Marianne Perry's Blog - Posts Tagged "murder"
When you are afraid, everything zooms into sharp focus. Die Again by Tess Gerritsen.
Book Review: Die Again by Tess Gerritsen
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read a book in this series about the crime solving team of Boston Detective, Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner, Dr. Maura Isles. For this reason, I appreciated the backstory threaded throughout the novel as it helped me regain familiarity.
The plot centers around unsolved murders on a Botswana safari six years ago and those recently committed in Boston and elsewhere. I must admit it was the African setting that prompted my reading as I’ve travelled to an east African safari in Tanzania and Kenya. On this note, Gerritsen’s descriptions are spot-on and her depiction of wildlife and the environs, excellent. The Leopard intrigued me while there and I witnessed the amazing animal carry a gazelle up a tree then sprawl on a large branch. He is the supreme hunger and Gerritsen did him honour!
Chapter Twenty-One in particular was well-written. It explores the issue of fear from Millie’s POV. As the sole survivor of the safari murders, she adopts the Leopard’s habit and sleeps in trees at night to survive during a two week period in the wild. She also slathers herself with mud for protection and we see her change from human to animal prey. The quote cited is from this chapter.
Gerritsen also explores themes related to family dynamics that deepen our understanding of the characters and cause us to reflect on pertinent social issues. Rizzoli is concerned with her parent’s marital problems and Isles, whose estranged mother is a convicted murder, must deal with how to respond to a terminal diagnosis.
Die Again is a suspenseful novel and the presence of a domestic cat adds humour plus reveals character and advances plot. The chapters are short and end on a note of “what’s next.” The point of view switches from first -person, Millie to third-person, Jane or Maura.
The story builds slowly and deftly links the Boston crimes to those in Botswana. I was disappointed, however, with the final five to six chapters and felt the explanation thin and the solution, flat. The highlight of this novel was Africa; nevertheless, I will seek out another book in this series.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read a book in this series about the crime solving team of Boston Detective, Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner, Dr. Maura Isles. For this reason, I appreciated the backstory threaded throughout the novel as it helped me regain familiarity.
The plot centers around unsolved murders on a Botswana safari six years ago and those recently committed in Boston and elsewhere. I must admit it was the African setting that prompted my reading as I’ve travelled to an east African safari in Tanzania and Kenya. On this note, Gerritsen’s descriptions are spot-on and her depiction of wildlife and the environs, excellent. The Leopard intrigued me while there and I witnessed the amazing animal carry a gazelle up a tree then sprawl on a large branch. He is the supreme hunger and Gerritsen did him honour!
Chapter Twenty-One in particular was well-written. It explores the issue of fear from Millie’s POV. As the sole survivor of the safari murders, she adopts the Leopard’s habit and sleeps in trees at night to survive during a two week period in the wild. She also slathers herself with mud for protection and we see her change from human to animal prey. The quote cited is from this chapter.
Gerritsen also explores themes related to family dynamics that deepen our understanding of the characters and cause us to reflect on pertinent social issues. Rizzoli is concerned with her parent’s marital problems and Isles, whose estranged mother is a convicted murder, must deal with how to respond to a terminal diagnosis.
Die Again is a suspenseful novel and the presence of a domestic cat adds humour plus reveals character and advances plot. The chapters are short and end on a note of “what’s next.” The point of view switches from first -person, Millie to third-person, Jane or Maura.
The story builds slowly and deftly links the Boston crimes to those in Botswana. I was disappointed, however, with the final five to six chapters and felt the explanation thin and the solution, flat. The highlight of this novel was Africa; nevertheless, I will seek out another book in this series.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Is Your Gift A Weapon, Too? Book Review: The Silent Wife
Is Your Gift A Weapon, Too?
Book Review: The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
My initial step in deciding whether or not to spend time with an author and the book he/she has written is to study the front cover. I was intrigued by the image depicted on The Silent Wife; a shadowy female silhouette floating on a storm-gray haze over which the title is superimposed. The font is bold-white, sharp-angled and razor-thin; the initials H, I, and F dagger-pointed and tipped in blood-red. It’s about murder; I considered. Was the woman the murderer or the person murdered? And what did a “silent wife” have to do with this?
Next, I familiarize myself with organizational structure. The Silent Wife is divided into a two-hundred sixty-nine paged Part One: Her and Him, and a fifty-three paged Part Two: Her. What happened to Him, I asked? As a result, I was eager to read A.S.A. Harrison’s novel.
