Sharon McCrumb and Catriona McPherson

The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb is historical fiction giving a remarkably researched account of the Greenbrier Ghost.  I had read about the trial in which the testimony of a ghost helped convict the murderer some time back, so I was already invested in discovering more about the murder of Zona Shue back in 1897.  

The case is still on record and you can read some of the newspaper accounts here.

The book is listed as historical fiction, but as a result of McCrumb's intensive research, there is little fiction other than the imagined conversations the author gives the characters.  All of the characters are real, as are the important events.  

Fascinating account of a historical incident.  (Teresa, this is from your neck of the woods!  Are you familiar with the story?)

Read in April.  Blog post scheduled for Aug. 30.

NetGalley/Atria Books

Historical Fiction.  Sept. 12, 2017.  Print length:  368 pages.

I've enjoyed each of Catriona McPherson books, and this was no exception.  House. Tree. Person. is the story of Ali McPherson, whose dreams have recently crashed.  Both she and her husband have lost their businesses and have had to sell their dream home and move into a tiny cottage.  Their teenage son Marco is also having difficulty adjusting to the move from friends and to the reduced circumstances.

Then Ali gets a job at Howell Hall, a nearby private psychiatric facility.  (play on How Well or Howl?)  Ali gets the job with a false resume and is pretty certain that the psychiatrist who hires her knows it, and her salary is more than it should be.  Ali is a little suspicious, but in desperate need of income.

As she gets to know the others who work at Howell Hall, she realizes that they are all misfits in some way.  Ali isn't the only one whose qualifications might be in question, and she has her own secrets to hide.

A body is discovered, and although the corpse is at least a decade old, Ali's son is questioned by the police. Dealing with problems at home, Ali also has reservations about the treatments of some of the patients at Howell Hall.   Ali begins to question everything, including her own stability.  

Ali is sometimes annoying, but with the patients at the facility, she shows great warmth and empathy.  Her concerns about her own life and mental health make her behavior erratic at times.

Tension and uncertainty abound in this latest by McPherson, who is quickly building a reputation for psychological suspense.  

I thought the title quite unusual, but it is explained in the novel.  House Tree Person is a technique used by some mental health professionals.

Read in April.  Blog post scheduled for Aug. 30

NetGalley/Midnight Ink.

Psychological Suspense.  Sept. 8, 2017.  Print length:  360 pages.

Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen

Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen.

The cover might make you think that this is another missing woman plot, but that is not the case for this novel.

Instead, Hannah Monroe returns home from a successful business seminar eager to tell her boyfriend Matt that she may be due for a promotion.

On entering her home, all traces of her boyfriend have disappeared.  His posters, his television, his clothing, anything that belonged to Matt is gone.  Every photo that included Matt is gone. Even texts and emails have been deleted.  Matt has been effectively erased.

Shocked and confused, Hannah tries to comprehend the situation.  She is determined to track Matt down, but her attempts are fruitless.  This opening section is fascinating--and I was intrigued.  Did Matt simply leave Hannah or was something more sinister at play?

Hannah's obsession with finding Matt begins to affect her work.  The prospect of a promotion dims.  This is where the novel becomes a bit predictable and finding Matt becomes a pathological fixation.  

Gone Without a Trace is a page turner with few likable characters.  

Read in Sept.; blog review scheduled for 3-29-17

NetGalley/Berkley Publ.

Psychological Thriller.  April 11, 2017.  Print length:  352 pages.

Find Me by J.S. Monroe and The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Find Me is that the reader is going to be surprised and confused as the story twists and turns.  

From description:  Jarlath "Jar" Costello's girlfriend, Rosa, committed suicide when they were both students at Cambridge, and Jar has thought about her every day since. It's been five years, yet Jar is still obsessed with the idea that Rosa, the one true love of his life, is alive. He's tormented by visions of her and has disturbingly real sightings of her in unexpected places experiences the psychologist treating him describes as "post-bereavement hallucinations."


