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The Next One to Fall (Lily Moore Mystery #2)

by Hilary Davidson (Goodreads Author)

3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 · rating details · 124 ratings · 54 reviews

Hilary Davidson’s The Next One to Fall takes place three months after the events of her debut novel, the Anthony Award–winning The Damage Done.

Travel writer Lily Moore has been persuaded by her closest friend, photographer Jesse Robb, to visit Peru with him. Jesse is convinced that the trip will lure Lily out of her dark mood, but Lily is haunted by betrayal and loss. At M...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published February 14th 2012 by Forge Books

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Sep 06, 2012 Laurie rated it 1 of 5 stars

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Apr 19, 2012 Elizabeth A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Still reeling from the devastating events that occurred in series debut The Damage Done, travel writer Lily Moore has been coaxed into going on a trip to Peru to hike the Inca Trail with her best friend, photographer Jesse Robb. Jesse figures that a combined vacation / work outing is just what Lily needs to help drag her out of the claws of grief and depression. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for Lily.

She and Jesse are enjoying the misty early morning views at the famous Inca city of Machu...more Still reeling from the devastating events that occurred in series debut The Damage Done, travel writer Lily Moore has been coaxed into going on a trip to Peru to hike the Inca Trail with her best friend, photographer Jesse Robb. Jesse figures that a combined vacation / work outing is just what Lily needs to help drag her out of the claws of grief and depression. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for Lily.

She and Jesse are enjoying the misty early morning views at the famous Inca city of Machu Picchu when they overhear an argument, followed a few minutes later by a scream cut ominously short. Upon investigating, they find a severely injured woman lying at the bottom of a steep stone staircase. Jesse goes for help while Lily tries to comfort the woman, who is obviously near death.

While going in and out of lucidity the woman tells Lily she was forced by her boyfriend, Len, to drink something that made her sick and disoriented, then pushed her down the stairs. When the woman dies shortly after help arrives Lily tells the police what she said, but the authorities seem perfectly happy to write the death off as an accident. Lily isn’t willing to let it go at that, however, and her subsequent poking around uncovers a very disturbing piece of information; the woman at the bottom of the staircase isn’t the first to end up dead after being involved with Len.

One of the reasons the police are so eager to dismiss the death as accidental is because of clear signs – track marks, cocaine under her fingernails – that the woman was a drug addict. Having gone through the painful process of dealing with a drug addict in the family, Lily is outraged that a woman’s life is being so casually dismissed as worthless. Between her anger at the injustice being done and her curiosity about the information she dug up on Len, well, Lily is going to get to the bottom of things whether the police are willing to or not. The police aren’t the only ones who’d just assume the matter be left alone, however, and before she knows it Lily and Jesse are caught up in a web of corruption and evil more complex than she could possibly have imagined.

Herself a seasoned travel writer, author Hilary Davidson brings the setting of Peru to life in a way only one who’s been there could. Her descriptions of everything from the ruins of Machu Picchu to the slums tucked away just outside the tourists’s beaten path to the magnificent cathedrals to the local cuisine (I really, really want to try some authentic olluquito con charqui, which sounds fabulous) are absolutely exquisite. Davidson makes the locale a character unto itself, and does so in a way that balances both the beauty and the danger that await foreigners who travel to such an exotic location.

Similarly, Davidson’s handling of the grief haunting Lily is nothing short of masterful. Far from being some clearly definable “thing” that Lily can simply meet head on and be done with, Davidson demonstrates how grief can become insidious, worming its way into the very fiber of a person’s being. As The Next One to Fall begins that grief is something deeply haunting Lily, “crowdin’ in on her” as Jesse puts it. As the story progresses, however, Davidson allows Lily to use that grief to propel her in a positive way, taking its energy and turning it outward into a productive, rather than destructive, force. It’s an amazing transformation, one which is a genuine pleasure to watch unfold over the course of events. The supporting cast members are no less psychologically complex, with Davidson deftly pacing the twists and reveals to build maximum suspense and mystery.

Davidson’s debut, The Damage Done, won both the 2011 Anthony Award and Crimespree Award for Best First Novel , and was also a finalist for both the Arthur Ellis and Macavity awards. Folks, that was no fluke and Davidson is most definitely no one-hit wonder. It was hard to imagine when I named The Damage Done one of my Top 10 Reads of 2010 that Davidson would be able to top it, but I’ll be damned if she hasn’t. Davidson better polish up her dress shoes and buy a new party dress, because The Next One to Fall is going to take her to another round of awards ceremonies, that’s for sure. (less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Steve Weddle rated it 5 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoyed The Damage Done, I liked this second Lily Moore book that much more.

