun (Skyhorse Publishing) is a book that you will want to read at least twice. Once for the suspenseful can’t-turn-the-pages-fast-enough plot that builds to a gripping climax. Then you will want to read it again for the gorgeous prose that immerses the reader into the bleakly beautiful West Texas landscape and gives us multifaceted characters with authentic dialogue and complex but believable motivations. Davidson infuses a police-procedural plotline with a new twist on the vampire mythos, while simultaneously providing readers with fresh insights on the darker side of the human psyche.
Haunted by his past, Travis Stillwell is both the hunter and the hunted. Travis stalks women in a series of West Texas honky-tonks until one night he comes across more than he’s bargained for. He hooks up with the mysterious Rue, who leads him back to his cab-over camper. The next morning, Travis awakes to find himself bloodied and profoundly changed. Like a wounded animal, he drives off to lick his wounds and hide. He finds sanctuary in the parking lot of a decrepit motel run by the young widow Annabelle Gaskin. Tavis gradually forms a cautious relationship with Annabelle and her ten-year-old son, all the while fighting an unspeakable evil that feeds on Travis at night. Meanwhile, a Texas Ranger is on the move.
Davidson provides much more than just this plot, as exciting as it is. He deftly uses characters and setting to deepen the suspense and horror of this work. By providing the character’s backstories, which serve as interesting subplots of the story, as well as highlighting their motivations, he adds yet another layer of intrigue and suspense. The uncanny, omnipresent desert setting adds another dimension of unease and foreboding. At one point in the story, Reader, the Texas Ranger, says, “Monsters, the world’s just full of monsters.” Davidson shows us this is true, but what makes it so very terrifying is that his monsters lurk in the mundane places: a roadside honky-tonk, a cab-over camper. He gives us an abandoned swimming pool filled not only with junk but with a sense of dread. Even an ordinary turtle becomes a scary object. The sense of horror lingers well after the last page is read.
Kelly Saderholm has written, blogged, and lectured about aspects of the mystery novel. She has moderated panels and presented papers at literary conferences, on both the Mystery Novel and Urban Fantasy. She is currently writing a non-fiction book dealing with Folklore in the American South. She is a recipient of a Kentucky Foundation for Women Writer’s grant. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her family and two feline office assistants.
Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger / Review by Clay Snellgrove
Manitou Canyon
By Willian Kent Krueger
Atria Books
$24.99
ISBN 978-1476749266
Published 09/06/2016
Book of the Day
Edgar Award-winning author William Kent Krueger delivers again with Manitou Canyon, his 15th installment to the Cork O’Connor detective series. Readers that are unfamiliar with the series should not pass on this book. Kruger’s new novel is an expertly crafted tale of suspense that weaves into its central mystery important pieces of Native American tradition, vivid details of the beautiful yet dangerous Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, and complex family relationships.
Krueger opens the book with a nameless bad guy, perched in the wilderness, searching for our hero through the scope of a loaded rifle, ready to fire. Only a few pages later, Cork O’Connor is hired by the granddaughter of a missing man to accompany her into the wilderness to try to find him. With his daughter set to marry in a week’s time, Cork promises to return soon in order to make the wedding and avoid the deadly winter weather that is known to descend upon the Boundary Waters during the month of November.
The sniper never gets a clean shot on O’Connor, but the gunman and his accomplices do ambush the granddaughter and hold her hostage. While searching for a way to rescue her, Cork is attacked by the perpetrator keeping watch over the canoes, the only way out of the wilderness. During the ensuing fight, the lookout falls on his knife and dies. Suddenly missing an important set of hands for their escape granddaughter’s life. A moral and professional obligation to his client keeps Cork from escaping.
Back at home, Cork’s family fears the worst when he fails to check in. They consult a Native American friend and centenarian Henry Meloux. By reading the dreams and visions of those closest to Cork, Henry begins to speak cryptically of the motive behind Cork’s disappearance. A bit of old fashion detective work gives readers the first thread to pull in unraveling the underlying mystery.
Krueger is a savvy veteran when it comes to penning mystery and suspense. He drives his narrative forward using a rich cast of characters and clean, concise dialogue. Manitou Canyon is a thrilling page-turner that draws readers into the brilliant beauty and unabating dangers of the Minnesota wilderness. Cork O’Connor is a consummate hero that exudes a life and spirit that should anchor future books…If only he can survive this one.
