Hannah Weybridge discovers the body of her best friend Liz, a dentist who has volunteered her services to the homeless. There is a strong possibility that one of Liz's unstable patients killed her, but Hannah wants to know why. She asks to cover the story for The News, the tabloid where she works as freelance on a retainer.
What initially appeared to be a motiveless crime by one of Liz's homeless patients begins to seem more sinister as more people connected to the clinic--or to the church that sponsored it--die. Hannah wonders about the secrets Liz kept from her and feeling alone, begins to question her relationship with DI Tom Jordan currently in New York on an assignment.
Things get really messy with secrets that threaten both Hannah and her daughter.
NetGalley/Urbane Publications
Mystery. May 11. Print version: 246 pages.
Dead Calm by Inge Lohnig is the second book a new-to-me series; I'm not certain how many have been translated, but I certainly want to pick up more, including the first in the series. (The German title of this book is In White Silence.)An elderly man is found murdered at his lakeside cabin.
Chief Commissioner Konstantin Duhnfort and his team investigate the murder, and while robbery may have been the motive, tying an elderly man to a radiator and leaving him to die of thirst seems excessively cruel.
As events unfold, Duhnfort refuses to take things at face-value. Robbery or murder? And just how complicated are the threads he begins to unravel?
The developing investigation reveals a dark and manipulative side to the deceased pediatrician. His influence on his three children still dominates their lives: the favored son and heir, the neglected and rebellious son, and the ignored and invisible daughter. Only Albert, the favored son, has ever gained any affection or praise from the father, and all of three still deal with the consequences of the man's controlling personality.
A complex tale of family dynamics, Dead Calm examines the effects of the narcissistic father (with some, if not all, of the traits of a sociopath) on his children . Outwardly charming and concerned about superficial respectability, Dr. Heckenroth inner darkness casts a long shadow.
While the murderer is easily recognized early on, the intricacies of the plot kept me engaged throughout. I hope for more translations of this series soon.
NetGalley/Bonnier Zaffire
Psychological Suspense/Police Procedural. May 18, 2017. Print length: 448 pages.
Yay! New authors to try. I think I'm leaning towards Death's Silent Judgment just because the plot appeals to me a little bit more than the other, but they both sound good. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you decide on DSJ, it might be good to read Dancers in the Wind first as there are a lot of references to characters and events that influence DSJ. I liked Dead Calm better, but both kept my attention.
DeleteGood to know. Thanks! :)
DeleteI've fallen behind in my reading and my writing. Now I'm catching up a bit with the blogs I follow. I've missed your words! I'm not looking for any more books to read but these sound as if I could enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to keep up with everything--and you have just returned from another trip!
DeleteThese both sound good. I can barely keep up with all your great mystery recommendations! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have trouble remembering whether or not I've written a review and scheduled it or just started writing a draft. So many of NetGalley's ebooks arrive months ahead of publication! I just finished reading one that won't be published until Jan. 2018!
ReplyDeleteDead Calm sounds interesting. I imagine that father had quite an effect on his children! If I pick up Coates' book, I will definitely look for the first one first.
ReplyDeleteI liked the characters in Dead Calm and want to read more by Lohnig. (Wish I knew how to add the umlaut over the "o") :)
DeleteDead Calm intrigues me the most among these two books; always love reading about complex family dynamics.
ReplyDeleteOooh--definitely complex family dynamics in this one. It really is strange to imagine the kind of totally self-involved, manipulative person that the father was in the story.
DeleteOh that's a creepy set up for Dead Calm and of course I want to read it! Every year when we visit Germany I go to the bookstores and see so many mysteries (krimis) but unfortunately my German is not up to reading a full length novel. Will have to look into this one!
ReplyDelete