Jesse has talked Lily into a foreign vacation, trying to get Lily's mind off the death of her sister, Claudia. Of course, when a woman dies right at her feet, Lily Moore is reminded of her sister's death all over again. The dying woman's words: "Don't let him get away with it."

As the local police don't seem helpful, Lily starts looking into the woman's past -- and the people who could have done this to her....more

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Jul 10, 2012 Chantale rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lily Moore is on a vacation in Peru with her friend Jesse to escape a tragedy in her life when she comes across a fallen woman on Machu Picchu who claims her boyfriend tried to kill her. The police however believe the woman to be a drug addict and don't follow up on the lead.

Lily sets off to uncover the mystery of the the woman's death and finds herself being bribed & abducted with hers and Jesse's lives on the line. Trapped in the web of a wealthy and influential American family whose memb...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Shonna Froebel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

This novel is set in Peru, mainly around Cusco and Machu Picchu, the Incan historical city. The main character, Lily Moore, is a travel writer who is North American, but now lives in Spain. Her sister has died recently and her friend Jesse, photographer, has convinced her to come on this trip with him. At Machu Picchu, they come across a woman who is dying and while Jesse goes for help, Lily tries to keep her conscious and listens to her final words accusing someone of hurting her. The police di...more

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Feb 21, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, hilary-davidson

After appreciating the high bar set with her debut novel, The Damage Done, I approached Hilary Davidson's new novel with great anticipation, tinged with a hint of trepidation. Not to worry; her second novel starring Lily Moore fulfilled my anticipation and left me eager for more. No spoilers here, but the continuing insight into what makes Lily tick, and the fragile state of her ongoing emotional recovery, provide the heartbeat of what makes this novel shine. The use of Peru as the venue for the...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Kathy rated it 2 of 5 stars

This sequel to The Damage Done was somewhat disappointing. The story starts three months after travel writer Lily Moore has discovered the facts behind her sister's death. Severely depressed, she lets her best friend, Jesse, talk her into going to Peru as a combination work/pleasure trip. (He's a professional photographer.) They're barely there when Lily witnesses the death of a woman on the steps of Machu Picchu.

The police are blaming the woman's drug use for her death. Haunted by her sister's...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Dorothyanne Brown marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Sometimes this trying to write gig makes me very depressed. Primarily when I read someone else's writing, their first book, even, and it's as good as this one was.
It's true, you can see some unevenness in this thriller, but it's good enough that you can't help but be pulled along through it to the exciting conclusion.
Davidson is another of the very sweet writers I've met at Bloody Words Mystery Conferences - kind to we newbies, sharing of knowledge and friendly. Hardly the sort of person you thi...more

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Jan 15, 2013 April rated it 2 of 5 stars

I thought this was an OK thriller, but just OK. A woman trying to get over the death of her drug addicted sister goes off with her gay friend to Peru to vacation, but ends up getting involved with a dying woman whose last words indict the wealthy but insane former boyfriend. Lily decides to investigate (this to me did not ring true, that she would get so caught up in someone else's clearly dangerous story in a strange place). I found her friend's Aw Shucks accent kind of annoying (not everyone f...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is set in Machu Picchu and I was drawn to read it because I am going there. In a fortuitous moment, I dropped by Tatter Cover while Hilary Davidson was given a reading from this book. It was a small group and because she also does travel writing she spent much of her presentation also sharing a great deal of information about travel insights to the area as well as interesting facts about the Incas and other stories of the area. I don't often read mysteries but I would recommend looking...more

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Dec 31, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

I received Hilary Davidson's new mystery, "The Next One to Fall",through the Goodreads Giveaway.

Lily Moore, a travel writer has been persuaded by her closest friend, photographer Jesse Robb, to visit Peru. Jesse has been to Machu Picchu before, and he wanted to get to the royal city at the center of the site before touring started coming in on the train.Jesse is convinced that the trip will lure Lily out of her dark mood, she is still reeling from loss and betrayal. Then, just after they arrive...more

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May 24, 2013 Lourdes Fernandez Venard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Travel journalist Lily Moore has been persuaded to visit Machu Picchu and Cusco by her best friend, photographer Jesse Robb. It’s been months since a family tragedy for Lily, and Jesse hopes to lift her spirits. Instead, the beginning of the trip find Lily holding the hand of a dying woman, who implicates her boyfriend in her death. The woman’s death strikes a chord with Lily, who can’t stop digging and pressuring the police, putting her own life in danger. I thought this would be a cozy, but it...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Shiela rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cozy, female-protagonist, mystery

