Laura Freeman's Blog, page 16

Two Little Girls in Blue

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark 2006 Pocket Books Thriller mystery

This was an excellent book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes complex stories over fluff.

Margaret and Steve Frawley’s three-year-old twin daughters, Kelly and Kathy, are kidnapped, and they demand $8 million. The Frawley’s have just moved from New York to Connecticut into a fixer upper historical home. They don’t have the money, but Steve’s company pays the ransom.

Each chapter is a different POV so there are many characters who advance the story. Clark teases the reader by introducing a character who may have a key clue but doesn’t report it to the FBI.

The kidnappers are an unknown “Pied Piper” and a chauffeur Lucas and a couple, Clint and Angie. Angie wants a baby and begins to plot to keep Kathie, who is sick with bronchitis. Angie makes two crucial mistakes. She buys twin outfits for the girls the day they kidnap them knowing they’ll be wearing pajamas. She also buys medicine for the sick Kathie. But it will take a while for the police to interview the sales clerks. Clark knows how to pace the story and build slowly to keep the reader turning the pages.

She also brings in alternate story lines that include Steve’s half-brother Richard who was involved in an embezzlement scam and is dealing drugs. One of Steve’s co-workers murdered his wife and is worried his current wife knows about his infidelity.

The kidnappers have the twins for a week, and Clark goes into detail about the money drop and the wait for the twins to be returned.

In addition to all the subplots, the twins have a special bond that reaches across space. When Kelly is rescued, she begins to get messages from Kathie who is in Angie’s clutches. But being a child, nobody believes her…at first.

Clark provides plenty of clues and ramps up the danger level as the story progresses.

More book reviews are available at www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Thriller #Mystery #Higginsclark #Supernatural

Conquered by the Highlander

Conquered by the Highlander by Eliza Knight 2015 Historical romance

Brenna MacNeal is separated from her twin, Kirstin, and kidnapped by a rival clan when she is 11 years old. She is forced to marry Ronald MacLeod and bears him four children before she kills him at the age of 27. His clan wants her and her children killed. Her cousin asks Laird Gabriel “Wolf” Mackinnon to rescue them and become their guardian until her eldest son, Theo, comes of age. Her daughter Gillian and twin boys take a liking to Gabriel when he takes over the castle and throws Ronald’s younger brother in prison.

Backstories explain why Brenna and Gabriel, who are attracted to each other, fight their feelings. Gabriel was betrothed twice before and each woman married another man. He has gotten over it with Brenna’s help. Brenna was in a physical and emotionally abused relationship with her husband and doesn’t believe in love. Who can blame her? She has to sort out her feelings for Gabriel and think about the future of her children. Knight keeps the danger level high by Ronald’s clan searching for Brenna to punish her. It won’t be pleasant if they find her.

Romance stories require something to keep the lovers apart. It must be substantial and logical but can be physical or emotional. It must appear as if they will not be able to have a happily ever after, or the reader won’t keep turning the pages to find out how they finally get together.

Knight offered chapters from her other books, and her plots are interesting alternatives to the usual plots and offer the reader a variety of hurdles for couples to overcome. Knight uses older characters in her stories and a lot of violence in the Middle Ages of Scotland. The men are warriors and fight other clans for their land. The ladies are sometimes raped or forced into marriages.

More book reviews are available at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Highlander #Scotland #romance #historical #Knight

Stillwatch

Stillwatch by Mary Higgins Clark 1984 Pocket Books Thriller mystery

This book is written like a puzzle where all the pieces come together at the end to form the perfect picture.

TV journalist Pat Traymore has been offered her dream job in Washington D.C. doing a series on strong women with the first about Sen. Abigail Jennings, who hopes to replace an ailing vice president and become the first woman president of the United States.

Another draw to D.C. is Congressman Sam Kingsley. She fell in love with him two years ago, but the romance was cut short because his wife was dying of cancer, and he wouldn’t betray her. It’s eight months after her death, and Sam calls Pat, but thinks he’s too old for her. She makes her feelings clear.

