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The Heat of the Moon (Rachel Goddard Mysteries #1)
by
Sandra Parshall (Goodreads Author)
Young veterinarian Rachel Goddard's world begins to crumble when a client rushes into the animal hospital with a basset hound struck by a car during a thunderstorm. The dog owner's terrified tot, drenched with rain, loses sight of her mother in the flurry of activity and screams, "Mommy! I want Mommy!" Instantly Rachel is hurled back in time to a day in her own childhood w...more
Paperback, 268 pages
Published
March 9th 2007
by Poisoned Pen Press
(first published 2006)
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The Heart of the Moon is a compelling debut by Sandra Parshall which hooks the reader from the first page. Rachel Goddard, a young veterinarian, has overwhelming yet confusing reaction after watching a toddler in her office, crying and screaming for her mommy. This scene seems like it is reminiscent of one she experienced in her childhood but it is nothing she can place in her concrete memory. Rachel remembers bits and pieces of such a scene, but a feeling tell her there is more. And the feeling...more
Veterinarian Rachel Goddard's world begins to fragment on the rainy night a dog is rushed into the clinic after being struck by a car. The owner's young daughter cries for her mommy and Rachel finds her memory rushing back to a day in her childhood when her sister was crying for her mother while thunder boomed and rain poured down on them. The memory is vivid and Rachel can't understand the anguish she feels. She starts to seek answers as more memories come crashing back but she isn't finding th...more
I read this book at one sitting. Need I add that I really enjoyed it? The story opens with Rachel driving past a former house she, her mother and sister lived in. She want to see if a happy family lives there now, a foreshadowing that the situation was not idyllic when her family did. The inciting force occurs when in a flashback Rachel remembers working as a vetenarian in a animal health clinic when a youn woman bursts in the door holding an injured basst hound that had been hit by a car. The t...more
Rachel Goddard is a veterinarian who works in the Washington DC area. It is great to hear about all the posh parts of Fairfax county and hear her talk about the cages in the backyard for possums and hawks. Definitely not what her neighbors are doing in their backyards! But she is a vet, her sister is a grad student studying psychology, and her mother is a famous psychologist with success stories of phobic people who no longer have any issues with heights, insects or claustrophobia. They are the...more
Newly minted veterinarian Rachel Goddard is startled, during an emergency, to find herself in the grip of a long buried memory. Over the next few days, she becomes convinced that there's more to her childhood than her mother, a respected psychologist, has ever revealed. Rachel's queries to her mother and sister are coldly rebuffed, and she becomes resolute in her quest to uncover hidden secrets, whatever they may be. What she gradually discovers is far from what she expects, however, as she stru...more
This book isn't a mystery in the usual sense. It isn't a book about solving a murder, but I won't tell you what it is--beyond something I would classify as psychological suspense--because telling you anything might ruin the book.
The author uses foreshadowing to build up suspense initially then maintains it with excellent story telling. I liked the characters and was satisfied with the writing and editing. I did have a formatting issue either with the ebook itself or its display in my android app...more
The author uses foreshadowing to build up suspense initially then maintains it with excellent story telling. I liked the characters and was satisfied with the writing and editing. I did have a formatting issue either with the ebook itself or its display in my android app...more
Rachel and Michelle Goddard grew up having everything growing up in McLean Virginia. Rachel becoming a vet and working at a local vet clinic. Yet, Rachel always felt a loss, flashes of memories as a small child. Rachel couldn't make sense of her flashes of memory, until she learns the truth... Judith Goddard was hypnotizing her to suppress her memories. Rachel learns that Michael and Judith Goddard only had one daughter who died in a car accident twenty one years earlier. Rachel searches for the...more
I really enjoyed this book. I loved all the mystery and craziness. I found myself relating to the main character Rachel as she is finding out more secrets about her family and how lost she is feeling. I can completely understand how thinking you know your place in a family only to find out everything you know has been a lie would throw your whole world out of balance. I hated the mind control going on inside the family. So wrong. It was a very fast read for me since I had to know how it ended. A...more
It was free for Kindle, and the main character was a veterinarian, so I 'picked it up' after Bookbub brought it to my attention. It isn't my kind of book. It is a romance, and I do not tend to read romances, even mystery/romances. It is easy to pick up the way the story is going to head from the relationship of the mother and the two daughters, but my interest held through the book, although the end is something of a muddle, as the main character, who understandably is not a reliable witness, ma...more
This is really a 2.5 stars. I don't...know what to make of this. The plot was interesting, the mystery was revealed in an interesting way. I don't think hypnosis really works like this, but I'm no expert.
The characters were, in many cases, strange and stilted. Rachel and Luke's romance develops in weird and unpredictable ways, and not in GOOD unpredictable ways. The characters, all around, were very flat, and I didn't get much idea of motivation for them.
The ending was absurdly flat and pat.
I...more
The characters were, in many cases, strange and stilted. Rachel and Luke's romance develops in weird and unpredictable ways, and not in GOOD unpredictable ways. The characters, all around, were very flat, and I didn't get much idea of motivation for them.
The ending was absurdly flat and pat.