Is Rosa alive?  Is the entire plot a wish fulfillment dream of Jar's?  Is it a novel within a novel?

Told partly from Jar's pov, partly from Rosa's, partly from diary entries, and partly from a third party, Monroe keeps the reader forming theories, then tossing in a little surprise or two that will modify those theories.  Jar isn't sure whom to trust and struggles with separating the "post-bereavement hallucinations" he knows are not real and the sightings of Rosa that he believes are genuine.  "It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you."  A tangled, twisty tale.

Read in Jan.;  blog post scheduled for March 1

NetGalley/Mira

Mystery/Psychological.  March 21, 2017.  Print length:  400 pages.  

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti.  I don't know, this one has received some five star reviews, but as I read and when I finished, my personal thoughts were inconclusive.  There was some cleverness in the twelve bullet wounds that Samuel Hawley sports and in the recurring motif of watches/clocks/time.  But when I got it on second mention, the rest felt contrived.    

The book is well-written, and I had no inclination to put it aside, and yet, my feelings about the book were always ambivalent.  

I like this quote from another reviewer: "I felt like I was reading a mashup of John Green and Quentin Tarantino more than once." :) Does that give you a feel for the novel?

I guess this is a wishy-washy view of the novel, but I do think the author is talented.  


NetGalley/Random House


Mystery.  March 28, 2017.  Print length:  400 pages.

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe begins with the  horrific murder of an unidentified woman.  The macabre tale is told from three different points of view:  Peter, a detective; Hanne, a profiler who has done no police work in years; and Emma, a young woman who has been associated with the man suspected of the murder.

All of the main characters have issues that keep the reader alternating between sympathy and frustration, but it is easy to get caught up in their stories. 

The atmosphere throughout is creepy; and there is a question of the reliability of the narrators--creating that uneasy gut feeling of uncertainty.  All of the characters seem to have relinquished making decisions in their lives, choosing  a kind of passive aggressive acceptance of  events as they come.  

Hanne has, in the past, made one attempt to free herself, but when that fell through, she reverted to her previous passivity.  Despite the circumstances stacked against her, Hanne does again try for something better when she returns to her role with the police against her husband's wishes.

The weakest element is the too typical use of a bizarre murder to get the reader's attention. The murder does not require the shocking method to retain the symbolic concept the author intends, and strangely, the sensational aspect of the murder lessens as the plot proceeds.

Nevertheless, this is one of those psychological thrillers that will keep you riveted as you puzzle out the pieces of this enigmatic crime novel. 

Read in Aug.; blog review scheduled for Dec. 5, 2016.

NetGalley/Random House

Psychological/Scandinavian Crime.  Dec. 27, 2016.  Print length:  368 pages.

Library Books

I really want to see this!


--------------

When the Music's Over by Peter Robinson has DS Alan Banks dealing with a case of sexual abuse by a beloved celebrity.  The problem is that the abuse of underage girls took place over 50 years ago.  Given the success of similar cases in Operation Yewtree, accusers of Danny Caxton have begun to come forward and the most promising case involves a famous poet who was raped by Caxton when she was fourteen.  

(The real Operation Yewtree opened the door for similar cases with convictions of many celebrities in the UK.  In 2012, Operation Yewtree examined allegations from 1959 through the 1980's and set a precedent.  Many celebrities were convicted of crimes that were decades old.  Can't help but make connections to the current charges against Bill Cosby.)

While Banks is in charge of the case against Danny Caxton, DI Annie Cabot pursues an investigation into the brutal death of a young girl.  Cabot's case, too, draws on real life and the insidious practice of grooming young girls.

Robinson, as usual, creates believable characters, both the familiar ones like Allan Banks, Annie Cabot, and Winsome Jackman and the new characters that develop each plot.

