The One Day You Were My Husband

Finished July 29

The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh

This compelling read takes us through Carrie's situation as she is faced with revising her past. Carrie is married with six year old twins and is feeling ready to return to her career as a surgeon after stepping back when her children were born prematurely. Her mother is less present in her life; her stepmother is preparing to move her father, who suffers from advanced dementia, to a care home; her sister is now living in the U.S. and her husband is supportive of her decision. 

While planning a trip to Sweden to reconnect with her surgical mentor, and attend a conference for the short-term rental company she is part of, she comes across a rental owned by her first husband, Swedish Johan. She is taken aback. Twelve years ago, the two met through a patient brought into the hospital she was interning at and felt an instant connection. They had moved in together, and impulsively married when she visited Thailand to meet him when he was on location in Cambodia. Johan was apprehended violently by armed police on the evening of their wedding day as they were dancing on the beach. Despite her efforts, Carrie was unable to get Johan released and was actively discouraged from doing more by the threat of violence against both of them and others. It took her years to move on. She wasn't even aware he'd been released from Thailand. 

At first she isn't sure whether she should cancel her trip but, even after talking to her sister and mother, she checks that he isn't on the list of attendees at the conference and decides to go, as meeting with her mentor is important to her and will give her a better restart to her career. But she still wonders about what really happened back then, why he's been released, and why she didn't know about it. When she runs into him in person, the questions are even louder, and she decides she needs answers, even if they are difficult. 

I found this to be a real page-turner, with interesting plot twists and character dynamics. 

Clear My Name

Finished May 30

Clear My Name by Paula Daly

This novel is set around Tess Gilroy, up to now the only employee of Innocence UK, a charity that helps people wrongly convicted of crimes. They have just wrapped up a successful case as the book starts and the board is meeting to decide what case they will tackle next. They've narrowed it to three options. They've also hired a new employee, Avril Hughes, who will be shadowing Tess as she prepares to be a second investigator for the organization. The board consists of Tom Robinson, a solicitor who sifts through the many cases sent their way and decides which ones have merit; Tess, who was a probation officer before she took this job; Vanessa Waring, a Home Office pathologist; Chris Pownall, a forensic scientist with an interest in fibre analysis; Fran Adler, a forensic scientist with an interest in blood; and Clive Earle, an ex-DI. 

The case they end up going with is that of Carrie Kamara, who was convicted of killing her husband's lover. She is three years into a fifteen-year sentence. It was her own barrister that pushed the case to Innocence UK. As Tess and Avril dig into the evidence and begin interviewing witnesses and others, they find some of the evidence questionable, some police work lazy, and some things that truly puzzle them.

Tess is also having a casual sexual relationship with Clive, who is married and pushing for more than Tess wants to give. We also are given clues to a personal complication to this case for Tess. The town where Carrie lived is the same town that Tess grew up in. She left years before, for reasons we only gradually learn of, and is wary of spending time there now. She is a diligent researcher though and follows up on all lines of the case despite her personal issues. 

I found this story intriguing, both in the way of evidence and for the personal life of Tess. 

When the Mirror Cracks

Finished April 21

When the Mirror Cracks by Jan Coffey (penname of May McGoldrick)

This novel has a lot going on. One of the main characters, Christina Phillips, is grieving the loss of her newborn child, but has chosen to attend an important business meeting for the company her mother and stepfather started and for which she works for. Her stepfather has passed away recently, and the decision was already made to sell the company. There are three companies bidding for ownership, and the Istanbul has been chosen as the place they will present their offers and Christina's mother and the board will decide. The company is a gaming company and Christina and her estranged boyfriend are also very involved in the company's development.

The location was also chosen for another reason. Christina was born in Turkey, and moved to the US with her American mother when she was just a toddler. She doesn't remember her early life and her mother has never shared information about her father's identity with her. 

The other main character is Zari Rahman, a Kurdish woman who fled Kurdistan in Iraq when war and chemical weapons made living there untenable. Her husband had fled to Turkey before her, and she followed him to Ankara after giving birth to their daughter, but she found he was no longer there. We know a little about her life during this time, and learn more over the course of the novel. 

Zari had brought her daughter to a hospital in Istanbul years ago, hoping for treatment and has found a community of other Kurds that she is supported by. Her daughter is now grown and starting her own career while still struggling with her health. 