Set in Chicago, opening early September and covering a period less than three months, the chapters alternate between the perspectives of two characters; Her (Jodi Brett) and Him (Todd Jeremy Gilbert). The unmarried childless forty-something pair has lived together for twenty-years; Jodi is a part-time Alderian psychologist and Todd, a developer. They have an opulent condominium with a pet Golden Retriever, Freud; Todd’s substitute progeny, Jodi says. My question about the murderer’s identity was answered on the first page of Chapter One when Jodi states“…given that a few short months are all it will take to make a killer out of her.”
Harrison’s point of view shows us Jodi’s and Todd’s different reactions to events, details their characters plus advances the plot with twists and turns. We peek at their personal histories via flashbacks and glimpse the saga of their relationship from romance to stability then disillusionment and decay.
Jodi and Todd are revealed as complex and tormented. There are interviews from an earlier period of Jodi’s life with her Adlerian therapist, Gerard Hartmann plus a letter from Todd’s lawyer, Harold C. Le Groot. Snappy dialogue plays second to narration; the minimal attribution during the Todd-Natasha exchanges deftly illuminating their growing discord.
As the story unfolds, the author unveils how dysfunctional family dynamics shaped Jodi and Todd and left unresolved, laid the foundation for the conflicts central to this book. Though convinced they’d escaped their childhood demons, this was not the case.
Jodi’s crutch was silence manifested in myriad forms: denial, detachment, routine and pretense. Her childhood situation with her older and younger brothers, Darrell and Ryan is intimated throughout the book and the abuse she’d suffered when six years old substantiated at the end. Unable to confront her parents with the truth, her decision to withhold it from her therapist, Gerard Hartmann further testified her damaged psyche.
Todd was a chronic womanizer who battled depression; fears of emulating his despicable father haunted him. Dean Kovacs, his childhood friend, current business associate and father of his pregnant girlfriend, Natasha played a pivotal role. Representing Todd’s past, present and future, Kovacs helped us grasp how the tragic boy became the wretched man.
The author presents both Jodi and Todd as neither absolute villain nor maligned innocent and holds them contributors to the disintegration of their relationship. Part One culminates with a horrific act and Part Two commences on an ominous note. Dean Kovacs’ fate caused me residual uncertainty as to whether or not he’d been served justice.
The bleak ending of The Silent Wife was consistent with its desolate undercurrent and woefully summed by one of its last lines. “Anyway, the story is really about the two men, the boyhood friends, one dead and one as good as dead.” Both cheerless and riveting, the novel proved a provocative read.
With respect to concluding notes, the precision of Harrison’s language merits commenting. Instead of “carpet,” she selected “kilim,” a Persian rug, to describe Jodi’s office as indication of her predilection for finery. Other examples include her Fendi leather handbag, Valentino skirt and robust amarone wine at dinner. By having Todd reference Natasha as a “jackal” and “viper”, the deterioration of their relationship is obvious. Todd’s deceitfulness is heightened with “cached numbers” for women to contact when Natasha unavailable.
Many of Harrison’s sentences caught my breath. For example, Todd’s “…love mixed with other things…” when trying to make sense of feelings for his father gave way to his belief, “…..life is a mixed bag.” As he and Jodi were having dinner post his condominium departure, he utters “The elephants in the room are alive and well” to sum their superficial conversation. And Jodi’s chilling remarks at Todd’s funeral; “Even the sermon is familiar….Once dead were all alike....” Jodi’s declaration in Part Two, “She didn’t know then that life has a way of backing you into a corner. You make your choices when you’re far too young to understand their implications, and with each choice you make the field of possibility narrows.”
What of the title, The Silent Wife? In Part One, Todd affirms Jodi’s silence is her great gift” and “also her weapon.” In Part Two, Jodi declares “Her default mode when bullied or badgered is silence.” Silence enabled Jodi to survive and though she never forgave herself for the violation of her childhood, it allowed her to “…forget what she didn’t want to know...” Silence was a weapon of self-protection and according to the final paragraph, “…Jodi had no problem with the blurring of facts….some things are best left unexamined.”
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Book Review: The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
My initial step in deciding whether or not to spend time with an author and the book he/she has written is to study the front cover. I was intrigued by the image depicted on The Silent Wife; a shadowy female silhouette floating on a storm-gray haze over which the title is superimposed. The font is bold-white, sharp-angled and razor-thin; the initials H, I, and F dagger-pointed and tipped in blood-red. It’s about murder; I considered. Was the woman the murderer or the person murdered? And what did a “silent wife” have to do with this?