I'm not as fond of Robinson's musical allusions as I once was and wish the author would tone that element down a bit, but Robinson loves his music and many readers also enjoy the many musical references.  What I loved in this one is that Banks is beginning to enjoy poetry and there are allusions to some of my favorite poems by Archibald MacLeish, John Donne, and W.H. Auden.  

The books in this series can all function as stand-alones, although it is fun to read them in order to watch the lives of the characters develop.

Library copy.  Read in Aug.; blog review scheduled for 9/12/16.

Crime/Police Procedural.  2016.  419 pages.

Lisa Gardner's Find Her is a tense psychological thriller in which a victim of a terrible crime has become a survivor, but the experience has changed Flora Dane in ways that make reconnecting with her beloved mother and brother difficult. 

 In the five years since her rescue, Flora has made every attempt to make sure she won't ever be a victim again, but she still struggles against the circumstances of her captivity.

When D.D. Warren first meets Flora, she has a suspicion that Flora has become a vigilante.  The plot moves from present to past and back as details are revealed about Flora's 472 days of captivity.

Dark and chilling, the book is difficult to put down.

Library copy.

Read in Aug.; blog review scheduled for 9/12/16.

Psychological Thriller.  2016.  400 pages.

The Sixth Idea by P.J. Tracy continues the adventures of the Monkeewrench gang of 4 computer geeks and two Minnesota policemen.  In order to full appreciate this series, I think the books should be read in order.   The character development is essential in these novels and having the background of each character makes all the difference.  I noticed it more in this installment because without the background of the previous novels in the series, I wouldn't have had the same sense of commitment to the characters.  

For some reason, this was not my favorite of the Monkeewrench books--maybe because the gang was split up with Annie and Roadrunner off stage throughout most of the book.

Nevertheless, I'm fond of these characters that I always enjoy seeing what they are up to.

Library copy.

Read in Aug.; blog review scheduled for 9/12/16.

Crime/Mystery.  2016.  315 pages.  

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker.   A lot of people are going to love this one, but I didn't. 

Fifteen-year-old Jenny Kramer is brutally raped at a party, then given a controversial drug that will make her forget.  Chapter One is pretty rough.  Really rough.

(This drug is undergoing clinical trials, and once more, presents a lot of questions about science and ethics.  It may offer hope to people with traumatic events in their pasts, and it is touted as a hopeful treatment for soldiers with PTSD, but many are still skeptical about long-term benefits.
It also opens up plenty of avenues for abuse.)

In the novel, Jenny is given the drug at the hospital where she is going to require extensive surgery.  Later when interviewed, she cannot remember anything about the rape, and the police have little to go on.  Initially, things appear to be going well, Jenny remembers nothing about the horrific experience, but months later, she attempts suicide.  Even though Jenny cannot remember the rape, something remains in her mind and body.

At this point, she and her parents begin seeing Dr. Forrest, a psychiatrist who takes particular interest in Jenny's case.  Unreliable narrator!  Twist, then twist back.

When I finished, I still could not make sense of several things.  Spoilers:  Why send two of his patients like guided missiles to someone he set up?  What creepy part of himself needed Jenny to be his companion in his own traumatic rape?  If he knew Glen was responsible from the beginning, why was he worried about his son? He even cures Glen--sorta.   So many things simply did not parse.  

This was an ARC that arrived in the mail, and the film rights have been sold to Warner Bros. 

Once again, I think the Kirkus Review  has the right of this one:  "A repugnant narrator, even an unreliable one, makes it difficult to focus on the true victim, one who is crushed under the weight of this ridiculous plot."

ARC  read in June.  Blog review scheduled for July 7.

Psychological Thriller.  July 12, 2016.  319 pages.  

What Happened to the Week?

We left Tuesday for a quick trip to Houston and got back yesterday.  The combination of all the yardwork from the weekend and the five hour drive there and back has left me so stiff!  I look at the garden and see what needs to be done...and groan.  