As Zari's and Christina's paths cross, they find they have much in common around the relationships in their lives, but we also see major differences.

Christina's life has the benefit of money and status, while Zari's life as a refugee has been uncertain and traumatic. 

I found this to be a really intriguing read with a fascinating plot and lots of social commentary underlying the story. 

The Last Thing He Told Me

Finished January 4

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

This standalone suspense novel was recommended to me at the library when I asked about a book to meet a challenge. The challenge was a book published in the last five years that had been adapted into a movie or television show, and this was adapted into a television series.

The main character is Hannah Hall, a wood turner, and furniture maker. Hannah had lived in New York City until recently, when she married Owen Michaels, a coder that she met through one of her clients. After their marriage she moved onto the houseboat in Sausalito, where Owen lives with his sixteen-year-old daughter Bailey.  She made some missteps with Bailey at the beginning, but is trying to come to a better relationship. 

One day a kid from the sports team Owen coaches shows up at Hannah's door with a note that just says 'Protect Her.' Hannah knows that he means Bailey, but isn't sure what is going on until she finds that Owen's workplace was raided by the FBI for fraud. She can't believe that Owen would have anything to do with that, but why else would he disappear? When she picks up Bailey from school, she finds that he's left something for Bailey as well. 

As Hannah tries to make sense of things, she is visited by a Texas Ranger who offers help, and she begins to dig into Owen's past, finding that he isn't who he said he was. This is a mystery with some suspenseful moments, and Hannah ends up faced with a decision that is difficult on the surface. 

Awaken

Finished September 9

Awaken by Skye Malone

This novel is the first in a series of paranormal teen romance books. The main character is Chloe Kowalski, a girl in her senior year of high school who has grown up in Kansas, but has always longed for the Pacific Ocean. Her parents are very strict in many respects, but more so when it comes to water. She's not allowed to even go to a swimming pool or a lake, and has never taken swimming lessons. Their only explanation is that water is dangerous and carries diseases. When her best friend Bailey invites her to her father's beach house with Bailey's older (cute) stepbrothers, Noah and Maddox, she is eager to go, but again her parents refuse. So Chloe climbs out her window and goes anyway. 

She finds the ocean compelling, and feels a tingle when she puts her feet into it. A merman named Zeke is nearby and notice the strange reaction as well. But he isn't the only one.

After a scary boating experience, Chloe's parents arrive to fetch her home, but she still is drawn back, looking for an opportunity to run away. 

When girls similar in appearance to Skye begin to go missing, the whole oceanside community is scared of what's going on, and Chloe finds herself questioning her reality, her situation, and who might want to kill her just for existing. 

Mercy Snow

Finished May 19

Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker

This story takes place in the mid-1990s in a small town in the mountains of New Hampshire called Titan Falls. A great many of the men in the town work at the local paper mill, run for generations by the McAllister family. There is another family that has owned land for generations as well, further along the Androscoggin river, the Snow family. The town thought that Gert Snow, the last of the them had died after going missing in the 1950s, until a distant relative named Pruitt showed up in the 1970s to claim it. When  siblings Mercy, Zeke, and Hannah roll into town in their old RV and pull it onto the family property they've come looking for Pruitt their father after their mother Arlene died. But Pruitt is dead as well, and so the three settle in. They've lived a nomad life, travelling around the country with their mother, Arlene until she died recently. As they discover the death of their father, they settle in, but find that the community feeling is against them from the beginning. Zeke has trouble finding work but Mercy finds a job assisting Hazel Bell at her sheep farm. 

When a teenage outing by bus results in an accident that has one girl dead and the bus driver, Hazel's husband Fergus in bad condition in hospital, the Snow family is soon drawn into the drama, and Mercy's efforts to work against that bring unexpected stirrings of other emotions to the town. 

The McAllisters are also involved as June brings her own feelings along with her husband's plans to work on the Snow family. 

This book reminds me of the books of John Irving, and would be a great read-alike for those that love his stories. The setting is a big part of the story, but the characters are also deftly drawn and have deep backstories. A great read. 