Look for the next book in this series,
Sulpher Springs
to be released in August 2017
Clay Snellgrove is the author of The Ball Player. He’s a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. A former professional baseball player, Clay holds an MFA in creative writing from Converse College.
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty / Review by M.K. Sealy
Rain Dogs
By Adrian McKinty
Seventh Street Books
$15.95
ISBN 978-1633881303
Published 3/8/2016
Book of the Day
Thanks to Rain Dogs, Adrian McKinty’s latest installment of his Detective Sean Duffy novels, Northern Irish crime fiction has firmly established itself as one of my preferred genres. Fast-paced and riveting throughout the entire novel, Rain Dogs has elegant dialogue and descriptions that immediately pull readers into the many beautifully described locations. McKinty, with his knowledge and experience, was able to create an intimate, engaging world that had me feeling as though I had once visited Carrickfergus Castle in a dream.
Additionally, McKinty has crafted a believable detective with believable struggles—with Detective Sean Duffy, readers quickly come to realize that solving the crime is only half of the equation. Duffy has had to deal with several cases that he solved but was unable to take to court. McKinty dabbles not in the realm of glamorized crime fiction; instead, he creates a gritty, true-to-life crime-solving atmosphere. The inclusion of realistic struggles in addition to the larger-than-life feeling of the plot creates a dynamism that had me turning the pages as quickly as possible, as I became more familiar with Detective Duffy and the difficulties he faces throughout the novel.
When is a suicide not a suicide? has been one of the most familiar themes of crime fiction, yet, with Detective Duffy, McKinty breathes new life into a tired plot device. When Detective Duffy becomes involved in an investigation into a crime that is not at all what it seems (as fictional crimes rarely are), readers are dragged quickly and deeply into McKinty’s world. With his settings, characters, and the motivation that sits on the breastbone of those characters, McKinty creates a world that is rooted in reality, but that is enveloping enough for readers to forget their own.
M.K. Sealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature from a Nashville university. She is a copyeditor for a Nashville-based publication, but also writes poetry, fiction, and is currently attempting a screenplay, all while working to obtain a Master of Education.
Should Have Played Poker by Debra H. Goldstein / Review by Sharon Marchisello
Should Have Played Poker
By Debra H. Goldstein
Five Star Publishing
$25.95
ISBN 978-1432831592
Published 4/20/2016
Book of the Day
At the outset of Debra H. Goldstein’s Should Have Played Poker, Charlotte Martin walks back into her daughter Carrie’s life after a 26-year absence, but before Carrie can get any real answers about why her mother left her, Charlotte is murdered. The scene of the crime is the Sunshine Village retirement home where Carrie’s father, a former preacher in the early stages of dementia, now resides.
Detective Brian McPhillip, Carrie’s former boyfriend, is assigned to investigate, and sparks still smolder. To further complicate things, a little jealousy enters the picture when Michael Shapiro, a widowed lawyer whose mother also resides at the Sunshine Village retirement home, gets involved. Although Brian is more helpful than his law enforcement colleagues, Carrie, who was trained as a police officer before leaving the academy for a career in corporate law, believes he is moving too slowly on the case. She enlists the aid of Michael's mother's group of Mah Jongg players as amateur sleuths. But when their efforts uncover secrets buried in the past, Carrie and the others find themselves in grave danger.
Should Have Played Poker has a fast-paced plot with short chapters, enjoyable characters, and an abundance of red herrings. It touches on issues of aging, family ties, corporate responsibility, and religious tolerance, and culminates in a surprise ending that makes Carrie question most everything she has ever believed in.
Author Debra H. Goldstein is a former litigator and administrative law judge who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband. A member of Sisters in Crime and author of the award-winning debut novel, Maze in Blue, she has spoken on Killer Nashville panels for the past three years in a row. Should Have Played Poker is the first in a new cozy series featuring Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg players, and it promises to be a winner.
Sharon Marchisello is the author of Going Home, a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. She has a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and cat, and does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society.