Next, I familiarize myself with organizational structure. The Silent Wife is divided into a two-hundred sixty-nine paged Part One: Her and Him, and a fifty-three paged Part Two: Her. What happened to Him, I asked? As a result, I was eager to read A.S.A. Harrison’s novel.
Set in Chicago, opening early September and covering a period less than three months, the chapters alternate between the perspectives of two characters; Her (Jodi Brett) and Him (Todd Jeremy Gilbert). The unmarried childless forty-something pair has lived together for twenty-years; Jodi is a part-time Alderian psychologist and Todd, a developer. They have an opulent condominium with a pet Golden Retriever, Freud; Todd’s substitute progeny, Jodi says. My question about the murderer’s identity was answered on the first page of Chapter One when Jodi states“…given that a few short months are all it will take to make a killer out of her.”
Harrison’s point of view shows us Jodi’s and Todd’s different reactions to events, details their characters plus advances the plot with twists and turns. We peek at their personal histories via flashbacks and glimpse the saga of their relationship from romance to stability then disillusionment and decay.
Jodi and Todd are revealed as complex and tormented. There are interviews from an earlier period of Jodi’s life with her Adlerian therapist, Gerard Hartmann plus a letter from Todd’s lawyer, Harold C. Le Groot. Snappy dialogue plays second to narration; the minimal attribution during the Todd-Natasha exchanges deftly illuminating their growing discord.
As the story unfolds, the author unveils how dysfunctional family dynamics shaped Jodi and Todd and left unresolved, laid the foundation for the conflicts central to this book. Though convinced they’d escaped their childhood demons, this was not the case.
Jodi’s crutch was silence manifested in myriad forms: denial, detachment, routine and pretense. Her childhood situation with her older and younger brothers, Darrell and Ryan is intimated throughout the book and the abuse she’d suffered when six years old substantiated at the end. Unable to confront her parents with the truth, her decision to withhold it from her therapist, Gerard Hartmann further testified her damaged psyche.
Todd was a chronic womanizer who battled depression; fears of emulating his despicable father haunted him. Dean Kovacs, his childhood friend, current business associate and father of his pregnant girlfriend, Natasha played a pivotal role. Representing Todd’s past, present and future, Kovacs helped us grasp how the tragic boy became the wretched man.
The author presents both Jodi and Todd as neither absolute villain nor maligned innocent and holds them contributors to the disintegration of their relationship. Part One culminates with a horrific act and Part Two commences on an ominous note. Dean Kovacs’ fate caused me residual uncertainty as to whether or not he’d been served justice.
The bleak ending of The Silent Wife was consistent with its desolate undercurrent and woefully summed by one of its last lines. “Anyway, the story is really about the two men, the boyhood friends, one dead and one as good as dead.” Both cheerless and riveting, the novel proved a provocative read.
With respect to concluding notes, the precision of Harrison’s language merits commenting. Instead of “carpet,” she selected “kilim,” a Persian rug, to describe Jodi’s office as indication of her predilection for finery. Other examples include her Fendi leather handbag, Valentino skirt and robust amarone wine at dinner. By having Todd reference Natasha as a “jackal” and “viper”, the deterioration of their relationship is obvious. Todd’s deceitfulness is heightened with “cached numbers” for women to contact when Natasha unavailable.
Many of Harrison’s sentences caught my breath. For example, Todd’s “…love mixed with other things…” when trying to make sense of feelings for his father gave way to his belief, “…..life is a mixed bag.” As he and Jodi were having dinner post his condominium departure, he utters “The elephants in the room are alive and well” to sum their superficial conversation. And Jodi’s chilling remarks at Todd’s funeral; “Even the sermon is familiar….Once dead were all alike....” Jodi’s declaration in Part Two, “She didn’t know then that life has a way of backing you into a corner. You make your choices when you’re far too young to understand their implications, and with each choice you make the field of possibility narrows.”
What of the title, The Silent Wife? In Part One, Todd affirms Jodi’s silence is her great gift” and “also her weapon.” In Part Two, Jodi declares “Her default mode when bullied or badgered is silence.” Silence enabled Jodi to survive and though she never forgave herself for the violation of her childhood, it allowed her to “…forget what she didn’t want to know...” Silence was a weapon of self-protection and according to the final paragraph, “…Jodi had no problem with the blurring of facts….some things are best left unexamined.”
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Fatal by John Lescroart. Book Review
Fatal by John Lescroart
This is my first John Lescroart novel and I have mixed feelings about it. The 300 page book was effectively organized into three parts covering about a seven month span. The structure and short chapters helped keep the plot fast-paced.
