Question E

[Jonetta]

We get Olivia’s point of view during her abduction. Did you get any clues about her captor in any of those scenes?

[Lauren]

Yes. It was obvious that he was very large and muscular, into survivalist mania and a misogynist.
This led me to reinforce my initial suspicions that the kidnapping had something to do with the Oleanders. My suspicions fell on the employee who was fired (can't remember his name right now), but those were dashed when he was described as average in size.

[Jonetta]

That would be Ronald Alexander.

Those clues made me feel like he came from the same sort as the Olanders, too, definitely misogynistic behavior. But, I knew it wasn’t Kennett as he wasn’t physically able. I was leaning towards them but couldn’t make it fit.

[Lauren]

Yes, no one in the Oleander case fit the physical description only the psychological one. Then I suspected Joe Franklin for 5 seconds because of his size, but his hearing impairment made that impossible.

I really wish Leigh had given more foreshadowing on the Holgersens. She's just not as skilled at these subtle hints and clues as other authors in the genre.

[Jonetta]

Having reached the end of the series, I better understand what you’ve meant about the author not laying better groundwork for the ultimate reveal. With other skilled mystery writers, I can go back and see the clues I missed. That didn’t happen here and same can be said for some of the others in the series.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "With other skilled mystery writers, I can go back and see the clues I missed. ."

Yes. the aha! moment makes sense and you can go back and see the clues threaded throughout with writers like Tess Gerritsen, Karin Slaughter, Angela Marston, Karen Rose, J.D. Robb, etc. But not here. It's disappointing because Leigh's plots and characters have tremendous potential.

[Jonetta]

Exactly! I don’t mind a couple of stories where the villain comes out of nowhere but it was fairly consistent here.

Great examples of other skilled writers. Marston is a master at leaving subtle breadcrumbs.

[Robin]

The kidnapper's behavior toward Olivia made me think of the Olanders. Ronald Alexander was at the top of my list.

[Jonetta]

Seems like we all went there.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "Seems like we all went there."

That's where the clues led ... until they didn't ...