Her news director Luther Pelham kisses her in her home and wants to see the bedroom. She ushers him out the door even though it may cost her job.

Pat receives a warning note and phone calls to stay out of the house where Congressman Dean Adams murdered his wife, Renee, and killed their daughter, Kerry.

We soon learn that Pat Traymore is Kerry, adopted by her aunt and uncle and her name changed to protect her from the scandal. She is trying to remember what happened that night when she was four years old.

This is a great idea to keep the reader interested in the story. Not only does the heroine have a personal mystery to resolve, someone is threatening her. On top of all that she has the pressure of impressing her boss who has ambitions of his own and doing the story she wants while Abigail wants to control the image she has cultivated over the years.

Against Abigail’s wishes, Pat goes to her hometown of Apple Junction where she discovers Abigail’s secrets. Ones she does not want revealed.

Pat also goes through her father’s files trying to piece together her past. She has troubles with Sam, Abby, and threats that all need to be resolved.

Clark uses different POV to reveal thoughts and motives of the characters which adds suspense. She adds several new characters who reveal more about the main suspects and shed light on the motives.

The ending speeds up to a fiery ending as the program is aired, a woman is killed, another confesses to a crime, and Pat finds herself remembering the night her parents died.

The book is filled with so much detail important to the story, it’s worth reading twice. The characters were easy to keep apart and well developed. Clark also used more than one villain, and the reader is left guessing about Abby until the final pages.

More book reviews are available at www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Mystery #HigginsClark

Tackling Molasses Crinkles

My new book, “Tacking Molasses Crinkles” is released today Nov. 17, 2021 at https://goo.gl/B7lKMs or your favorite book distributor. This novella is part of the 2021 Christmas Cookies holiday series published by The Wild Rose Press.

#romance #holidays #supernatural

While delivering freshly baked cookies to her elderly neighbor, Crystal sees a shady stranger inside the house and sneaks to the back door to determine if he’s friend or foe.

Nick catches sight of a suspicious person outside and thinks it’s a porch pirate looking for Christmas packages. He drives the thief to the ground with a football tackle. Only his victim is his hostess’s neighbor, stunned by the force of the impact and furious about her broken cookies.

After this cute-meet gone wrong, can these two adversaries find common ground and discover the tragic secrets that have brought them together?

Excerpt:

A shadowy figure was climbing onto the bottom step of the deck. He didn’t give the thief time to go any farther. He grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him from his perch, tackling him to the ground. Something in his hands flew into the air, as he forced the porch pirate to the ground. “Gotcha!”

Nick heard the whoosh as air escaped from crushed lungs. He’d experienced the wind being knocked out of him countless times. It was part of the game of football. His job as a professional defensive end was to sack the quarterback before he could throw the football. He enjoyed hearing the air escape as he knocked the surprised opponent to the ground with all of his two-hundred-and-twenty pounds of hard muscle.

He lifted his full weight from the gift raider. It wasn’t a quarterback. It wasn’t even a man. He’d tackled a young woman. Her eyes were as big as the moon above and filled with shock and fear. She opened her mouth but no words escaped. She gasped for air.

“Can’t breathe!” she managed to whisper between attempts to fill her lungs.

“I’ve had the wind knocked out of me plenty of times,” he reassured her. “Take little breaths.”

Tears filled her eyes instead. What had he done? He offered to help her to her feet, but she batted at his hands with snow-covered gloves. She turned her back and searched the snow until she uncovered a battered container topped with a torn and flattened red bow.

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The Unopened Gift on Christmas Morning

Inspiration for a writer comes from many different sources. My latest book “Tackling Molasses Crinkles” was inspired by a column I wrote in December 2012 for the local papers.

The column along with two others I submitted won the 2014 Ohio Newspaper Association – Osman C. Hooper Award for columns written between Aug. 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013.