Safe House

Finished May 18

Safe House by Jo Jakeman

This suspense novel follows Steffi Finn as she starts a new life under the name Charlie Miller. Charlie for a girl in school who always seemed to have it together, and Miller for her mother's maiden name. The plot moves back and forth in time, but every chapter is dated and titled with the character it focuses on. 

After Steffi's boyfriend Conor started work in London, their long-distance relationship didn't work as well, and they split up. Shortly after that she met Lee Fisher, a charming and handsome man who swept her off her feet. He soon moved in with her, although he had frequent absences as he worked as a pharmaceutical salesman and had a lot of travel as part of his job. He asked her to stop drinking alcohol and he agreed to give up smoking in return. She stuck to that until a leaving party for a co-worker, where she drank a few and he got angry when she came home. She went to bed and he went for a drive to cool off, but it is only a couple of weeks later when she is approached by police about that evening and whether he was with her all night. After talking with him, when he told her he was only gone for a short while and slept in the spare room, she gave him an alibi, and the missing young woman is found dead shortly after. 

When she showed up to a conference he was attending to surprise him, both of them are surprised, him at her presence, and her at his absence from the hotel and his condition when he reappeared. When she hears later about another woman found dead after a similar situation she retracts her alibi and tells the police after his latest trip and what she saw. When he is arrested, he tries unsuccessfully to blame her, but she is charged with giving a false alibi, and serves time in jail. Many people are mad that another woman died because of her earlier alibi, and a lot of them think she must have known of her partner's crimes. When the courts decide she doesn't need protection after her release, she takes matters into her own hands. 

Conor helps her find a new home, one that is dilapidated and needs a lot of work, which she is willing to do, and she takes her new name of Charlie Miller. She finds herself making friends quickly, taken under the wings of a group of women that regularly meet for a book club and other outings. She also meets a older neighbour and finds herself making another unexpected friend. But she has enemies too, one that already knows where she is, and one that is determined to find her. 

Her new home and community may not be as safe as she had hoped. 

I really enjoyed this book, finding myself reading it all in one sitting. I just had to know what happened. The character of Steffi/Charlie was interesting and complex, and truly sorry for what she'd done. The plot was also well done, and left me guessing until the end. You got a real sense of Charlie's fears as well as the things that brought her some moments of content. A great read. 

Murder Road

Finished October 12

Murder Road by Simone St. James

This novel takes place in the summer of 1995. April and Eddie have just got married and are off for a few days at a motel on Lake Michigan. On their drive to the motel, April falls asleep and wakes as they are on a seemingly deserted road. They notice an odd light in the trees, and shortly after come across a woman walking slowly, and ask if she needs a ride. She says yes, and gets in, and as Eddie drives April talks to the woman, who responds slowly and April notices the blood seeping from her coat. About the same time, they both notice a a truck chasing them and Eddie drives as fast as he can, until they see the turnoff for a town. Eddie sees something in the truck that disturbs him, and when they take the young woman to the hospital, she dies soon after.

April and Eddie find themselves suspected of murder, and soon discover that there have been a series of murders on the road they found the woman on, taking place over many years, starting in the 1970s with the discovery of a woman's body that still hasn't been identified. 

As they have to stay in town, the two begin to investigate on their own and discover a few townspeople willing to help them. 

We also learn that April has an interesting past, one she has only partially revealed to Eddie. We also know that Eddie also has a previous life, as he was adopted as a young child. The two have a strong connection to each other, and form a strong team as they tackle this strange situation.

As always St. James writes a fascinating plot, and her characters come alive on the page. I really enjoyed this suspense novel and liked the two main characters.

A great read. 

Last Post

Finished October 8

Last Post by Robert Barnard

This stand-alone mystery follows a woman, Eve McNabb, who finds a letter among the various sympathy envelopes in the mail at her mother's house after her mother's death. The letter is anonymous, but hints at a relationship between the letter writer and her mother, May. It also refers to her father Ted, who Eve was told died when she was a child. 

Eve's mother was a skilled a popular teacher, who quickly became deputy, then head of their local school. She was involved in her community and a woman who was very competent and knew her own mind. Eve is saddened by her death as her mother had recently retired and they were starting to grow closer and spend more time together. 

As Eve follows clues to find the letter writer, she also begins to suspect that her father isn't dead after all, and she begins to question what her mother has told her. 

She begins to delve into her mother's past, her friendships, and her father's life.