With respect to the plot, however, I found it jumbled and the various events poorly integrated. The specific reason there was a terrorist incident, for example, was not clearly articulated.
The characters, mainly married couples, were sketched but undeveloped with almost nil back story and, hence, I found it difficult to connect with them. Anorexia surfaces as an issue with one character and I felt an understanding of the disease and the difficulty in treatment lacking.
The suspense with regards to murder and deceit was well captured in the author's writing and Lescroart certainly kept us guessing as to the culprit(s).
Set in San Francisco, Lescroart also crafted a vivid sense of place. The crime(s) were solved in the last chapters but I felt the solution rushed and tidied up quickly to simply end the book. I also found the concluding scene depicting a budding relationship between two of the characters maudlin.
Though disappointed, I did enjoy the thread of the story and would read another one of Lescroart's novels.
Marianne Perry
www.marianneperry.ca
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
This is my first John Lescroart novel and I have mixed feelings about it. The 300 page book was effectively organized into three parts covering about a seven month span. The structure and short chapters helped keep the plot fast-paced.
With respect to the plot, however, I found it jumbled and the various events poorly integrated. The specific reason there was a terrorist incident, for example, was not clearly articulated.
The characters, mainly married couples, were sketched but undeveloped with almost nil back story and, hence, I found it difficult to connect with them. Anorexia surfaces as an issue with one character and I felt an understanding of the disease and the difficulty in treatment lacking.
The suspense with regards to murder and deceit was well captured in the author's writing and Lescroart certainly kept us guessing as to the culprit(s).
Set in San Francisco, Lescroart also crafted a vivid sense of place. The crime(s) were solved in the last chapters but I felt the solution rushed and tidied up quickly to simply end the book. I also found the concluding scene depicting a budding relationship between two of the characters maudlin.
Though disappointed, I did enjoy the thread of the story and would read another one of Lescroart's novels.
Marianne Perry
www.marianneperry.ca
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
Do you suffer from parasomnia?
I read The Sleepwalker in two days. For several reasons, the story captured my attention. First of all, I knew scant about the sleep disorder, parasomnia and thought it unique to have Annalee Ahlberg, the mother and Lianna and Paige, her daughters afflicted with it.
The details of Annalee's disappearance and whether it murder, suicide or the result of parasomnia; her nuanced marriage to Warren and whether him an unfaithful spouse; the sister's dynamics and cloud as to Paige's parentage; plus Gavin Rikert, the detective and questionable character who'd a previous relationship with Annalee and then, Lianna combined to create a page-turning tale.
Structured in two parts with a twist of a resolution and an epilogue leaving the reader with a pit in his/her stomach, Chris Bohjalian has penned a compelling tale.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
I read The Sleepwalker in two days. For several reasons, the story captured my attention. First of all, I knew scant about the sleep disorder, parasomnia and thought it unique to have Annalee Ahlberg, the mother and Lianna and Paige, her daughters afflicted with it.
The details of Annalee's disappearance and whether it murder, suicide or the result of parasomnia; her nuanced marriage to Warren and whether him an unfaithful spouse; the sister's dynamics and cloud as to Paige's parentage; plus Gavin Rikert, the detective and questionable character who'd a previous relationship with Annalee and then, Lianna combined to create a page-turning tale.
Structured in two parts with a twist of a resolution and an epilogue leaving the reader with a pit in his/her stomach, Chris Bohjalian has penned a compelling tale.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
Book Comments:
You Will Pay by Lisa Jackson
You Will Pay is set in coastal Oregon. With multiple narrators, this tale of suspense alternates between a period twenty years ago and the present. The action is primarily based in a summer camp operated by Rev. Jeremiah Dalton and his 2cd wife, Naomi. Jeremiah's son, Lucas Dalton is a detective but also, a former camp counselor. The plot focuses on the disappearance and suspected suicide-murder of two teenager camp counselors Monica O'Neal and Elle Brady as well as the unknown fate of a prison escapee, Waldo Grimes and camp worker, Dustin Peters. The discovery of a human skull on the beach forces a reopening of the case and triggers the counselors return to the camp. Lisa Jackson excels at creating a sense of place. By revealing the past and present through various points of view, she unfolds her story in twists and turns that compel the reader to keep turning the page! The truth revealed shows unexpected recklessness in the teen counselors as well as shocking dynamics in the Dalton family. Jackson weaves a thread of the supernatural with several reporting having seen the ghost of Elle over the years. At the end, the author solves the mystery and the reader is left satisfied. This is a good read.