On the positive side, the cuttings I've been taking from rosemary, coleus, and sweet potato vine have all rooted.  I especially love the chocolate drop coleus:  it is happy in sun or shade, has a trailing habit, beautiful foliage, and is easy to propagate.  Today, I will take some more cuttings, do a little clean-up of shrubs, and note some chores that I can accomplish later.  I have dug up the monkey grass about half-way around one bed, but that is too strenuous for today.  I simply don't have the energy to tackle that today.

Most of my day will be writing letters, reading, and writing a couple of reviews.  :)

Dear Amy by Helen Callagan.  

Margot Lewis teaches at a private school; she is also an "agony aunt," an advice columnist for a local paper.  Not all of the letters she receives are genuine, and usually Margot spots them quickly, but when she receives a letter from a girl who says she has been kidnapped and is begging for help, Margot isn't sure whether or not the letter is a hoax. 

The police dismiss the letter; Bethan Avery, the girl who purportedly wrote the letter, has been missing for years and long presumed dead.  But more letters arrive, and a cold-case criminologist becomes interested because the letters have details that were never released.

A suspenseful psychological thriller, Dear Amy has plenty of twists!

NetGalley/Penguin UK

Psychological/Mystery/Suspense.  June 16, 2016.  Print length:  352 pages.

The Traitor's Story by Kevin Wignall.  

Finn Harrington is a historian (rumored to be a former spy).  Returning home after a research trip, he learns that his girlfriend has left him.  He hasn't had a chance to really consider why she left and whether or not her absence is permanent, when a neighbor appears at his door asking for his help--her fifteen-year-old daughter is missing.  

Finn initially brushes her off.  A reticent and withdrawn man,  he has his own circumstances to consider.  After some thought, however, he agrees to look into the situation.  Finn's search for the missing girl intrigues him and somehow initiates Finn's reinvolvement with himself and others.  

The story moves from present to past, allowing the reader to become privy to the events in Finn's past that have led to his disengagement with others and his almost total withdrawal into his writing.  Gradually, Finn becomes more approachable, more engaged with the world and those who inhabit it.

Some of the detail in the sections about the past could have been abbreviated.  While past circumstances are crucial to the plot in the present, this portion sometimes interrupted the pace.

Nevertheless, The Traitor's Story was a compelling read about a complex individual who must come to terms with his past and his present, and I really enjoyed it. 

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer

Mystery/Suspense.  June 21, 2016.  Print length:  384 pages.

The Wages of Desire:  An Inspector Lamb Novel by Stephen Kelly is set in a small English village during the early years of the war.

Although this might fall into the cozy category, it is a much more complex version.  The characters have depth and individuality, and the plot is a knotty tangle of threads that reach back into the past.

 Secrets abound in the bucolic English countryside; the title is significant in more than one way.

I haven't read the first in this series, but I liked Inspector Lamb and the way Kelly managed to pull everything together.

Reviews on Goodreads run the gamut, but I found all the twisting threads fascinating and would eagerly read more of Inspector Lamb.

NetGalley/Pegasus Books

Mystery.  July 4, 2016.  Print length:  352 pages.

As usual, NetGalley is hit or miss, and I have had quite a few misses lately, but the above three novels kept me engaged and are worth all of the NetGalley e-books that hit the metaphoric DNF pile.

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

But if she didn't kill Frank, why doesn't she stay to explain to the police that he fell down the stairs?  Instead, Tanya Dubois packs a suitcase and heads out with no particular plan in mind.  In this way, Lutz keeps the reader engaged, but puzzled.  Feeding little "hints and allegations" (can't resist--if I see or hear the word hints, allegations just follows) along the way, Lutz allows this woman, who assumes many names in her travels, to intrigue and mystify us as she makes her flight across the country.