This is a tale of loss, of discovery, and of the dangers of digging too deeply into the lives of others. 

These Still Black Waters

Finished October 6

These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald

This is the first book in a series featuring police officer Jess Lambert. Some of the story is from Jess's point of view. She is recently returned to work and detective work after an automobile accident that took the life of her daughter Isla and left her with permanent injuries. She drives a modified motorcycle, and struggles with her loss. She sees her Isla in both work and home situations and finds herself talking to her. She has soothed herself with alcohol, even as she feels guilt that she had a drink before driving the day of the accident.

The central character in this book though is Neve Maguire. Neve and her husband have recently made the decision to separate, but the day they chose to tell their teenage daughter Ash, they were the victim of a violent home invasion. 

Neve has retreated to the house she spent summers in, in the small town of Black Lake. She had a couple of close friends, Bee and Sandra, but the last summer she spent there was a disturbing one, and the secrets of that summer are gradually revealed over the course of the novel. 

Soon after Neve arrives, a neighbour is found dead in the lake, something that has personal significance to Neve. Jess is the lead officer on the case, and she finds herself being guided by her daughter's words. She is also following leads suggested by Neve's words and actions as she talks to her about the woman who died. 

This is an interesting new series, with lots of emotional situations, and some strange twists. 

I found it compelling to read, and the ending gives a hint towards further books in the series. 

The Paris Lawyer

Finished July 11

The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier, translated by Anne Trager

This novel revolves around Catherine Monsigny, a young lawyer in Paris. When she was a young child, Catherine was the only witness to her mother's murder, which happened in a park near where they lived in the Creuse, a department in central France. She didn't see what happened but heard it and remembers a few things. The murderer was never caught. 

She and her father moved away, as he found it hard to live in the area without her mother. They have a reasonably good relationship with each other, but aren't close. He has told her little about her mother, despite her questions. 

As the book opens, Catherine is heading to court to defend a man, Cedric Devers, accused of assault and battery. She is also trying to convince her boss, Renaud, to let her take defend a case of murder, allegedly by a woman whose husband has died. The woman Myriam Villetreix, is an immigrant from Gabon, brought to France by a family as a domestic, who escaped and showed up at a Paris refugee center. A farmer, Gaston Villetreix had posted an advertisement looking for a wife, and the two ended up getting married. After six years, he died. Some time after, Gaston's cousins accuse her of murder by poisoning, and she is now in jail awaiting her trial. 

As Catherine works on the murder case, memories of her childhood begin to resurface. She feels that there is something she knows that might solve the case of her mother's death as well. 

She also sees Cedric again, and a casual relationship develops between them. 

This is a very slow-paced mystery novel, with time spent wandering in the countryside, talking to people in the area, and doing research. As Catherine works her way closer to answers and to getting the accused to trust her, she finds herself unnerved by certain events. Only in court is she confident and calm, determined to do her best for her client. 

I found it interesting to see this brusque matter-of-fact character soften a bit as the reader gets to know her. She is ambitious, but also nervous. She wants love, but isn't sure what love really is. It took me a while to get into the story, but I did find it more captivating the further I got into it. 

The Guest

Finished June 27

The Guest by B.A. Paris

A twisty mysterious suspenseful tale of the type I've come to expect from B.A. Paris. The couple at the center of this novel, Iris and Gabriel have been married a long time. Their daughter Beth is taking a gap year volunteering in Turkey for an organization that works with abandoned and abused dogs. 

Recently Gabriel was the first one on the scene when a teenager, Charlie died after going over the edge of a nearby quarry. Charlie was still alive and said some things to Gabriel before he died. Gabriel had coached Charlie a few years back, and was deeply affected by this tragic experience. He is now on leave from his medical practice for an indeterminate time. Iris has a home-based business where she works with homeowners to decorate and furnish their spaces. The experience that Gabriel had has made for a distance in their marriage. 

As the novel begins, they arrive home a day early from their holidays and find an old friend Laure in their home. Laure is distraught, and says that Pierre, her husband has told her he had a child with someone and has just discovered her. He hasn't told Laure who the woman is, but Laure has suspicions. Iris had long wanted children, but Pierre did not, so she feels very betrayed at this point and is trying to figure out what she wants to do. As Iris tries to escape Laure's presence, she finds new friends in the village, a couple near her age that recently moved into a large property that had been abandoned for years. Hugh and Esme are in a second marriage for both of them, with Hugh widowed with a grown child and Esme divorced. Esme is now pregnant and eager to make new friends as well as bring the old house back to life. Along with them is Joseph a gardener that Esme's parents knew, who has recently lost his job. Joseph is helping with the grounds of the house. 

