Novels No. 107

 

Chris Bridges. Sick to Death. UK: Avon/HarperCollins, 2025.

Emma has a neurological condition that resonates in those of us with fibromyalgia. Hers exhibits even stronger, unpredictable physical symptoms like the numbness that can strike one side of her body—she falls quite often. Crammed into a council household with her mother Ann, her daughter Ava, despised stepfather Peter, and stepsister Becky, Emma has no spot to call her own, especially for all the fatigue she suffers. Peter’s contempt for Emma and her disability is loud and clear on a daily basis; she fantasizes killing him. By chance, she meets medical intern Adam who lives not far away on a wealthy street. Their friendship grows into love, not without questions and doubts on Emma’s part. Adam is divorcing his entitled, patronizing wife Celeste, who is making it as complicated as possible.

Both the new lovers yearn for liberation from their individual oppressors. You can see it coming: each offers to do away with the other’s nemesis. Perfect alibis will be set up. Ultimately they decide that Emma getting rid of Celeste will solve their problem—ensuring a rich inheritance for Adam and the rosy future they plan together. Of course, the best-laid plans ... and all that. The author expertly pulls twists from one manipulator to another. More than one plan, more than one murder, is hatching. Adam and Emma are not the only players desperate to remedy abusive situations. Yet motivations may differ.

In this context, women develop a strong sense of justification for committing murder—women who’ve been systemically disparaged, used, and degraded. Taking control of their lives seems worth any consequence. Perfectly paced, with great empathy for “invisible illness.”

Peeks

▪ We go through the usual ritual and I tell him that my left arm and leg don’t work properly, that I fall, faint even, sometimes. About the numb patches that plague parts of my body. (7)

▪ “Becky was a child actor. In a soap opera. She was in it from the age of thirteen.” (23)

▪ It’s endearing how this handsome and confident man has such boyish traits. (38)

▪ “You’re nothing here. You don’t even look after your own child. We have to do that for you too.” (47)

▪ We’re slowly learning about each other’s desperation. Appreciating how caged we both are. (63)

▪ I don’t want people to bestow sympathy. I want my independence, to be seen as capable and not a charity case. Conversely, I want them to know that they have to reduce their expectations. (127)

▪ “I’ve been thinking of some exercises you could do to make your arm stronger. And I could show you where to aim the knife to avoid hitting her ribs.” (149)

▪ I lull myself to sleep planning how me and Adam will live once the deed is done. The opulence and wealth that will cushion us from the dirt of reality. (200)

Tracy Clark. Echo. USA: Thomas & Mercer, 2024.

I’ve met Detective Harriet Foster before, Chicago cop living alone, dedicated to the job, fiercely guarding her private life. Her previous partner Det. Glynnis Thompson apparently killed herself with a gunshot to the head; an anonymous caller to Harriet insists that “G” had been a dirty cop and he will expose the evidence. Harriet doesn’t buy it, determined to prove otherwise despite warnings from her boss and Internal Affairs to drop it. Meanwhile a dead student, Brice Collier, is found outside the mansion where he lives, adjacent to a college campus heavily endowed by the Collier family. Alcohol poisoning killed him—that and other evidence shows similarities to Michael Paget’s death thirty years ago. Interviews are necessary with the many young people who had partied in his house that night. More interesting is Harri’s personal mission to find the truth about Glynnis. While her now-partner Vera Li hopes Harri will learn to stop burying her feelings, Harri’s mother provides a connection from the family’s own past.

I didn’t mention the novel’s melodramatic introduction where Justice-as-allegory targets Sebastian Collier through his son and heir Brice—the stilted device seems too artificial to take seriously in this genre. “Justice” doesn’t hold up at all; the real theme is vengeance for sins of the fathers. Everyone wants payback in this story, even revenge on the avengers. It’s hard to keep an interest in the slow-moving, non-compelling Paget-Collier revenge scenario; Harri’s overthinking and withheld feelings slow any attempt at suspense in her Glynnis investigation. Eventually my lack of curiosity and care about the characters took hold: exposition reveals answers to any questions, most actions take place offstage, and too many voices are inserted. Only the banter dialogue between the partners kept me plodding.