The City of Seven Gods by Andrew J. Peters / Review by Garrett C. Crowell
The City of Seven Gods
By Andrew J. Peters
Bold Strokes Books
$15.95
ISBN 978-1626397750
Published 09/13/2016
Book of the Day
The City of Seven Gods, by Andrew J. Peters, came to my attention in an unusual way, and this is fitting because it is an unusual book. It is the debut book in Peters' new series, The Lost Histories, which is written for an adult audience.
It’s not really erotica, LGBT or otherwise, though the relationships drive the story, and those relationships for good and for ill, are same-sex. It’s not solely about the religion or love, either, though both of those things figure prominently in the story. There’s a lot of institutionalized corruption in the book, and this the underlying motivator for much of the action. The book feels like it could be the first in a series, but could also be something that stands on its own – it’s certainly a strong enough story for that. There’s a lot going on here in a scant and easily-read couple of hundred pages.
At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Kelemun, who is an exemplar priest of the god Aknon, in whose temple those with enough wealth can receive a “blessing of the flesh” from one of the priests. Kelemun comes to be desired by the son of the Caliph, prince Praxtor, but it’s not until Kelemun encounters hired muscle Ja’Bar during a change in fortunes that the real story of this book begins.
The world in which The City of Seven Gods takes place is like an H. Rider Haggard or Robert E. Howard Conan-type world – a third or fourth-century environment where life is cheap, barbarism lurks at the edges, and it’s very much like the world we live in without being that world. The Gods of the title are reminiscent of the prophets of Islam or Hinduism but steeped in ancient Egyptian myth. Races of people on Peters’ world include the Stripelings (who have actual striped patterns on their skin and of which group Ja’Bar is a member) and this serves also to differentiate and distance this world from ours, intensifying the sense of the fantastic while preserving relationships that seem familiar.
The depth of the world is considerable, like Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series, there is much about it that is ill-understood by those who populate it, and a fair bit which has become a myth, even to its citizens. The story is compelling, and feels like a cascading series of chance encounters, with cause-and-effect simply propelling toward inevitable destinies, then taking dramatic turns when multi-dimensional characters seize their own circumstances. The actual sexual encounters in the book are few and far between, so readers of erotica may feel shortchanged. This is a complicated, faceted gem of a book that sets itself up to be something bigger, and so it’s worth a look from any curious, open-minded reader.
Garrett C. Crowell is a Nashville native, Murfreesboro Librarian, husband, and father of two. He reads more than 100 books a year and likes some of them.
Dark Water by Robert Bryndza / Reviewed by Danny Lindsey
Book of the Day
Dark Water (Bookouture, an imprint of StoryFire Ltd. United Kingdom, 2017) is the third Erica Foster crime thriller novel by Robert Bryndza. Set in the UK, complete with foggy nights, cold temperatures and short days, the weather helps set the mood for the book’s plot. Had the “dark and stormy night” phrase not already been taken, it would act as an apt descriptor for the setting.
DCI Erica Foster has a checkered career, not because of anything she’s done wrong or failed to do properly, but because the word “tact” is absent from her vocabulary. Although her reputation is that of someone who has solved the most difficult of crimes, she has managed to cloak herself in the persona of a loner, a sometimes renegade, and one who displays a flagrant disregard of propriety and of protocol. Nevertheless, she persists.
The 26-year-old case of a missing young girl is moved from retired to cold case status when Foster’s divers find not only the drug cache they were searching for but also a small skeleton, wrapped in tarps and chains, at the bottom of a lake. DCI Foster jumps her chain of command and manages to be placed in charge of the revived murder investigation. Clues are few and witnesses non-existent, but she doggedly pushes forward and discovers that someone is actively working to keep the case unsolved.
A surprise ending actually does take the reader by surprise, and the plot twist is as unpredictable as can be. Bryndza has acquired quite a following in the UK, and Dark Water is a good example why.