As the friendship begins, the presence of both Laure and Joseph bring tension to the atmosphere. Most of the characters have secrets that they haven't shared that will soon come to be uncovered, unless circumstances allow them to stay secret. 

There is lots of suspense here, with tension between many of the characters, and the ending is unexpected and unnerving. A real page-turner. 

Goodnight Stranger

Finished May 26

Goodnight Stranger by Miciah Bay Gault

This tale is set mostly on Wolf Island, a fictional island near Martha's Vineyard. The main character Lydia Moore is 29 and feeling like she is stuck, unable to have a fulfilling life. She went to college for almost one term, but returned home due to her mother's illness. She has stayed in the family home, with her twin brother Lucas, who has extreme anxiety. She works seasonally in the information booth near the ferry dock. She likes to look at those exiting the ferry and classify them as tourist, visitor, or resident. One day she notices someone who doesn't fit, and makes eye contact with him. She feels compelled to meet him and soon he has found his way into her life.

Lucas is sure this man, Cole Anthony, is the reincarnation of their dead sibling, Baby B (real name Colin), who died when they were infants. If he hadn't, they would be triplets. Lydia isn't convinced despite things that he does or knows about them. She is determined to find his real identity to save herself from what she feels is a man taking over her life. 

Along the way, she finds help from an unlikely new friend, and perhaps a way to break out of the rut her life was in before. She also gets to know some of her fellow islanders and things about the island that are new to her. 

This is a story with a dark tone, as Lydia feels menaced by this man she has met. Sometimes it feels like things are eerie and haunting, and sometimes just uneasy. I liked how Lydia was able to find strength within herself to continue her search for the truth. 

A story that is hard to put down.  

The Summer List

Finished April 22

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan

This is a story of friendship, of miscommunication, and of secrets. 

Laura grew up in the small lake town of Couer-de-Lune in northern California. She was adopted by parents older than most of her peers, and resented her mother's strict ways and churchgoing habits. She was closer to her father, a man who was quieter, yet still very much a part of the community. Every summer, when her mother went to an adult church camp, Laura and her dad did a project, getting more complex as she grew older. 

Just before she moved to junior high, a girl and her mother moved into a dilapidated house just across the lake. Laura was given a cake to take over to welcome them, and this act caused her to meet Casey and make a connection as close as family. 

Laura's mom wasn't a fan of Casey's mother Alex, a rather free spirit, who made her money making strange art projects for wealthy collectors. But she let the friendship grow and even let Laura sleep over on Saturdays as long as she attended church on Sundays. 

But something happened back at the end of Laura's senior year that drove her to change her plans and go to a university far away and lose touch with Casey. 

Laura is now 35 and receives an invitation to go back to Casey's place for a weekend. She isn't sure she wants to, but curiosity and the longing for her old friend take her back. 

The women find that Alex has created a scavenger hunt, one of her signature games, for the two women that will bring them closer, but also unveil memories and secrets from the past. 

There is also another story of a young teen girl beginning at a camp, in some unknown time, as she struggles to understand why her mother brought her there, what has changed so drastically in her life, and how she can cope. 

I found the friendship compelling, and the unravelling of the past, both good and bad told in a way that showed feelings in both times and felt believable. The miscommunication was the thing that felt off, something so easily fixed if only someone had tried harder at the time. 

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters. 

Homecoming

Finished March 8

Homecoming by Kate Morton

This novel starts in the past, on New Year's Day in 1959, and moves back and forth between that 1959  and the near present, late 2018. The 1959 portion takes place in the Adelaide Hills, around a family, the Turners, that lived in a large house that had a sad past, built for a wife that never arrived. The first scene is an interesting one, letting us into the mind of Isabel Turner, a woman who is beginning to question the life she lives. It also ends on an interesting mysterious note with the arrival at the house of a man Isabel hadn't expected. This is followed by tragedy nearly a year later, with a local man, Percy Summers, the one to make the sad discovery on Christmas Eve. 