You Will Pay is set in coastal Oregon. With multiple narrators, this tale of suspense alternates between a period twenty years ago and the present. The action is primarily based in a summer camp operated by Rev. Jeremiah Dalton and his 2cd wife, Naomi. Jeremiah's son, Lucas Dalton is a detective but also, a former camp counselor. The plot focuses on the disappearance and suspected suicide-murder of two teenager camp counselors Monica O'Neal and Elle Brady as well as the unknown fate of a prison escapee, Waldo Grimes and camp worker, Dustin Peters. The discovery of a human skull on the beach forces a reopening of the case and triggers the counselors return to the camp. Lisa Jackson excels at creating a sense of place. By revealing the past and present through various points of view, she unfolds her story in twists and turns that compel the reader to keep turning the page! The truth revealed shows unexpected recklessness in the teen counselors as well as shocking dynamics in the Dalton family. Jackson weaves a thread of the supernatural with several reporting having seen the ghost of Elle over the years. At the end, the author solves the mystery and the reader is left satisfied. This is a good read.
Book Comments: Never Let You Go
Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens is a suspense/thriller about thirty-nine year old Lindsey Nash and a mysterious stalker who attempts to destroy her life. The survivor of an abusive marriage, her ex-husband, Andrew was sent to prison after being convicted of vehicular manslaughter. Lindsey had drugged him in order to escape with their daughter, Sophie but without imagining he'd regain consciousness and drive. As such, she carries guilt for the woman killed. When the book opens, she and her now teenage daughter, are trying to make a life; after Andrew is released from prison, however, bad things start to happen.
As twists and turns play out, the reader is left to wonder the identity of the stalker. Is it Andrew; Jared, Sophie's possessive boyfriend; Greg, Lindsey's romantic interest with whom she breaks up during the course of the story; or perhaps, Marcus, the therapist who volunteers at her support group. At various points, I thought it might have been any of them. The revelation is a shocker and though the reader is relieved he is found out, the extenuating circumstances stir our empathy as well.
Chevy Stevens does an excellent job of depicting the mother-teen daughter relationship and the tensions/conflicts when a child transitioning to adulthood. Also, the myriad feelings Lindsey experiences processing her emotions towards Andrew: anger and rage yet a sense of gratitude for her daughter.
There are forty-seven chapters in this book; it is divided into three parts and spans a twenty year period beginning prior to Lindsey's marriage and culminating in 2017 when Sophie begins college. Both Lindsey and Sophie narrate and the story unfolds in a non-linear style so that we learn about the past while the present in process. Well-paced, the backstory never overwhelms the action or diminishes the suspense.
A top notch novel, Chevy Stevens ends with a letter of thanks from Sophie to her mother dated December 2017; four months into her first year of college. It is poignant and elevates Never Let You Go to one of those books that linger in a reader's mind and heart for a long time.
A terrific read and an author whose other books I will read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
As twists and turns play out, the reader is left to wonder the identity of the stalker. Is it Andrew; Jared, Sophie's possessive boyfriend; Greg, Lindsey's romantic interest with whom she breaks up during the course of the story; or perhaps, Marcus, the therapist who volunteers at her support group. At various points, I thought it might have been any of them. The revelation is a shocker and though the reader is relieved he is found out, the extenuating circumstances stir our empathy as well.
Chevy Stevens does an excellent job of depicting the mother-teen daughter relationship and the tensions/conflicts when a child transitioning to adulthood. Also, the myriad feelings Lindsey experiences processing her emotions towards Andrew: anger and rage yet a sense of gratitude for her daughter.
There are forty-seven chapters in this book; it is divided into three parts and spans a twenty year period beginning prior to Lindsey's marriage and culminating in 2017 when Sophie begins college. Both Lindsey and Sophie narrate and the story unfolds in a non-linear style so that we learn about the past while the present in process. Well-paced, the backstory never overwhelms the action or diminishes the suspense.
A top notch novel, Chevy Stevens ends with a letter of thanks from Sophie to her mother dated December 2017; four months into her first year of college. It is poignant and elevates Never Let You Go to one of those books that linger in a reader's mind and heart for a long time.
A terrific read and an author whose other books I will read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Book Comments: Under the Harrow
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry is a mystery novel about the murder of Rachel Lawrence and the efforts of her younger sister, Nora to solve the crime. Nora takes the train from London to visit Rachel in her country home outside of Oxford. She discovers her sister plus the mutilated body of her dog, Fenno, whom Nora later learns Rachel bought for protection. Woven into Rachel's death is an assault she suffered 15 years ago when 17. Nora is wary of the local police and launches her own investigation. She stays at the local hotel and often crosses the line of acceptability muddling authorities' efforts as well as her own to bring her sister's killer to justice.