When she lands in Austin, with the new name Amelia Keene, she meets Blue, a bartender who sees more about Amelia Keene than anyone else notices.  When things begin to go wrong and Amelia/Tanya's past catches up with her, Blue is inadvertently and drastically involved.  For a while, I thought this was going to be Thelma & Louise story,  but Lutz doesn't allow that to happen.  Both women have pasts that seem to be closing in on them, but they work out a plan, and each proceeds in her individual journey.  New names, new places, but Amelia/Tanya/Debra is never able to stay long in one place regardless of how she wishes for a rest from those who pursue her.

Hints of Amelia/Tanya/Debra's past emerge through emails from a previous life addressed to Jo.  We know that even before Tanya and her marriage to the unfortunate Frank, there is something in her past that she has been running from.  Plenty of twists and turns and a conclusion that I DID NOT EXPECT.

This was one of those books that kept me (figuratively) turning the pages (actually, swiping the e-reader frantically).  Considering that I never plan to be on the road and off-the-grid, it may seem odd that the idea of trying to live incognito and fleeing from unknown assailants always fascinates me.  On the other hand, for someone who willingly reads about versions of the zombie apocalypse, maybe not so strange.  

Lisa Lutz is best known for her Spellman books about a family of private investigators.  I have not read any of them, but I will.   Besides The Passenger, Lutz has also written another stand alone -- How to Start a Fire, which is also now on my TBR list.

Read in Oct., 2015; blog review scheduled for Feb. 16, 2016.

NetGalley/Simon & Schuster

Mystery/Thriller.  March 1, 2016.  Print length:  320 pages.

Catching Up

Worse than Death.  Anna Southwood opens a detective agency; since she has no background for this new business, she depends on her partner Graham because he does have a license.  Graham, however, is an aspiring actor whose auditions interfere with his detecting.

The agency has its first serious case when called upon to find Beth Channing, a missing adolescent.  Beth's mother has been charged with murder, but there is no body.

As the investigation continues, Anna discovers a connection to another missing girl.

Not a bad mystery, but not as good as some.  I did like that it was set in Australia.

NetGalley/Endeavor Press

Mystery.  1991; 2015.  Print version:  192 pages.


The Inquisitor by Mitchell Hogan is evidently his first foray into science fiction.    He is best known for his fantasy series.

Angel Xia is an Inquisitor whose cases involve hunting down Genevolves.  Her new cases turns her into the hunted when she is betrayed and marked for assassination.  

When she receives a call for help from a young girl, Xia's life becomes even more complicated.

Fast action and interesting view of Artificial Intelligence and genetic manipulation.

NetGalley/Amazon

SciFi/Crime.  2015.  Print version:  312 pages.

A Deadly Truth is a Victorian suspense novel.  I really liked this description:  When Doyle Flanagan finds two strangers in his library—one dead and the other the beautiful but meddlesome Cady Delafield, his life begins to unravel as all clues point to him for the murder.

If you like Victorian mysteries with a healthy dollop of romance, you might like this one.  I could have done without the cliched romance, but then, my interests rarely lie in this area.  

NetGalley/Champagne Books

Mystery.  2013.  Print version:  272 pages.

The Hidden Legacy was more than satisfying.  The novel opens with a disturbing crime being committed by a young boy.   The trial and the aftermath leave ripples over the surface of many lives.  

Forty years later, Ellen Sutherland receives a letter from a solicitor telling her that she is mentioned in the will of a woman Ellen has never heard of.  At first reluctant to even call to see what is going on, Ellen decides to make the journey to find out more.  Eudora Nash, a complete stranger, has left her home Primrose Cottage to Ellen.  

The property is very valuable, and Ellen's first visit results in her falling in love with the cottage and realizing that a visitor is there under false pretences.  One secret after another is gradually uncovered as the events move back and forth in time.

Sometimes the alternating time sequences were frustrating because I would get so involved in one of the stories and have to abruptly switch to the next--in which I would become utterly involved.  The prologue is particularly difficult because of the horrifying crime, but after that the psychological suspense kept me riveted as the layers unfolded in both past and present.  