This present day part of the novel starts in London, but is set mostly in Australia. Jess, a journalist, is off to meet a friend after time spent at her favourite museum, and grabs a cab as rain begins. She receives a call from Australia, where she was born and grown up, telling her of her grandmother's hospitalization after a fall. Jess travels back to Australia, where she finds herself alone in her grandmother's large house, and begins to reflect on memories as well as look for reasons for her grandmother visiting a part of the house that led to her fall. 

One thing she finds is an old book, written by an American journalist, that tells of the tragedy in 1959, with apparent access to personal papers of the Turner family. As Jess begins to realize the connection between this event and her own family, she must also deal with family issues much closer to home, the relationship between herself, her mother, and her grandmother. 

I found this a fascinating read. As is usual for Morton, the characters are complex and feel real. As Jess uncovers her family's history and faces the strange dynamics between the three generations of women, we see the insecurities, fear, and love that underlie all of it. 

A great read. 

Hidden

Finished February 27

Hidden by Rebecca Zanetti

This romantic suspense novel is the first book in a series that is centered around a small unorthodox group of government agents. There are two main characters. Pippa is a woman with a past that she fears will one day catch up with her. Malcolm was an undercover cop who is drafted into the small government team early in this novel. When Malcolm moves into the house that shares a yard with Pippa's it doesn't take long for them to notice each other, but they are both wary for their own reasons. 

The team Malcolm is drafted onto is made up of misfits, people who have traumas, and many have interesting quirks. 

Pippa has a job where she can work from home and interacts with others rarely. She has one woman that she meets from time to time and we learn gradually just how they know each other. Just as we learn the life that Pippa has fled, and what she has left behind.

We also learn about Malcolm's past and why he ended up where he is now. 

There are some formulaic elements to this story, and a few things that seem unlikely as plot devices, but the story is a fast-moving one, with elements of violence and sex in small doses. 

I picked up the book to meet a reading challenge, trying out an author that was new to me. 

The Edge of the Water

Finished February 8

The Edge of the Water by Elizabeth George

This is the second book in a series of teen novels set on Whidbey Island, which is in the state of Washington. This book tells the story from several points of view, but mostly from that of two teenage girls, Jenn and Becca. 

I read the first novel a few years ago, but always meant to follow up. I'm glad I did. Becca was the main character in the first novel, but here we also see a lot of Jenn. 

Jenn is in the same grade as Becca, but she resents Becca for taking Derric's attention, and seems constantly angry at her. Jenn lives with her parents and younger brothers in a shabby house near the water. She is working hard to get herself into a position where she can get a soccer scholarship and escape the life she feels stuck in. 

When a young woman researcher, Annie, comes to live in the previously abandoned trailer nears Jenn's house, Jenn willingly takes on a paid job of guide and cleaner, but worries about it cutting into her training time. 

Becca, meanwhile is having issues with her relationship with Derric as she tries to keep where she is currently living a secret as a means of protecting herself. 

The connecting element between all the characters in this novel is Nera, a black seal that has been coming to the island at the same time of year for many years now. Annie wants to make a career-making discovery, but the islanders fear losing Nera's presence. 

This is a story of growth on the part of both teenagers, as they find there way forward and learn about strengths they hadn't realized they contained. 

I'm definitely going to be looking for the next book in the series soon.

The Downstairs Neighbour

Finished January 25

The Downstairs Neighbour by Helen Cooper

This novel has a mystery that develops soon after the book opens and soon becomes the focus of the main story of the book, taking place in the present. There is another story from 25 years earlier that pops up now and again and it takes some time to see exactly how that story relates to the present day one.

The title is also intriguing, because it is unclear exactly who it pertains to. 

In a house in a London suburb, Paul and Steph live with their teenage daughter Freya on the top two floors. There are a close family, and Freya spends time with both her parents as well as with the family as a whole. Paul is an ex-cop and a data analyst, but he doesn't talk much about his previous career. Steph works in the first class lounge at Heathrow airport, making sure everything there runs smoothly. Freya is a popular and energetic teenager. 