Sophomore slump! Although I really enjoyed the first Lily Moore novel, I found this second one to be boring, predictable and unappealing for some reason. I didn’t enjoy or even really care about any of the characters and Lily just annoyed me!! The plotline seemed really disjointed and I feel the author had so many balls in the air that the actual story got lost in the muddle. The only somewhat redeeming quality I found were the vivid descriptions of Machu Picchu, now there’s a place I’d love to...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Sheila rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the most intelligent, original mysteries I've read. It's part travelogue, giving the reader a strong sense of what it's like to visit Machu Picchu and other places in Peru. The mystery is a well-constructed puzzle that kept me guessing right until the end. What I loved most about this book were the characters, especially Lily Moore. She seems so frail at the start, but she gets stronger and fiercer as the story unfolds. Her grief and personal demons drive her throughout the book, but they...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Benoit Lelievre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hilary Davidson swung twice and has yet to miss. THE NEXT ONE TO FALL is very different from its predecessor as it focuses more on her protagonist Lily, instead of her difficult relationship to her sister. Claudia isn't left behind because she's the very reason why Lily and Jesse went visit Peru in the first place, but THE NEXT ONE TO FALL is more centered around her, what makes her motor run as a human being and how her upbringing still weight her down, to the point she throws himself in harm's...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this book through a giveaway here on Good Reads.

The Next One to Fall is Hilary Davidson’s follow up to her debut mystery, The Damage Done, and takes place in the months following the events of the first novel. Travel journalist Lily Moore is dealing with the aftereffects of a personal tragedy involving her sister, and accompanies a friend on a trip to Peru as a way to get away from her life - and the things that haunt her - in New York.

Against the backdrop of the an...more

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May 15, 2012 Jodi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Winner of the Anthony Award, Hilary Davidson writes a follow-up to her debut novel “The Damage Done” with another great thriller.

Lily Moore, unable to shake the guilt of her sister’s death and relentlessly badgered by her best friend Jesse Robb, agrees to dust herself off and get back to her work as a travel writer. Jesse and Lily have worked together on several assignments travelling to far off places: Lily writing and Jesse taking photographs for freelance work and tourist magazines. So now, L...more

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May 09, 2012 Pam rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

After reading "The Damage Done," I really looked forward to Davidson's follow up to it.

I've just finished reading the book and I honestly don't know what to say except that I didn't think it was as good as the first one.

I loved the description of Peru and its landscape, history, and people. I also loved Lily and Jesse's relationship. To have such an amazing friend is to be so blessed. What I did not like was the actual plot of the book. It started off well but seriously, I found it to be a con...more

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Mar 14, 2012 bookczuk rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anna Marshall, carolyn

Shelves: favorite-author, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, corresponded-with-author, home-library, made-me-look-something-up, taught-me-something

I had the most delightful day yesterday. Sure, I was home, coughing and wheezing, all cuddled up in an afghan, drinking lots of tea, and feeling like the proverbial pile of crud. Sure, I felt physically miserable. But thanks to Hilary Davidson, my mind was totally caught up in The Next One to Fall. If you're going to be sick and miserable, the only thing that makes it at all redeemable is to have a good book to read. And I did.

Ms. Davidson's first novel, The Damage Done was a well-crafted, deta...more I had the most delightful day yesterday. Sure, I was home, coughing and wheezing, all cuddled up in an afghan, drinking lots of tea, and feeling like the proverbial pile of crud. Sure, I felt physically miserable. But thanks to Hilary Davidson, my mind was totally caught up in The Next One to Fall. If you're going to be sick and miserable, the only thing that makes it at all redeemable is to have a good book to read. And I did.

Ms. Davidson's first novel, The Damage Done was a well-crafted, detail rich novel, which recounted the story of travel writer Lily Moore, returning to New York City after the death of her drug-addicted sister. This book picks up the story three months later, when Lily and her friend Jesse have journeyed to Peru in an attempt to help Lily break the cycle of depression, regret, and all the other emotions cranked up by her sister's death. There, on the slopes of Machu Picchu, they overhear a couple arguing, and then find the woman, broken and dying at the bottom of stairs. Lily was the only one to hear the dead woman's last words, which imply the fall down the steps to be a murder attempt rather than an accident. Add a disbelieving policeman investigating the incident, an wealthy, psychologically damaged, drug addicted ex, and his Machiavellian family with employees who will kill for or die for it, and you get a read with more twists than a road in the Andes mountains.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the sense of place. I'll probably not be able to get to Peru this lifetime, but once again, Ms. Davidson has given me a detail rich picture. I know that today, I'll spend some delightful time online researching some of the elements she described so vividly. I also loved that one of my favorite characters from the previous book managed to make an appearance in this book, even if it was by phone. Even better, those brief phone conversations managed to help develop an interesting relationship that was there in the first book. I also enjoy the film and song references from what has now become the golden days of Hollywood.