Minett manages to add information a little at a time in keeping with Ellen's increasing interest in the secrets behind her bequest.  The alternating time passages are skillfully handled, and I'm happy to find a new author who can hold my interest while keeping me guessing!

NetGalley/Bonnier Publishing

Psychological Suspense.  2015.  Print version: 448 pages.

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

Black Eyed Susans  

I had no idea what to expect from this one, but it is probably my favorite so far this year--a psychological thriller that kept me from being able to predict the outcome.  I'd have a suspicion, then conclude I was on the wrong track--then another suspicion.

Book Description: At seventeen, Tessa became famous for being the only surviving victim of a vicious serial killer. Her testimony put him on death row. Decades later, a mother herself, she receives a message from a monster who should be in prison. Now, as the execution date rapidly approaches, Tessa is forced to confront a chilling possibility: Did she help convict the wrong man?  

The writing shifts from 1995 to the present, and although I have read many books that use this technique, I found myself initially a little jarred by the switches.  This may be a deliberate ploy by the author to keep the reader a little off kilter; after all, the story deals with both the teenager who has endured a horrific experience and the adult who still doesn't remember everything about what happened.  Life is out of kilter for Tessa in many ways, but something in her psyche prevents the experience and its aftermath from destroying her.  

What I find particularly admirable about the book is that there are no graphic details.  It is a little like reading a really good Hitchcock film--all the suspense, but without relying on gore or torture.  Julia Heaberlin, in the midst of the suspense and tension, creates a strong protagonist with a healthy approach to life.  It is often bewildering: the events that are missing from Tessa's memory and her attempts to unravel the past as well as some of the events in occurring in the present keeps the reader in the same disconcerting situation.

Although there is a mystery and solving the events of the past will explain some of the perplexing incidents in the present, the novel's strength is its characters-- who are so vivid they seem to breathe.  The women carry this book:  Tessa, Lydia, Charlie, and (my personal favorite) Tessa's neighbor Effie, who is dealing with incipient dementia. 

A psychological novel that kept me enthralled from first to last.  Highly recommended.

NetGalley/Random House/Ballentine

Psychological Mystery.  July 28, 2015.  Print length:  368 pages.

Broken Harbour by Tana French

Somehow the review of Broken Harbour fell into the "I'll do it soon" pile.  I don't review all of the books I read, sometimes just because I forget, but I don't forget Tana French's novels; they linger, not just in certain details, but in the atmosphere that emerges while reading,

Broken Harbour is one of those with a pervasive atmosphere that leaves the reader uneasy almost from the beginning.  French pulls Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, a secondary character from Faithful Place, and gives him top billing in Broken Harbor.  

Ever since In the Woods, French has made a habit of including characters that will appear in new works.  Rob and Cassie took pride of place in In the Woods; Cassie stepped out alone in The Likeness (which introduced Frank Mackey);  Frank Mackey leads in  Faithful Place which introduced both Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy and Stephen Moran; Broken Harbour features Mick Kennedy, and The Secret Place features Stephen Moran (with appearances by Holly and Frank Mackey), and I expect her next novel will include Detective Antoinette Conway.

This is a clever way to go deeper into the lead characters while introducing prospective lead characters.  We learn more about each protagonist, but we don't get tired of them, and we are familiar with characters in the new novels.  A series that provides both continuity and discovery....

Broken Harbour  examines the ramifications of the recession and is set in a small housing estate where the homes look good, but have actually been cheaply constructed.  In addition to cheap construction and out-of-the-way location, the builders went bankrupt and most of the houses in the planned project remain unfinished and uninhabited.  When a dreadful murder leaves only the mother of the family alive, Mick Kennedy and his rookie partner are called in.  Was it a murder or was the father responsible?

What is so compelling is the way little things (what is said and unsaid, small decisions that loom large, different ways of seeing the same thing) have huge ramifications when accumulated.  Decisions made by the Spain family and their friends, by Kennedy and his much less experienced partner, situations from the past-- influence each character including the investigating detectives and shape the events in the novel.  The outside factor,  the recession and its effect on the economy, sets everything in motion with disastrous effects. 