Below them, on the ground floor, Emma lives. Emma owns her own vintage store, where she sells clothing, jewellery and other personal and decorative items. Things haven't been going well lately, and she has closed up shop, and has a deal to sell the shop very soon. She has a hamster named Gilbert, and his nocturnal activity has led her to move his cage to the cupboard underneath the stairs going up to her neighbours. She has discovered that when she is in there she can hear, fairly clearly, conversations going on upstairs. Emma is also waiting to hear from someone, a man named Zeb, that we don't learn much about until later in the story.

Below her, in the basement flat live Chris and his wife Vicky. Chris is a driving instructor, and teaches many of the young people in the area, including Freya. Vicky is a nurse. It seems that they are growing apart lately, although it isn't entirely clear why. 

One evening Emma senses unusual activity and soon hears that Freya hasn't come home from school. No one seems to have heard from her and she isn't answering her mobile. When the police ask Paul and Steph whether either of them have enemies, it seems that maybe they don't know as much about each other as they thought. Emma and Chris get drawn into the investigation too, through contact with Freya and an unknown person who seems to be sending a message to someone in the building. 

In the part of the story twenty-five years earlier, teenage Kate is worried about her mom. It's only been the two of them for a long time, but now her mom has a boyfriend, Nick, and she seems a lot quieter than before. The two of them often stop talking when Kate enters the room. When she sees bruises on her mom she gets scared and isn't sure what to do. So she calls a cousin, who's also a friend, for advice. 

As the two stories slowly unfold, there is a tense feel to both stories as we wonder what will happen, and the secrets that so many people have gradually get revealed. 

This is not a fast-moving story. But it is one that has you turning the pages, wanting to find out more. As we learn more about the different people, they become more and more interesting and imperfect. A fascinating story with long trails to the past. 

All Her Little Secrets

Finished January 8

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

This thriller moves back and forth between the childhood of the main character, corporate lawyer Ellice Littlejohn, with occasional viewpoints of other people like her younger brother Sam. Ellice escaped her small town, and the life of poverty she lived there through scholarships. She now has an Ivy League degree, and a secret relationship with her married white superior Michael, the EVP and general counsel for Houghton Transportation in Atlanta. That's just one of her secrets. She also keeps secret her origins, passing herself off as an orphan with no family. The woman that saved her, helping protect her from that early life is now in the later stages of dementia and Ellice pays for her stay at a high-scale living facility. But she knows Vera would rather be back on her farm. 

Ellice also hides her younger brother Sam, who's had some legal issues and doesn't seem to be able to keep away from the temptations of that life. She and Sam are close, and she loves him, but she also feels guilty for leaving him behind when she escaped. 

After an episode from the early part of her life, the present-day part of the novel begins with Ellice finding her boss shot in the head when she goes to meet him for an early pre-work assignation. So she hides the fact that she found him too, and goes to her own desk and tries to get on with things. But, soon she finds that with the gossip, the police, and the sudden interest in her from the executive suite, that all those secrets are pretty hard to hide.

Ellice is also one of the very few black employees in the building. Outside of the security staff, and other low-paid workers, she is it. There have been protests outside the corporate building about the lack of racial presence and a threat of a class action suit. This is another thing looming on the horizon. 

As Ellice starts trying to figure out what happened to Michael to save her from the threats now coming at her, she finds even more secrets to deal with. 

The plot is a good one, and I found the main character interesting. The author is also a corporate attorney, so she brings in realistic elements from that life. A good read. 

Before the Murders

Finished September 18

Before the Murders by Patricia McLinn

This is a novella that takes place before the first book in the Caught Dead in Wyoming series that I recently read, Spin Off. The novella takes place in London and includes the main character from the Caught Dead in Wyoming series, E.L (Elizabeth). Danniher, and the main characters in the Secret Sleuth series, Sheila Mackey and her great aunt Kit. 

Elizabeth has come to London a few days before a journalism assignment for some relaxation and spots Sheila in the hotel bar. Kit and Sheila are in town doing some research for a future book. When a young woman approaches them looking for help locating a family heirloom, they find themselves intrigued and agree to help locate a secret tunnel where the item was supposedly stashed. Kit also has an ulterior motive that has to do with her own past, and with ensuring that Sheila's secret isn't revealed in the wrong way. 

This was a fun read and I liked the plot. The three main characters were all appealing, although Sheila wasn't as fully drawn here as the others.