A warning to American English readers. Unlike Lee Child and J.K.Rowling, Bryndza’s works have not been “Americanized.” British English, spelling, word usage and idioms are sometimes obvious, other times amusing, and occasionally off-putting.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Coffin Road by Peter May / Review by Brittany Menken
Book of the Day
Peter May’s latest novel, Coffin Road, weaves three gripping tales together to reach one cohesive truth—all while incorporating elements of mystery and some spin-chilling thrills. May is no stranger to thriller and crime novels, having experienced success with The Lewis Trilogy and The Enzo Files. The seasoned Scott adeptly crafts each piece of the puzzle from beginning to end, pulling the reader along through the multifaceted plotlines. Each vignette in Coffin Road feels like a photograph, life preserved in a snapshot.
May masterfully blends economic, sparing exposition with ethereal, detailed description of setting—elements that are apparent in the novel’s opening pages. Set in Scotland, Coffin Road’s first scene captivates the reader and lures them in with mystery and a sense of foreboding. In those first paragraphs, a man washes ashore a stranded beach. He is void of any memories about himself or how he ended up in this state. He’s soon discovered and welcomed by locals who then lead him to a cottage in town—a cottage that his muddled brain partially remembers. He does not know why he recalls this place or why the townsfolk treat him with the familiarity reserved for those one has known for an extended amount of time.
The man soon discovers his name (Ned) and a clue to his past by way of a woman named Sally. Sally reveals to Ned that the pair had been romantically involved and they rekindle the romance before heading off to Coffin Road in an attempt to find more clues that will help Ned regain his memory. While there, he discovers a hoard of beehives—a clue that coincides with the mysterious stings on Ned’s hands.
As Ned’s addled thoughts become more lucid, he recalls a book he was writing that contained details of a century-old mystery concerning the disappearance of three men on a nearby island. Driven to know more about what facts this latest recollection can shed light on, Ned sets out to the island where the men reportedly went missing. But there he’s confronted with yet another daunting mystery to unravel when he discovers a corpse that looks to have suffered a violent death. Ned begins to wonder if he might be the murderous culprit—and he’s not the only one.
This mysterious island has also caught the attention of Detective George Gunn, who is investigating a murder committed by a killer who could be lurking in the same area, looking for clues of his own.
Karen, the final strand of these interweaving narratives, is a girl living in constant rebellion of her mother. Primarily, she’s hell-bent on uncovering the details of her father’s suicide. Convinced her father didn’t kill himself, Karen journeys to the island to seek out the truth. Once there, trouble finds her and she’s thrust into sudden jeopardy.
With accolades such as the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year for his book The Blackhouse and the national literature award in France CEZAAM Prix Litteraire, it’s easy to see why this novel—along with his other works of fiction—is beloved by fans across the globe. No matter what genre one enjoys, Coffin Road enthralls readers with so many twists and turns that even an expert in the crime and mystery genres won’t see the conclusion coming until it hits full force.
The Martyr's Brother by Rona Simmons / Reviewed by Kate Proffitt
Killer Nashville Book of the Day
The Martyr's Brother by Rona Simmons
Reviewed by Kate Proffitt
Alicia Blake is certain of three things: She has an unhealthy dependence on Starbucks coffee, she is overqualified for her underpaid security job at the elite Riverside Centre mall in Atlanta, and she will go to any cost to ensure the safety of her eleven year old son, Kyle.
After the sudden and shocking death of her husband, killed abruptly by a bomb that wiped out a small village in the Middle East, Alicia finds herself living in constant state of fear. It’s been five years, and although she mends herself a little more with each passing day, grief has hollowed her, changed her, and she is terrified it will find her again. Although Riverside’s concept of fighting crime involves knowing how to change a flat tire and being an adequate giver of directions, Alicia can’t help but feel that something is wrong, terribly wrong, and that the seemingly idyllic shopping center that she works in is about to morph into something terrifying.
Rona Simmons’ The Martyr’s Brother presents a thrilling, bone-chilling, realistic scenario of terrorism and the devastation it creates. Simmons writes from the perspective of four characters, all working toward different outcomes, equally captivating, and paints a vivid picture of the unification they discover despite their different backgrounds. From the first page, Simmons pulls the audience into a world of deception, manipulation, and violence within terrorism, and she portrays firsthand how devastating an impact this type of violent hatred carries. There is a rawness, an unshakeable honesty that is prevalent as Simmons depicts terrorism. Terrorism, a topic that is universally relatable, but it is something that seems to be only murmured about or whispered in the most private of circumstances. Simmons strips away secrecy and exposes deception in a way that pierces the heart of terrorism, and the way in which this novel is written is engrossing and beautiful and heartbreaking in it’s honesty. One is left with the aching understanding of how devastating loss can be and that brokenness within the world is so prevalent, but Simmons also incorporates a sense of hope, of moving forward, of the strength that remains when grief fades.