The slim book is organized into three sections, unfolds in short chapters and switches from present to past. At times it was difficult to understand the who, what and where of the story plus some of the descriptive passages tended to be tedious. For the most part, however, Flynn Berry's disjointed style reflects Nora's fragmented mind, mood fluctuations and roller coaster state of anxiety.
Berry also explores the love versus hate cycle in the sisters' relationship and their strained parental dynamics. As the plot unfolds and complications revealed, Nora comes to realize she knew little about the sister, the life she'd lived and the future she'd already set in motion. As such, it prompts the reader to reflect on his/her own familial relationships.
Under the Harrow ends quickly and the identity of Rachel's murderer is a twist. A little more reflection in the last chapters would have served a more satisfying conclusion. Nevertheless, this is a good read.
The slim book is organized into three sections, unfolds in short chapters and switches from present to past. At times it was difficult to understand the who, what and where of the story plus some of the descriptive passages tended to be tedious. For the most part, however, Flynn Berry's disjointed style reflects Nora's fragmented mind, mood fluctuations and roller coaster state of anxiety.
Berry also explores the love versus hate cycle in the sisters' relationship and their strained parental dynamics. As the plot unfolds and complications revealed, Nora comes to realize she knew little about the sister, the life she'd lived and the future she'd already set in motion. As such, it prompts the reader to reflect on his/her own familial relationships.
Under the Harrow ends quickly and the identity of Rachel's murderer is a twist. A little more reflection in the last chapters would have served a more satisfying conclusion. Nevertheless, this is a good read.
A Stranger in the House
Book Comment: A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
Karen and Tom Krupp are a thirty-something two-year married couple living in trendy New York State. She leaves her home hastily one evening and has a vehicular accident in a “questionable” neighborhood resulting in her suffering amnesia. She is eventually linked to a murder in this area.
Across the street from where they reside are Brigid and Bob Cruickshank. Brigid had an affair with Tom prior his marriage. With this unknown to Karen, she and Brigid become best friends. Brigid's inability to bear a child and her stalking the Krupp's adds another twisted element to this compelling murder mystery.
As the novel unfolds, we learn Tom knew scant about Karen's past when they wed. It is revealed she changed her name and identity plus faked her death to escape an abusive marriage. The murder victim is confirmed to be her first husband, Robert Traynor.
Brigid appears to have followed Karen the night of her accident and witnessed what happened. As the book progresses, Karen's version clashes with Brigid's and nothing at all is at it seems! Every character is shown to be someone else and every incident or detail is turned on its head.
Shari Lapena's prose is spare. With minimal description, imagery or backstory, this is a clean, clinical and sharp plot-driven novel. The action clips and as soon as the reader believes “she's got it,” Lapena pulls the proverbial rug from under our feet. The detectives Rasbach and Jennings are effective agents through which readers can state their assumptions and Lapena then refutes.
The resolutions to the various conflicts are unexpected but the concluding chapters, satisfying and logical. The title is brilliant for the person I believed “The stranger in the House” at the beginning was different than the one revealed at the end. Shari Lapena has penned a great goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Karen and Tom Krupp are a thirty-something two-year married couple living in trendy New York State. She leaves her home hastily one evening and has a vehicular accident in a “questionable” neighborhood resulting in her suffering amnesia. She is eventually linked to a murder in this area.
Across the street from where they reside are Brigid and Bob Cruickshank. Brigid had an affair with Tom prior his marriage. With this unknown to Karen, she and Brigid become best friends. Brigid's inability to bear a child and her stalking the Krupp's adds another twisted element to this compelling murder mystery.
As the novel unfolds, we learn Tom knew scant about Karen's past when they wed. It is revealed she changed her name and identity plus faked her death to escape an abusive marriage. The murder victim is confirmed to be her first husband, Robert Traynor.
Brigid appears to have followed Karen the night of her accident and witnessed what happened. As the book progresses, Karen's version clashes with Brigid's and nothing at all is at it seems! Every character is shown to be someone else and every incident or detail is turned on its head.
Shari Lapena's prose is spare. With minimal description, imagery or backstory, this is a clean, clinical and sharp plot-driven novel. The action clips and as soon as the reader believes “she's got it,” Lapena pulls the proverbial rug from under our feet. The detectives Rasbach and Jennings are effective agents through which readers can state their assumptions and Lapena then refutes.