The release date for my novella is Nov. 17, 2021 and is available for preorder. Because it is a short story, it is not available in print but can be purchased as an ebook at https://goo.gl/B7lKMs Reviews are welcomed.

I was a reporter for 16 years, and my column name was Freeman of the Press. The following is the column I wrote after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14, 2012. Some things have changed, but others have remained the same in the nine years since the shooting. Some good and some bad. Four of the first graders were 7 years old, but I used the age of 6 in the column for simplicity.

The Unopened Gift on Christmas Morning

A mother stares at the unopened gift beneath the Christmas tree. She purchased the present two weeks ago to beat the holiday rush and guarantee her child’s wish would be granted. She carefully wrapped it, adding a pretty bow and tag and then hid it from curious eyes. Six-year-olds still believed in Santa, after all.

But Christmas morning the gift remains unopened. Like 19 other households, a child is missing. Sparkling eyes bright with the holiday season are closed, hands stilled, laughter silenced.

When a killer took 26 lives in Newtown, Conn., did he also take a future of promises, dreams and hopes? In my years of reporting, I’ve discovered that the death of a child often prompts a parent to become involved, to change the world, to make it better. But does it only fall upon the family? Hasn’t even the most hardened heart been softened by the brevity of the lives of these first-graders?

The children killed in the shooting were Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Ana Marquez-Greene, Dylan Hockley, Madeline Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler and Allison Wyatt. The adults included Rachel D’Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto.

The gifts of these 20 children will never be opened, but how many others have not opened their gifts? I don’t speak of material things like sleds, trucks or dolls. Neither should we focus on wealth, power, and pleasure.

It’s time to take on the spirit of a 6-year-old. It’s time to open our gifts, whatever special talent is in us, the best in our hearts to share with others, the love that can make a difference.

Representatives from different religions shared a message of love, hope and support Dec. 16 at the Newtown High School. The Rev. Matt Grebbin emphasized that we are “all in this together.”

Patricia Llodra, the first selectman of Newtown, said violence would not define them, but rather they would be defined by courage, acts of love and love for children and families.

President Barack Obama told Newtown they were not alone in their grief. He said the nation “bears the responsibility for every child” and asked what gives life purpose.

“It is love that takes us out of ourselves and binds ourselves to something larger,” President Obama said. “You remind us what matters and drive us forward.”

The promise is still alive, the dream waiting to be fulfilled and the hope growing in others who must take up the task for these 26.

Open your gifts, whether it’s a smile, a kind word, a helping hand, a hug or a simple gesture of love to show someone we care.

Twenty little angels will be watching. Don’t disappoint them.

The Heiress Bride

The Heiress Bride by Catherine Coulter 1993 A Jove Book

This book is the third in a series with more books to follow, and the characters will win your heart and loyalty. The women hold their own against the alpha males they are matched against.

It is 1807 and Colin Kinross had inherited the title of Earl of Ashburnham in Scotland and all the debts of his father and brother so that he is in dire need of marrying an heiress. He heads to London to find a bride.

Sinjun, 19, is an heiress with three older brothers. Douglas is married to Alex and Ryder is married to Sophie. Sinjun is a hellion who speaks her mind in an honest, straightforward way. She sees Colin at a ball and thinks he is the most beautiful man she has ever seen. She’s never thought of matrimony, but Colin fascinates her. When she overhears him talking about his need for an heiress, Sinjun extends her hand and announces she’s an heiress. It’s priceless and a scene all writers should strive for.

When Douglas catches Colin kissing and fondling Sinjun in the parlor, he orders him out, but Sinjun goes to his apartment where she finds him near death. Douglas has him brought to his home and discovers Colin was stabbed in the leg. It is dismissed as a mugging but hints at something more dangerous. Douglas receives a letter stating the Colin murdered his wife Fiona six months ago, but Colin can’t remember what happened. This is another mystery added to the story. Colin’s cousin MacDuff visits him and warns him about Robert MacPherson, Fiona’s brother, causing problems at home in Scotland. It is a brief introduction to characters that will play a larger role in the story. Try to introduce the key players early in a story, even if just by name.