Through her novel, Simmons conveys there is always good, no matter how bleak the bad is, and that choosing to fight for the good regardless of how little, how tiny and insignificant it may appear, is worth it despite the vast and impossible-to-ignore grief that is also present. Alicia believes there is good, despite her tendency toward paranoia and a possible caffeine overdose, and she chooses to fight for that, for the bit of good amidst the sea of bad, and it is this inane, unshakeable determination to uncover the good that Simmons leaves us with. This book rattled me in the best way, in the way that ensures appreciation for the smallest moments, the best moments of freedom and safety and tranquility so that in the moments of terror and grief and uncertainty, we remember there is hope and choose to fight for what little bit of good remains.
If you have a book you would like featured, send a digital ARC for consideration to books@killernashville.com. The Killer Nashville Book of the Day Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the assistance of Arthur Jackson and credited guest reviewers.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Love You to Death by Caroline Mitchell / Review by Laura Stewart Schmidt
Love You to Death
By Caroline Mitchell
Bookouture
$10.99
ISBN 978-1786810854
Published 11/13/2016
Book of the Day
The past refuses to stay buried for DI Ruby Preston as her latest case threatens to expose her darkest secret. Love You to Death by Caroline Mitchell (Bookouture) is the story of a serial killer whose victims share a common experience—each gave up a child for adoption years before. The killer pretends to be seeking a fairy-tale relationship with the mother who relinquished her, but clearly, she wants revenge for what she perceives as abandonment.
Opening with a prologue that introduces us to a victim in danger seems contrived, but there’s a purpose beyond engaging the reader’s curiosity, and Mitchell doesn’t dwell in the scene. She soon switches us to meet our heroine, Ruby, and her staff of law enforcement officers, as they process the mangled body of the prologue victim’s husband. They realize that the serial killer, “Lucy,” is not only kidnapping and torturing possible “mothers,” but destroying the women’s existing families to eliminate the competition.
The reader learns Ruby and her childhood sweetheart, Nathan, the son of a famous crime family, had a daughter named Lucy twenty years ago and gave her up for adoption. Ruby has kept this detail of her life private, fearing not only the loss of her job but retribution from Nathan’s vicious brother and mother. She suspects the serial killer is her daughter and thus feels responsible for the carnage. “Surely it could not be the Lucy she knew. Not after all these years. Or could it?”
As the narrative goes to Lucy’s viewpoint, we see her victims inexplicably opening their homes to a stranger who arrives on the doorstep claiming to be the daughter they relinquished twenty years earlier. This naïve trustfulness may stretch the suspension of disbelief. However, it’s an emotional situation, and most readers will understand that a gut response from the “mother” in this case might be different from ordinary or expected behavior. The victims pay dearly for their innocence. As each “mother” fails to pass Lucy’s test, stakes rise for Ruby and her staff.
The author has put together a tricky and intriguing mystery populated by interesting characters. Ruby and Nathan are both likable—together more so than apart. The book contains a dearth of plausible suspects, and the author drops enough red herrings to make the reader dismiss each. There is enough guessing to fool most readers, and even if you deduce part of the outcome, you probably won’t figure out every step. Love You to Death is reminiscent of Minette Walters’ dark thrillers, but with the promise that we might see more of Ruby and Nathan in future novels. As for their daughter…who knows?
Laura Stewart Schmidt: A lifelong reader and writer, inspired as a child by Harriet the Spy and Emily of New Moon. She minored in criminal justice in the hope that it would make her a more effective and knowledgeable mystery writer. Her Young Adult novel, Sweeter Than Life, was published by Martin Sisters Publishing in 2015. She has spent several years working as a community education coordinator, encouraging parents to read to their preschoolers and starting reading clubs for middle-school students. She also worked as a family court advocate for at-risk youth and parents suffering from substance addiction. Laura is also a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
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