A novel without an evil character out to harm anyone, Broken Harbour sees many flawed, but decent characters inadvertently hurtling toward tragic consequences.  

After reading Tana French's latest novel The Secret Place, I'm so glad I went back and read this one.  Now, I am up to date with all of the novels in this series.

When I went to Goodreads to post my review, I saw this one by Nataliya.  It is a terrific review and has excerpts from an interview with Tana French about what prompted the book.  

I read this in  August before the RIP Challenge began, but it would make a great RIP choice.

Psychological Suspense.   2012.  Print length:  426 pages.  

The Blackhouse by Peter May

Sometimes you just luck up on an author that you have never read and find yourself immersed in a world or a character that demands your full attention.  

The Blackhouse is the first in The Lewis Man trilogy by Peter May.  Set on the Isle of Lewis, the most remote of the Scottish islands, the novel weaves past and present together as Edinburgh detective Finn McLeod returns to the island after a sixteen year absence.  His only other return was a brief visit to attend his aunt's funeral.

After investigating a brutal murder in Edinburgh, Finn is sent to the Isle of Lewis to see if he can make a connection to a hauntingly similar murder there.  He is wary of returning to the island and confronting old friends and enemies, and he is not welcomed by the DCI in charge of the investigation.

The victim, as it turns out, is someone Finn knew well--the island bully and bad boy.  As Finn investigates (he already feels sure that this murder is a copycat, not connected to the Edinburgh case, but he keeps that to himself), he finds himself returning to childhood memories.  

Alternating between the first person perspective of Finn's memories and the third person perspective dealing with the investigation, it is clear that the memories will somehow become crucial to solving the case.

I'm not going to go into the plot any further, but it is a rewarding one with some surprises.  The characters are three dimensional and complex, the atmosphere and landscape are beautifully depicted, and  the traditions and culture of the isolated island community are skillfully related.  

This is not simply a murder mystery or a crime novel--it is much more.   I will be looking for the sequel and some of the other novels by Peter May.  Highly recommended.

Some information about Peter May (via this source):

Peter May is the multi award-winning author of:

• the internationally best-selling Lewis Trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland;
• the China Thrillers, featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell;
• the critically-acclaimed Enzo Files, featuring Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, which is set in France;
• and several standalone books, the latest of which is Entry Island (January 2014, Quercus UK).

Every book in the series has won prestigious awards.

A beautiful video of the Isle of Lewis:


   
NetGalley/Quercus Books

Mystery/Suspense/Psychological.  2013.  Print Length:  401 pages

Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French

Nicci French novels usually provide good psychological mysteries, and I've enjoyed the new series featuring Freida Klein, a psychotherapist who occasionally works with the police in criminal matters.

While not always the case, this series works better if you start at the beginning that introduces the main characters and their circumstances.  For this reason and the fact that one of the bad guys has a peripheral importance in the third novel, reading the series in order gives a better experience.

The first in the Frieda Klein series is Blue Monday, the second is Tuesday's Gone, and the latest is Waiting for Wednesday.  

Waiting for Wednesday, the latest installment, opens with a recovering Frieda.  In Tuesday's Gone, Frieda barely survived a knife attack, and although she is healing physically, she still has some residual emotional trauma that she doesn't want to acknowledge.  

When Ruth Lennox is murdered, Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson finds himself in an investigation that leaves a family in misery:  a devastated husband and three children who are stunned and grieving.  Frieda is no longer a consultant for the police, but her niece Chloe is friends with Ted Lennox, the dead woman's son.  One plot line deals with the investigation of Ruth's murder and Frieda's connection with the children.

The other plot line involves a journalist who has become certain that there is a pattern involving missing girls.  Jim Fearby originally wants to find out who committed a murder for which an innocent man was convicted, but as he investigates, he believes that one individual is responsible not only for the murder, but for a number of missing young women.