Collier death

▪ “We came about one body,” Vera said, “and you’ve given us two?” (77)

▪ “They have to suffer slowly, like they did. They died a little bit more every day, and you know it.” (132)

▪ “A shot at a six-figure job in the corporate world? Sebastian Collier recommending you for it? Who’s not going to go for the hookup if you can get it, right?” (149)

▪ With the death of his son, his progeny, what Sebastian Collier wanted was payback, and Lange had been charged with making the transaction. (195)

▪ “They might want to take another swipe. Anything to get Collier’s attention and force him back so they can get at him.” (247)

Glynnis death

▪ Dead and gone. Out of sight, out of mind. Cop suicides made the department look bad, and the attention was unwanted at the top. (13)

▪ “I am owed, Detective Harriet Foster. I was wronged. And you have a debt to pay.” (102)

▪ “The fact that you think you can do it alone is why I won’t let you do it alone.” (107)

▪ “If I can prove it, I’ll make him pay.” She rose. “Don’t worry.” (129)

▪ Someone always knew a cop who worked with a cop they knew. (136)

▪ She’d heard his voice. He had sounded solid, locked in, vengeful, not crazy. (180)

Novels No. 106

 

Lisa Jewell. Don’t Let Him In. USA: Atria Books, 2025.

In the Swann household, Aislin (“Ash”) seems a rather aimless young woman, way overqualified for working retail in a thrift shop; she’s mourning her father Paddy, killed in a freak accident. Her mom Nina is almost ready to move on when she meets charismatic Nick Radcliffe. In another household, Martha has three young-ish children and runs a successful floral business, accustoming herself to the job demands of her second husband Alistair, who is often called away for days in the hotel business. A third POV comes from an anonymous male “four years earlier.” He is busy deceiving his wife Tara about his work and his finances, hiding a head-over-heels affair with a younger woman. Is it obvious that three women – or three men – are going to connect somehow?

Each woman considers her husband/partner the perfect man—thoughtful, caring, sensitive, smart, fun. You know what they say about “too good to be true”? “I’m really sorry, darling” is the constant refrain excusing himself for working away from home for days on end. How long before the smitten woman asks for more answers about his hardworking, erratic job? Ash Swann is feeling very protective of mom Nina, who now manages Paddy’s three thriving restaurants. Ash doesn’t realize that what she starts as a mild investigation of Nick is going to blow the lid off the most bizarre activities. Chronology shifts between the present and recent past. It helps to make a chart as you go.

Never underestimate a master crime writer spinning a tale that, serpent-like, coils back on itself. So inventive it’s guaranteed to cause dizziness. This is a solid, engrossing example of why Lisa Jewell is known as the U.K. suspense queen.

Bits

▪ “Aha,” he says, striding into the room, all teeth and good hair and expansiveness, kindness, warmth, and glow. “Lovely to see you again.” (25-6)

▪ Instead, she opens her mouth just a crack and half whispers the words: “Jonathan, the police are here.” (51)

▪ I want to break her jaw. I want to feel it shatter under my hardened knuckles. (54)

▪ This marriage ends when I am ready for it to end, and not a moment sooner. (62)

▪ “Darling,” I say in that voice I use when I’m with her: clipped, elegant, private school, not the soft, swollen, northern lilt I use when I’m with Martha. (76)

▪ I garner sympathy, I foster team spirit, and then I find ways to extract money. (94)

▪ “Christ, Jonathan. You are such a bullshitter. Literally every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie.” (139)

▪ He is everything, this man. He is everything. And she finds herself throwing her arms around him and squeezing him hard to her ... (161)

Ruth Kelly. The Ice Retreat. UK: Pan Books, 2024.

TCDC* The opening scene is harrowing enough to warn you it’s going to be a rough journey. Investigating a suspicious business operation is one thing, but adding a disturbed protagonist immediately piles on the tension before even stepping forth. I should have paid more attention to my radar on high alert; not what I signed up for? Hollie had a successful season of her Bad Medicine cable series and wants a stunning pilot to guarantee a second. Her burning sights are set on exposing the Ice Retreat, a Swiss-located healing therapy spa that promises relief from all kinds of pain. Hollie is obsessed with their leader, Ariel Rose, convinced it’s all a huge criminal fraud that conceals the “patients” who don’t recover. Not one to restrain her opinions, she’s being warned by her producer Grace and her sometime husband Mikkel to drop the idea or she’ll go off the deep end—hints of past trauma for Hollie.

Yes, I gave it a good go and plowed on even further, but force-feeding drugs and hallucinations and Nordic fantasy creatures turn me right off. I wish Hollie good luck and a personal therapist.

* TOO Creepy, Didn’t Continue

Robyn Harding. The Drowning Woman. Hachette Book Group, 2023.