I received this copy from Paul Stevens at Tor, who knew how much I enjoyed the first book. I'm already hoping that Lily will travel somewhere else, and that I can come along as an armchair traveller.

(less)

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Apr 14, 2012 Sheila Beaumont rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-and-adventure, adult-fiction, mysteries-suspense-thrillers

I thoroughly enjoyed Hilary Davidson's debut novel, The Damage Done, and I loved its sequel, The Next One to Fall even more. The Peruvian setting is so vividly portrayed that I feel as if I've been there. The story is exciting and suspenseful, the writing excellent, and the character portrayals truly outstanding in their complexity.

I don't know what travel writer Lily Moore, still grieving for her dead sister, would do without her best friend, Jesse, a cheerful, Bible-quoting gay man from Oklaho...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Ehbooklover rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. A great page-turner for armchair travellers. Amazing descriptions with lots of historical information about Machu Picchu and Peru. Numerous twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. My only complaint: an almost cartoonish villain. I'd also suggest reading the author's first book, "The Damage Done", before this one (I didn't but wish I had).

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Apr 14, 2013 Kathy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really didn't like the story and there was not much about the characters that made you care about them but I kept reading because of the sense of place you got from the author's descriptions of the locations. I have actually been to Machu Picchu and Cusco and the author captured them and works the history of the place into the story.

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Mar 05, 2012 Evelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction, mystery, thriller

When travel writer Lily Moore and her friend Jesse travel to Machu Picchu they overhear an argument and then find a young woman's body at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs. Lily suspects there's more to the story than it appears and soon has Peruvian officials as well as the boyfriend 's wealthy family investigating her.

A good mystery with lots of color but I didn't like it as much as her first book.

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Jun 11, 2013 Glynis Whiting rated it 4 of 5 stars

The protagonist, Lily, is a travel writer, which made me feel as though I could trust her descriptions of Peru, particularily the relationship between Lima and Cusco. Her emotional tie to the victim, who is a stranger to her, is convincing because of her past experience. This helps the reader invest in the journey. I look forward to more armchair travel/murder mystery with this character.

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Jan 13, 2013 Linda Rosenberg rated it 4 of 5 stars

I did not read her first book but probably didn't need to as enough background was given. This takes place in Peru with settings at Machu Picchu and Cusco. Having just visited those places I enjoyed and related to those settings. At first I thought the story a little hokey but found myself feeling tense as the story progressed.

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Dec 03, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another one that would be 3 1/2 stars. I listened to it and I think it might be a better audio book then a written book. A good crime mystery, although a little convoluted. We read it for book club because the book club selector is from Peru and I enjoyed the extra details about the location.

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Aug 18, 2012 Emily Klein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Hilary Davidson is a really talented mystery author and I love her characters. It's rare an author can take me so far from the scene of the first book (which I adored) and make me still love it so much! But I really did and her descriptions of Peru made me absolutely itch to travel there.

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Jan 26, 2013 Dorothyanne Brown rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes this trying to write gig makes me very depressed. Primarily when I read someone else's writing, their early books, even, and they're as good as this one was.
It's true, you can see some unevenness in this thriller, but it's good enough that you can't help but be pulled along through it to the exciting conclusion.
Davidson is another of the very sweet writers I've met at Bloody Words Mystery Conferences - kind to we newbies, sharing of knowledge and friendly. Hardly the sort of person you...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Brandon Nagel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another fantastic read for Hilary Davidson. Just as good, if not better than the first installment. Davidson is the best female crime writer out there. If you have not read any of her stuff, you are nuts. Start at the beginning with THE DAMAGE DONE and be prepared for a real treat. I am anxiously awaiting the third book. It is arriving at my house this week. Highly Recommended!!!

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Feb 24, 2013 Debbie Krenzer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: debs-books

The characters in this book tell so many lies and the plot twists make this book very difficult to predict the end. My book included an excerpt from her third novel "Evil in all it's Disguise" and I can't wait to get by "on hold" copy at the bookstore.

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About Hilary Davidson

Hilary Davidson’s first novel, THE DAMAGE DONE (Forge, 2010) — described as a "razor sharp mystery debut" by Publishers Weekly — won the 2011 Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Crimespree Award for Best First Novel (it was also a finalist for the Macavity and Arthur Ellis awards).

The sequel, THE NEXT ONE TO FALL, was published on February 14, 2012. According to Publishers Weekly, "The ri...more

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The Next One to Fall (Lily Moore Mystery #2)

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