In the meantime, a young man comes to Frieda supposedly seeking help and presenting a long list of behaviors that would indicate a psychotic personality.  Frieda doesn't believe most of it, but does focus on one incident he describes.  Trying to discover who initially described the incident eventually leads her to cross paths with Jim Fearby in his search for missing girls.

I like Frieda and found the first two books compelling.  This third installment, however, didn't feel quite the same.  There was a certain disconnect which, of course, can be partially explained by Frieda's recent traumatic experience.  Unfortunately, this disconnect creates a thinness, a tenuousness to her character.  Frieda becomes almost ghost-like, almost tangential  to the plot(s).  Hope she comes to terms with her own emotional problems soon, and at least we know she intends to try.

Nicci Gerard and Sean French

NetGalley/Penguin Group/Viking

mystery/psychological suspense.  April 3, 2014.  Print version:  384 pages.

In the Blood by Lisa Unger

In the Blood is one of those books that many will say that they couldn't put down.  Not me.  I had to put it down because the tension became so great and caused enough anxiety that I needed to get away from it.  Only briefly, however, because I was so hooked by Unger's writing. 

Evil is a debated concept.  I believe evil does exist; if not in an individual, then in the actual behavior.  I mean, was Hitler evil?  Whether or not he was, the holocaust was evil in both the magnitude and horror of the number of deaths and in each individual death.

Can a child be evil?  Again, whether or not you believe an individual to be evil or mentally ill, behavior can be evil.  Remember The Bad Seed, anyone?  Briefly:  Cute kid, heartless killer. 

 What if the cute kid has an IQ of around 180?  Now that is scary.  

While the opening scene in Lisa Unger's novel is certainly frightening, it was not until the introduction of Luke, a disturbed eleven-year-old boy, that my trepidation began to mount. 

Unger's writing is crisp and the psychological aspects are riveting.  Lots of suspense, but fortunately, no real gore.  Goes to show that a psychological thriller does not have to depend on graphic violence or bizarre murders to produce a plot that keeps the reader with bated breath about the outcome.

The twists are subtly hinted at, but even as you pick up on them, you can't always determine how they fit, and you don't have a clear picture of all of the complex possibilities until close to the end of the novel.   I couldn't help but think of Hitchcock's ability to ratchet up suspense and uncertainty in his films.

This is my first book by Unger, but I intend to try another one soon.  If her other books are as well-written as this one, I've been missing some excellent suspense.  

NetGalley/Touchstone.

Psychological Thriller.  Jan., 2014. Print version:  353 pages.

A Cry in the Night

A Cry in the Night is a psychological thriller. Dark and intense and often unpleasant.

Trying to review this book has been a slippery slope.  

Missing children, the effect of history and myth, misogyny at work in past and present.  The author does not give the reader much help in this novel, deliberately leaving us in the dark--and uncertain about what to believe and who to trust.

DI Sam Taylor and DC Zoe Barnes have worked together long enough to be confident in each other, but from the beginning of this case, their trust in each other is threatened by secrets.

Not only is the relationship of the two investigators undergoing a devolution, but both Sam and Zoe have a growing sense of unease about what is going on in their department.  A corruption of values and of trust is taking place.  The point of origin for their concerns differ, but both have increasing concerns and questions

Both Sam and Zoe question how QC Helen Seymour has ended up defending all of the women in the files given to Sam...cases where women have murdered their own children or those in their care.  

Instead of an unreliable narrator, this novel features a number of unreliable characters.   A clever technique that leaves the reader uneasy and often repelled.

I almost abandoned this book pretty early.  I persevered, and must admit that while not a pleasant novel, there are some interesting insights.  Grieves keeps the tension tight, and the reader ambivalent and troubled.

Read in Dec., 2013

NetGalley/Quercus Books

Police Procedural/Psychological Thriller.  Jan.  2013.  Print version:  ??