The resolutions to the various conflicts are unexpected but the concluding chapters, satisfying and logical. The title is brilliant for the person I believed “The stranger in the House” at the beginning was different than the one revealed at the end. Shari Lapena has penned a great goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Never Saw it Coming
Book Notes:
Never Saw it Coming by Linwood Barclay
I cringed, laughed, wondered and awed. Never Saw It Coming kept me hooked from Chapter One to Chapter Thirty-Four. Keisha Ceylon, a sham psychic, sells hope to people swept up in tragic circumstances. She gets involved in the case of a missing woman and almost becomes a victim herself. I've heard others refer to this book as a "black comedy" and methinks, that might be right! There are twists and turns page after page and though the coincidences are a bit much, it's an inventive and intriguing plot.
Chapter Two is particularly poignant as it describes Ellie Garfield, stabbed and trapped in a car slowly sinking through the cracked ice. The writing is superb and description chilling. Chapter Four whereby Keisha reveals her how-to techniques is quite the reveal. She says (and I paraphrase), the key was to listen and have them provide the clues. Give them something to latch onto.
On the downside, I found the story too quick and the concluding chapters rushed. Character development was minimal but Keisha's devotion to her young son, was clearly conveyed. Most of the characters were scoundrels (a pregnant daughter who stabs her mother!) and there is a darkness at the core of the story; nevertheless, Linwood Barclay has penned a clever and worthwhile read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Never Saw it Coming by Linwood Barclay
I cringed, laughed, wondered and awed. Never Saw It Coming kept me hooked from Chapter One to Chapter Thirty-Four. Keisha Ceylon, a sham psychic, sells hope to people swept up in tragic circumstances. She gets involved in the case of a missing woman and almost becomes a victim herself. I've heard others refer to this book as a "black comedy" and methinks, that might be right! There are twists and turns page after page and though the coincidences are a bit much, it's an inventive and intriguing plot.
Chapter Two is particularly poignant as it describes Ellie Garfield, stabbed and trapped in a car slowly sinking through the cracked ice. The writing is superb and description chilling. Chapter Four whereby Keisha reveals her how-to techniques is quite the reveal. She says (and I paraphrase), the key was to listen and have them provide the clues. Give them something to latch onto.
On the downside, I found the story too quick and the concluding chapters rushed. Character development was minimal but Keisha's devotion to her young son, was clearly conveyed. Most of the characters were scoundrels (a pregnant daughter who stabs her mother!) and there is a darkness at the core of the story; nevertheless, Linwood Barclay has penned a clever and worthwhile read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Book Notes
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Dry is a crime fiction written by Jane Harper. Set in the rural town of Kiewarra, Australia near the city of Melbourne, the area has endured a two year drought. Circa three-hundred pages , the book is organized into forty-two chapters and has an excellent Reading Group Guide. The story unfolds through third person narration primarily from the main character, Aaron Falk’s POV.
The plot revolves around Luke Hadler’s alleged suicide after having shot his wife, Karen and their seven year old son, Billy. Oddly, their infant daughter, Charlotte is unharmed. Aaron Falk, a federal agent from Melbourne, receives a mysterious note prompting him to return to his hometown. Past friends, Aaron and Luke, implicated in the unsolved drowning of their teenage friend, Ellie Deacon twenty years ago. The townsfolk and Ellie’s father, Mel Deacon whom most suspect suffering early dementia, plus her bullish cousin, Grant Dow have vindictiveness for Falk and his deceased father, Erik. Convinced them responsible for Ellie's death and Luke Hadler guilty of the murders, they try to force Falk to leave Kiewarra. It is revealed this animosity had driven Luke and Erik out of Kiewarra after Ellie's death.
Barb and Gerry Hadler, Luke’s parents believe their son innocent. Quasi-surrogate parents to Falk, they entreat him to prove this true. Gerry Hadler admits to having sent Falk the note. Falk with the assistance of the local cop, Sergeant Greg Raco, agrees to investigate.
Stirred into this main conflict is an unresolved romantic relationship between Falk and a former school friend, Gretchen Schoner; the possibility Luke fathered Gretchen’s young son, Lackie; the discovery of missing funds by the school’s bookkeeper, Karen Hadler; the enigmatic school principal, Scot Whitlam who showed up in Kiewarra last year and has a gambling problem; lingering rumours Mel Deacon abused his daughter, Ellie Deacon; the domino effect of a clandestine gay relationship between a young farmer, Jamie Sullivan and the local GP, Dr. Patrick Leigh; and Asian interests in purchasing the Hadler-Deacon property.