Colin and Sinjun elope with Douglas and Ryder reaching his townhouse in Edinborough before they do. The men fight. Sinjun lies and tells her brothers she is married in all ways. The next day Colin does marry her. She has what she wants or does she?

Sinjun learns Colin has a son, Phillip, 6, and daughter Dahling, 4, he never mentioned. Surprise! But she takes it in stride. His wife’s sister, Serena, lives there with his aunt. Neither one is stable which creates tension in the household and a headache for Sinjun. Colin heads back to Edinborough to pay off debts and is gone three weeks without any word. He tells Sinjun to make a list of repairs, but she begins on the cleaning and repair work herself. Colin is angry with her for not obeying him. She rationalizes her reasons, but he doesn’t want to admit he was wrong. He leaves again which prevents the newly married couple from developing a relationship.

Sinjun faces plenty of problems alone, and it takes her near death for Colin to realize he needs to change. Main characters need to have flaws and grow in a story. They need to confront their past, overcome shortcomings, and develop a relationship with the person they love. Usually the alpha male takes until the end of the story to come to the realization he loves his wife.

More book reviews can be found at www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Romance #Coulter #historical

 

Scraps of Paper

Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith 2006 Cozy Mystery

Abigail Sutton learns her missing husband of two years was mugged and killed. The news brings her closure, and she begins a new life in the small town of Spookie. She buys a house that belonged to a recluse, Edna Summers, and learns that Edna’s sister, Emily and her two children suddenly disappeared thirty years ago.

Griffith provides us with all the elements of a cozy: the small town, plenty of quirky or eccentric people, and a mystery nobody wants solved. But when Abigail finds pieces of paper with notes written by the children who lived in her home, she can’t let it go. She shares her finds with former detective Frank Lester, whose first case in town involved Emily. He was sure something bad happened to her but moved to Chicago soon after and only returned to Spookie a year ago.

The cozy mystery moves from one person to the next, revealing details and possible suspects. The story weaves interviews between small town barbecues, holiday celebrations, diner meals, and lots of ice cream. Emily has dreams of the children, and they give her clues to more messages and lead her to their graves. When Abigail tells her story to reporter Samantha, someone threatens her.

As Abigail closes in on who the killer may have been, her life is threatened. She faces the killer in a personal showdown, and the case is resolved.

This story hits all the right notes in writing a cozy mystery, and readers may guess who the killer is, but will have to wait until the end to know the motive.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#cozy #mystery #bookreview

Bum Steer

Bum Steer by Nancy Pickard 1990 Pocket Books Mystery *

This is the sixth book in the Jenny Cain Mystery series. She is married to Geoff, and they plan to go on vacation together, but she is given a new assignment and has to travel to Kansas. This keeps the seasoned cop off the case and stirs up some romantic tension.

Charles Cat Benet has given his Crossbones ranch worth $4 million to the Port Frederick Civic Foundation. He wants to meet Jenny before he dies. She meets lawyer Dwight Brady who drops her at the hotel and picks her up in the morning They arrive at the hospital to discover Cat was murdered – suffocated – during the night.

Cat had four wives and four children and one granddaughter, Lilly. According to the will, all the heirs have trust funds but must never come to the ranch. Cat’s cow hands Carl and Slight get to live on the ranch until they die. Carl is a drunk, and Slight is a charmer that even Jenny can’t resist.

Troubles begin with someone shooting at Jenny and Slight in his truck. A shot kills a heifer, and they have to deliver the calf. While bottle feeding the calf, a timber rattler crosses her path. On top of that, Lilly arrives in town wanting to see the ranch and discover what sort of man her grandfather was.

Jenny wonders why Cat chose a lawyer and a foundation that knew nothing about ranching. She visits all the heirs and begins to uncover family secrets. This is a good way to uncover clues and to introduce new locations and characters for any writer. She also provides subtle clues to point not only Jenny but the reader toward the conclusion.