I...more
This book grabbed me and dragged me on from page to page, gently but with increasing strength. Rachel is a young veterinarian who lives with her mother, a psychiatrist, and sister. She has had a somewhat circumscribed life, not encouraged to venture forth, but has been comfortable with that except for a few strange dreams. However, as the book starts, an injury to an animal brings memories that she cannot explain. She begins to question her childhood and, eventually, her identity. Fairly plausib...more
First of all, I took a few psychology courses during the first year of my university career and they scared the heck out of me. I did not (then or now) want anyone to get into my head and tell me why I thought and acted the way I did. I did not (then or now) want to analyse my thoughts too deeply or have anyone else analyze them for me. Secondly, hypnotism is a powerful tool and I saw firsthand how using it can get out of hand. Once during my high school years, a friend was hypnotized by a magic...more
A few days ago after plodding through the first part of the book, I almost put it down. Actually, I did. Then picked it back up 10 minutes later and am glad I didn't. This is a good book. I'm realizing I don't need to read some books word for word, as I found myself skipping through a page of describing things I didn't care about just to get back to the meaty parts. Nice twists and although I had it figured out about halfway through, I didn't know the whys or hows.
Very intriguing psychological mystery, filled with gritty suspense. Do not mistake this for a cozy! The author has written a hard-hitting story that may possibly leave you ambivalent about the future happiness of the characters. I realize this is a series, but I truly cannot imagine where the story goes from here. I guess that's why I'll have to pick up the next one! :)
*Agatha Award [Mystery award] - Best First Novel*
A highly satisfying psychological suspense read - I was surprised this is a debut novel! Author Sandra Parshall writes a story of a controlling Mom, a psychiatrist, whose two adult daughters still live at home.
Young veteranarian Rachel & psychology grad student Michelle enjoy the beautiful home and lifestyle with Mom, but Rachel is troubled my dreams and thoughts ... why won't her Mother EVER talk about the death of the girls' father 20 years...more
A highly satisfying psychological suspense read - I was surprised this is a debut novel! Author Sandra Parshall writes a story of a controlling Mom, a psychiatrist, whose two adult daughters still live at home.
Young veteranarian Rachel & psychology grad student Michelle enjoy the beautiful home and lifestyle with Mom, but Rachel is troubled my dreams and thoughts ... why won't her Mother EVER talk about the death of the girls' father 20 years...more
Found this one on a list on the library's website, best new novel of the year or something, and I was immediately hooked. Compelling story and well-written, but it has a couple of too-graphic love scenes - Why do they continue to do that? Is there a list somewhere that says you've got to throw that in? It's not a spectator sport, folks. I would have given it more stars if not for that.
This is psychological fiction and it was ok, but not as gripping as these kinds of books should be. I was interested enough to keep reading and find out what was going on but not enough to care about the characters or be shocked by the outcome. Also I thought the ending went on too long and then didn't seem like a reasonable end when it was over.
I wanted to like this book. The storyline was interesting but I do not feel the characters were fully developed. The ending was rushed and a bit trite. The reader did an excellent job. Not sure I would have finished it if I had been actually reading the book. I may give her second book a try.
Rachel Goddard is a great character. She just plugs away until she gets her answer. Oddly, this is the second mystery I have read recently with a veterinarian as the main character but the similarity ends there. Just as I thought that I knew what the mystery was, the possibility was washed away. Great writing. I will definitely read more the Rachel Goddard mysteries.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. But like almost all these type of books, it never ceases to amaze me how the "amateur" sleuths can just go from town to town following meager clues, while I sometimes have trouble finding my local 7/11. Only kidding about that but you get the point, right!
When Rachel experiences a flashback of her sister crying in the rain, she's confused, but can't leave the mystery alone. What she uncovers will shatter her family and her understanding of who she is. Tense and taut, The Heat of the Moon draws the reader on to a climax that surprises and satisfies.
Truthfully, I didn't finish this. I tried, but just couldn't get into it. I picked it up and put it down (very willlingly) over 10 times. I was actually very surprised as it was very well written and I was looking forward to reading it. Hopefully the next review will be better.
I read the fourth book in this series first, and enjoyed it so much I wanted to go back to the beginning and read the first three books. Well I was not disappointed. This book was a suspenseful ride from beginning to end. I loved it and can't wait to get my hands on the next book! :)
[From my Public Library]
Very original story of psychological intrigue, where Rachel Goddard is compelled to learn about her family history after dealing with a fearful child in the vet clinic where she works. Strong characters.
Very original story of psychological intrigue, where Rachel Goddard is compelled to learn about her family history after dealing with a fearful child in the vet clinic where she works. Strong characters.
Eh, so so. Very surprised this won an award. The characters just seemed over the top unrealistic and the perfect romance is unrealistic too. I hate charaters that love each other 15 minutes after meeting...
Disappointing. I know it won an award, but to me it read like a romance novel, not a mystery. The characters never really came alive. About halfway through, I started speed reading--never a good sign.
Rachel Goddard is a young veterinarian still living with her younger sister in her mother's house. The girls’ father died in a mysterious car accident when they were children, and her mother is adamant in her refusal to discuss the accident, even when an incident at work brings back disturbing memories for Rachel. However, Rachel’s handsome new boss is sympathetic and their relationship becomes more than professional as he encourages Rachel to defy her mother and investigate the mystery of her f...more
Follows the search for the main characters past and identity, Found it interesting enough to keep my attention going and was able to complete it in a day.
That it's set here in Virginia where I live made it fun to read. Liked all the characters enough to grab the next four and read the whole series.
This is one of those books you cannot put down until it is finished. Two little girls are stolen. And 21 years later the oldest starts remembering.
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Sandra Parshall is the author of the Rachel Goddard Mysteries: The Heat of the Moon, which won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 2006; Disturbing the Dead; Broken Places; Under the Dog Star; and Bleeding Through (Sept 2012). A former reporter on newspapers in her home state of South Carolina as well as West Virginia and Baltimore, MD, she now lives in the Washington, DC, area with her journ...more
More about Sandra Parshall...
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