Yes, there is much happening! Cleverly imagined, Jane Harper concludes each chapter with a page-turner that keeps the reader riveted. This Chapter 5 excerpt serves an example:
“Raco,” he (Falk) said. “There's something about Luke you need to know.”
In addition to a string of suspenseful incidents, Jane Harper paints vivid images of the drought ravaged area. This Chapter 13 excerpt serves an example:
“The huge river was nothing more than a dusty scar in the land. The empty bed stretched long and barren in either direction, its serpentine curves tracing the path where the water had flowed. The hollow that had been carved over centuries was now a cracked patchwork of rocks and crabgrass….”
The author layers her characters by articulating universal themes compelling reader reflection. This Chapter 25 excerpt of a conversation between Aaron Falk and Rita Raco re Falk’s difficult relationship with his deceased father serves an example:
“…But surely that doesn’t make it any less true. Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
With regards a criticism, I found the interjection of flashbacks from the POV of other characters such as Ellie Deacon and her father, Mel, awkward. The insights afforded were valuable and integral to the story’s integrity; nevertheless, the passages appeared “dumped” and often with poor transition. Hence, the rhythm and flow broken and the style rendered a tad choppy.
In the end and specific to the final fifty pages, however, Jane Harper weaves everything together delivering a plausible conclusion. This is a good read.
The Dry is a crime fiction written by Jane Harper. Set in the rural town of Kiewarra, Australia near the city of Melbourne, the area has endured a two year drought. Circa three-hundred pages , the book is organized into forty-two chapters and has an excellent Reading Group Guide. The story unfolds through third person narration primarily from the main character, Aaron Falk’s POV.
The plot revolves around Luke Hadler’s alleged suicide after having shot his wife, Karen and their seven year old son, Billy. Oddly, their infant daughter, Charlotte is unharmed. Aaron Falk, a federal agent from Melbourne, receives a mysterious note prompting him to return to his hometown. Past friends, Aaron and Luke, implicated in the unsolved drowning of their teenage friend, Ellie Deacon twenty years ago. The townsfolk and Ellie’s father, Mel Deacon whom most suspect suffering early dementia, plus her bullish cousin, Grant Dow have vindictiveness for Falk and his deceased father, Erik. Convinced them responsible for Ellie's death and Luke Hadler guilty of the murders, they try to force Falk to leave Kiewarra. It is revealed this animosity had driven Luke and Erik out of Kiewarra after Ellie's death.
Barb and Gerry Hadler, Luke’s parents believe their son innocent. Quasi-surrogate parents to Falk, they entreat him to prove this true. Gerry Hadler admits to having sent Falk the note. Falk with the assistance of the local cop, Sergeant Greg Raco, agrees to investigate.
Stirred into this main conflict is an unresolved romantic relationship between Falk and a former school friend, Gretchen Schoner; the possibility Luke fathered Gretchen’s young son, Lackie; the discovery of missing funds by the school’s bookkeeper, Karen Hadler; the enigmatic school principal, Scot Whitlam who showed up in Kiewarra last year and has a gambling problem; lingering rumours Mel Deacon abused his daughter, Ellie Deacon; the domino effect of a clandestine gay relationship between a young farmer, Jamie Sullivan and the local GP, Dr. Patrick Leigh; and Asian interests in purchasing the Hadler-Deacon property.
Yes, there is much happening! Cleverly imagined, Jane Harper concludes each chapter with a page-turner that keeps the reader riveted. This Chapter 5 excerpt serves an example:
“Raco,” he (Falk) said. “There's something about Luke you need to know.”
In addition to a string of suspenseful incidents, Jane Harper paints vivid images of the drought ravaged area. This Chapter 13 excerpt serves an example:
“The huge river was nothing more than a dusty scar in the land. The empty bed stretched long and barren in either direction, its serpentine curves tracing the path where the water had flowed. The hollow that had been carved over centuries was now a cracked patchwork of rocks and crabgrass….”
The author layers her characters by articulating universal themes compelling reader reflection. This Chapter 25 excerpt of a conversation between Aaron Falk and Rita Raco re Falk’s difficult relationship with his deceased father serves an example:
“…But surely that doesn’t make it any less true. Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
With regards a criticism, I found the interjection of flashbacks from the POV of other characters such as Ellie Deacon and her father, Mel, awkward. The insights afforded were valuable and integral to the story’s integrity; nevertheless, the passages appeared “dumped” and often with poor transition. Hence, the rhythm and flow broken and the style rendered a tad choppy.
In the end and specific to the final fifty pages, however, Jane Harper weaves everything together delivering a plausible conclusion. This is a good read.
