The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte
Even though she has never really felt she has “the gift”,
upon getting her degree in English Claire Hathaway decides to follow in her
mother and grandmother’s footsteps and gives readings, fake to be sure, at
Mystical Haven in Sedona, Arizona.
Distanced from her mother, not only geographically, her father’s final
stroke and subsequent death brings Claire back to Pennsylvania and her mother,
a reunion that awakens Claire’s physic abilities. A chance meeting of Rena and her daughter
Stephanie on the plane home sets Claire on an entirely new course. Rena and Stephanie are going to see a doctor
in Arizona who Rena hopes will bring her young daughter relief from her
undiagnosed, lifelong chronic illness. Chapters are told in alternating voices
and sympathies switch between Claire and Rena.
This is not an easy thriller, but the characters are so complex and the
contrasts to stark it is worth the effort.
And don't miss author Ellen LaCorte at the Headquarters Library on Tuesday July 30th at 7 pm. Click here to sign-up: http://hclibrary.evanced.info/signup/Calendar
Those People by Louise Candlish
British author Candlish is not quite as successful with her
second domestic suspense novel as she was with her first Our House. The South London
street Lowland Way has created an enclave of sorts: Ralph and his wife Naomi
live next door to his brother Finn and sister-in-law Tess and have combined
their backyards to make a park-like play space for their combined children. With Naomi at the helm, the neighbors clear
the street of cars on Sunday allowing children to play freely, safe from
traffic. When Darren inherits number one
from his aunt, and he and his girlfriend Jodie move in, the neighborhood takes
a decidedly unpleasant turn: the couple plays loud music late into the night,
disturbing Ant and Em, their next-door neighbors, young parents who are already
stressed. The demolition of a wall and
other DYI projects along with a used car repair and sales lot further mar the
property and prompt bad reviews of their neighbor across the street Sissy’s
B&B website. At first, the neighbors
try to reason with Darren, but soon they lose patience and start to look for
alternative ways to “get rid” or their new neighbors. The story begins by being told in flashbacks,
starting eight weeks prior to a scaffolding collapse with tragic results. Each part is introduced by a different
neighbor and their views of the situation leading up to the day of the accident
and moving forward with the investigation from there. The characters, who consider themselves
civilized aren’t quite so, and the pace of the plot doesn’t pick up until the
actual incident occurs. An ending that
leaves things a bit unsettled may appeal to some, but may frustrate others.
The First Mistake by Sandie Jones
The second novel from the best-selling author of The Other Woman, a a Reese Witherspoon
Book Club pick, starts off a bit slowly, but then gains momentum with the
reveals in the second two-thirds of the book.
Alice and her second husband Nathan run the company AT Designs, which Alice
founded with her first husband, now deceased, Tom. The pair have the opportunity to purchase
land in Japan and build and design an apartment building, but Alice has
misgivings, especially now that she thinks Nathan is having an affair. As she confides in her best friend Beth,
Alice learns things connected to Tom that she is having trouble believing,
things that make her question everything about her life and choices to
date. The tension grows as the twists
and revelations keep coming at a rapid pace rewarding readers who persevere.
The Last Guest House by Megan Miranda
In the seaside town of Littleport, Maine, year-round
residents rarely mix with summer vacationers.
Native Avery Greer and wealthy summer resident Sadie Loman are the
exceptions. In high school the two
became best friends, Avery eventually taking a job managing the Loman’s summer
rental properties for the family company.
At an end of the season house party, Avery waits for her friend who
never shows. Sadie’s body is found
washed up on the shore and the police question all of the party attendees until
a suicide note is found. While the police are satisfied, Avery is not, and
something niggles at her during the winter; the follow summer there are petty
break-ins and occurrences at various Loman properties and Avery begins to
investigate on her own: Avery has a bit of a bad girl reputation from her late
teen age years, but the more she investigates the more questions she has, not
only about Sadie’s death, but also about the accident that killed her parents,
and about her own past. As twisty as the
rocky shore roads along the beach, the surprises do not stop, even until the
last page.
The Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg
When Finn Hunt lands a job as nanny to Arizona Senator Jim
Martin’s granddaughter Amabel, she thinks it’s too good to be true. Philip Martin, heir apparent to his father’s
seat and his wife Marina welcome Finn into their home and lives, and don’t ask
too many questions about her past, which is fine with Finn as she’d rather not
talk about it; four-year-old Amabel adores Finn, and she has started a
relationship with one of Senator Martin’s top aides. Things start to go wrong when Amabel points
out a young woman, Iris, who appears to be following them and then threatens to
reveal a secret that would ruin the Senator’s chance for reelection and
Philip’s for his own run. Even after a
tragic accident that ends her employment with the Martins, Finn continues to
investigate Iris and her claims, putting not only herself in some unbelievable
situations, but in real danger. When
Finn’s carefully cultivated and curated world begins to collapse and she
realizes it was all a mirage, she realizes she is on her own with no one to
help her. While some of Finn’s motives
are unbelievable and part of the plot disturbing, this domestic thriller is
still worth a read.
After the End by Clare Mackinstosh
In a departure form her usual thrillers, Mackintosh writes a
story that is very personal to her: Max and Pip Adams have a two-year-old boy
who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor; after many treatments and surgeries,
the parents are facing the fact that it is unlikely that Dylan will live more
than a few months. Max has found an
experimental proton therapy available in the United States, but Pip does not
want Max to suffer more than he has, possibly prolonging his life only a few
years, the quality of his life not guaranteed.
Because the pair cannot agree on a course of treatment, the court must
step in and make a recommendation as to what it considers in the best interest
of Dylan. The second part of the book
alternates chapters between Max and Pip, each telling the story as if the
verdict went in their favor. Dylan’s
doctor Leila Khalili weighs in, but does not give away the true nature of the
verdict, nor what she would have done if the child and decision had been
hers. This painful subject is handled
delicately, if somewhat awkwardly, as the two narratives diverge and readers
must decide which outcome they most prefer.
The Cutting Room by Ashley Dyer
In their second outing, Detective Chief Inspector Greg
Carver and Detective Sergeant Ruth Lake are searching for the Ferryman, a
serial killer whom they believe is involved in the disappearances, and presumed
murders, of over a dozen men in the Liverpool area. After an episode of the reality television
series “Fact or Fable?” the Ferryman ratchets things up, calling the pair to a
gruesome “art installation” that is sections of human brains sealed within
Plexiglas. The Ferryman begins using
social media to gain follows and fans, and uses an unsuspecting young man who
thinks he is just as clever, to promote his agenda. The plot is twisty and turny, the characters
complex as Carver struggles with his recovery from the duo’s last case, and as
Lake faces her past head on, finding what she hopes is not a connection to the
Ferryman. There are some graphic and
disturbing scenes, but readers who like their police procedurals on the gritty
side will find much to enjoy.
The Shallows by Matt Goldman
Wise-cracking, yet practical minded retired cop, now private
investigator, Niles Shapiro is back in his third outing. The Minnesota PI has been hired to look into
the death of attorney Todd Rabinowitz by Todd’s widow Robin: also by Todd’s law
firm, and also by the Greater Lake Minnetonka Police Department, currently
without a chief. Ethics being more the
concern of Shap’s partner in the firm and best friend, Anders Ellegaard, he
does what he can to satisfy everyone, but when a bomb goes off in the law
office, the FBI also wants Shap to consult and he has to cry uncle. Two more deaths and the fumbling police
department are satisfied they’ve solved the crime and more on. Shap, not as much. Shap is convinced that Karen Tressler,
Congressional candidate and client of Halferin and Silver, Todd’s former law
firm, is somehow at the center of all this or at least in up to her next. Complications in his personal life and the
late summer heat and humidity in Minnesota at to Shap’s stress level, but also
add character and atmosphere to this series with a complicated plot and a
clever PI.
This Swedish author making his U.S. debut examines the
timeless question: How far would a parent go to save their child?
Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell has a history of a violent temper, but
everyone in her world is still shocked when she is arrested for the murder of
her lover, fifteen years her senior. Her
father Adam, a pastor, struggles with his faith as he provides Stella an alibi
that is not accurate; her strong-willed mother Ulrika is an attorney and
appears distanced from her family, but during the courtroom scenes it becomes
clear how fiercely she loves her family. The narrative is told in three parts,
Adam, Stella, and Ulrika, each in the first person, all coming together to
crate a complete picture of a family not only in distress, but one that bands
together to protect its own. For fans of
Jodi Picoult.
Man of the Year by Caroline Louise Walker
Dr. Robert Hall has just been feted as Sag Harbor’s Citizen
of the Year, his beautiful wife Elizabeth by his side, along with his
college-aged son Jonah who is spending the summer with his father and
step-mother. Also spending the summer is
Jonah’s college roommate Nick, who is quite handsome, and in Robert’s opinion
shares a mutual attraction with Elizabeth.
Robert’s senses are always heightened to affairs, as are Elizabeth’s, as
the two were previously married to other people, a fact they feel their
neighbors hold against them. Jonah is
having his own struggles as he tries to reintegrate into his father’s life,
while at the same time he befriends a younger high school classmate who all but
ruined her life and the life of the man whose family she babysat, with an
accusation she later recanted. A
surprising twist leads to more shocking events uncovered in this sultry summer
mystery with a touch of Gothic.
Montauk by Nicola Harrison
Beatrice Bordeaux, newly married into New York City’s high
society, is spending the summer of 1938 in Montauk with the other wealthy wives
while the husbands spend their weeks in the city at work, taking the train out
on the weekends. From rural Pennsylvania,
Beatrice is having some difficulties adjusting to the entitled life, and her
inability to conceive a child, and finds herself spending much of her time away
from the other wives, falling in love with the natural beauty and the ocean,
and intrigued by the locals and their community. Bea strikes up a friendship with the
laundress Elizabeth and finds herself drawn to Tom, the local lighthouse
keeper. Though she has all the creature
comforts she could want, Bea has a sadness in her past she keeps hidden, and
finds she cannot forgive her husband’s affairs as easily as some of the other
wives forgive their husbands’ their dalliances.
Bea tries to live in both worlds, she tells herself successfully, until
the events cause her worlds to collide, revealing secrets, changing everything
for everyone.
The Sentence is Death by Daniel Horowitz
The second mystery in which author Daniel Horowitz is the
main character, after The Word is Murder,
finds him following fired Scotland Yard detective, now PI Daniel Hawthorne who
is following behind the police, investigating the death of divorce attorney
Richard Pryce who was recently publicly threatened by the ex-wife of one of his
clients, and then killed in the same manner, an expensive bottle of wine to the
head. Seems open and shut, but not to
Hawthorne and Horowitz who don’t dismiss the subtler clues at the crime
scene. As the pair considers the
possibility that this could be connected to Pryce’s college spelunking buddies,
one who died tragically during a trip, and another who just died in an accident
at King’s Cross Station, the suspects pile up, and the clues take on a
different meaning. Traditional mystery
fans will enjoy the dry wit of this unusual pair.
Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland
This follow up to the author’s best-selling Need to Know pulls no punches. Chief of Internal Investigations at the FBI
in Washington, D.C., Steph Maddox is tough as nails---except where her son Zach
is concerned. She is certain she knows all there is to know about her seventeen-year-old
son until she finds a gun in his closet and her former FBI lover shows up on
her doorstep to warn Steph that the FBI is opening a file on Zach as a possible
member of a domestic terror cell. When
Steph confronts Zach, he denies everything with such vehemence and disbelief
that she is startled: either he’s a really good actor or liar or he’s telling
the truth. Steph chooses to believe
he’s telling the truth but can’t figure out who he has been set up by or why
and begins the covert investigation of a lifetime, not sure who to trust and
just how close they are to her and her family.
This fast-paced, complicated plot will appeal to procedural thriller
fans who like humanized characters struggling with moral dilemmas.
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