Another person is murdered and a final confrontation uncovers the secret that provided the motive. The epilogue hints at trouble between Jenny and her husband. A writer needs to create a bond between the reader and main character and then provide enough future problems for the reader to invest in finding out what happens even if it means buying another book.

More book reviews are available at www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Mystery #Pickard

Starless

Starless by Kathryn Le Veque 2019 Historical – medieval

Starless captures the medieval period with the castles, knights, and battles. LeVeque balances the violence with humor and friendship and adds a romance sworn to undying love and devotion.

This is the third book in a series but can be read independently. I did not feel lost, but I did want to read the other stories after getting to know these characters.

Susanna de Tiegh is a bodyguard trained as a knight and is traveling with Achilles de Dere and Sir Alexander de Sherrington. Susanna was wounded and they are taking her to her brother Samuel’s castle to recover. Achilles declares his love to her, and he plans to return to ask her brother for her hand.

Achilles and Alexander must report to William Marshal who leads the knights for King John. They see mercenaries outside Samuel’s castle and were in a brawl with a group of men from the same country as the hired fighters. They report to Marshal about the threat, and he sends them to Caius who is in charge of Richmond castle, near Samuel’s castle.

Susanna has found out her brother has lost the castle through gambling to Witton who is plotting to gather an army and overthrow the king. She tries to send a message to Richmond castle but is caught. Witton threatens her brother to make her comply, but she is a knight and fights back with consequences.

Meanwhile Achilles returns to claim her as his bride and rides right into a trap. I won’t reveal more, and there is plenty of action to keep the pages turning. The research will come in helpful to anyone who wants to write in this time period. As with any writing, gather information from different sources and then confirm them as accurate before putting them in your own story. Never copy anyone else’s writing, but other stories can inspire you and provide ideas. That’s why we read other authors’ works.

More reviews are at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#romance #medieval #knights #historical

No Body

No Body by Nancy Pickard 1986 Pocket Books Mystery

This is one of the books in a Jenny Cain Mystery series. Jenny runs a foundation and her sixth grade teacher, Lucille Grant, is president of the Cemetery Society. She discovers there are no bodies or coffins in the historical cemetery with markers dated from 1824 to 1848. She sprains her ankle and asks Jenny to investigate.

This minor mystery is a great method of introducing the characters and shifting to a murder. The funeral director Spitt Attman, his son, Stan and the other employees are introduced as they dig up other graves to prove someone is buried in the modern graves.

Jenny attends the funeral of John Rudolph, 38, who died of a heart attack. His wife, Muriel, wants the casket opened at the grave to make sure he’s inside. But he’s not alone. His mistress, Sylvia, is dead and buried with him. Now it becomes a murder mystery.

One of the grave diggers threatens Jenny. Her boyfriend is Detective Bushfield who is leaving for a week to attend a seminar. He wants Det. Ailey Mason to investigate the case by himself as a test of his skills. This is a good technique of using an inept police officer who is on the wrong track and motivates Jenny to do her own investigation into the murder.

Obnoxious reporter Lewis plans to interview Muriel who was upset about her husband’s funeral. Jenny agrees to join him, but they find Muriel dead at her kitchen table, strangled like Sylvia. She wrote a list of names of people at the funeral parlor on a napkin.

Lewis, hot for a story, joins forces with Jenny to interview the suspects. They follow the path Sylvia took the night before she died, first to a bar, then to a drug dealer, grave digger, then to a couple of employees. The reader follows along and uncovers a motive.

While investigating the murders, Jenny discovers what happened to the bodies and coffins and shares the information with the historical society and her teacher. A trap is set by Lewis and Jenny to find the murderer. The motive is interesting, and Pickard uses unique plot lines to keep the interest of the reader. She also brings in an additional threat at the end in a final confrontation.

More book reviews are available at www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Mystery #Pickard