Lee Gulliver is living in her car, homeless in Seattle. It’s a huge comedown for an ambitious woman once proudly operating her own boutique restaurant in New York. She’s at the mercy of random thieves who stole her ID and surly Randy, boss of the dingy diner where she works. When Lee instinctively foils an attempted suicide, a bond grows with perpetrator Hazel. Like Lee, Hazel is living in fear, but unlike Lee, she is trapped in a wealthy but sadistic marriage. Did I know where this was leading? Yikes. The two women hatch a plan for Hazel to safely flee from her abusive, controlling husband Benjamin, but Lee is distracted on meeting Jesse, a man who treats her with gentleness and respect. A plan for Hazel’s escape finally involves all three of them but none of it goes accordingly, to Lee’s horror.

Switchabout to Hazel as narrator. A dead man is only the start of new troubles. It becomes clear that each woman suspects the other of double-crossing her with hidden motives. Mutual trust is gone; neither Lee nor Hazel has anyone else to rely on. Will the police or the gangsters find them first? Engulfed by convoluted events, their dreams of beginning a new life are more elusive than ever. For readers raised in the nineteenth century, the concept of total power exchange in a marriage should be educational. Which woman is worse or better off if another man dies?

It’s almost as if the plot is being lost in a snare of emotional turmoil. The predictable ending softens a very intense read, but Canadian author Harding has earned her chops.

Lee

▪ When my restaurant was failing, my life’s dream crumbling before my eyes, I lied, I cheated, and I manipulated. (5)

▪ I’ve been drowning in loneliness and Jesse is oxygen. (75)

▪ Does Hazel really expect me to let myself into her home? To risk an encounter with a violent man? (93)

▪ I didn’t question him about his history because I had secrets, too, parts of myself I wanted to hide. (188)

▪ It is not too late to turn back. To head directly to Sea-Tac airport and get on that plane. (196)

Hazel

▪ “That doesn’t sound like a marriage, Hazel. It sounds like a master and a slave.” (33)

▪ “My god...,” she says softly. “You could pass for me. We’re about the same height. And size. And now we have the same hair.” (92)

▪ I’d sold my freedom for a life of privilege and luxury. And I had agree to an arrangement that was destroying me. (117)

▪ “There’s a strange woman living in the park near your house, Hazel. And she has a knife.” (140)

▪ I knew Jesse was not simply a personal trainer. He had a past he wouldn’t talk about. (140)

▪ “My name is Detective French. We’re arresting your husband for conspiracy to commit murder.” (230)

Novels No. 105

Karin Slaughter. We Are All Guilty Here. USA: William Morrow Large Print. 2025.

A police procedural of painstaking detail, the lengthy novel centres on the small town of North Falls where two teenage girls have been abducted. Statistically, finding them fast is the only way they might still be alive. Sheriff Gerald Clifton’s brightest deputy is his daughter Emmy, whose best friend is Hannah, mother of missing Madison. The second girl missing is Cheyenne; the two have been inseparable pals. Emmy’s guilt over having brushed off Madison earlier that evening drives her to reckless actions in the search. Hannah blames her for the missed opportunity to talk with Maddy that – possibly – could have forestalled the later kidnapping. Their friendship is over even though Emmy pulls some heroics in locating the girls, and perpetrator Adam Huntsinger faces life in prison.

Suddenly, hello: it’s twelve years later. Huntsinger is released on bail when new evidence shows that he was busy attacking a woman miles away on the night that Maddy and Cheyenne disappeared. Nevertheless Emmy is convinced Huntsinger abducted them. Her life has changed—she’s divorced; father Gerald at ninety-plus is still sheriff, but urging Emmy to run for election; son Cole is a newbie deputy; and her mother Myrna is deep in dementia. Soon after Huntsinger’s release, young Paisley Walker disappears from where her trashed bicycle was found; it feels like history repeating itself. Emmy’s stress level is compounded when her father is shot to death and she becomes acting sheriff to collaborate with the FBI. The dramatic entrance of Dr. Jude Archer to the case throws her off-kilter.

The deeper into the story one goes, the more dysfunctional the Clifton family looks. Emmy’s inability to express emotions causes much of the suspense, as the search for Paisley goes on. Caveats: the author’s habit of delaying exposition of non-intuitive past events can be irritating; of the many twists and turns, a final surprise is one too many, IMO. But deconstructing the crimes and Slaughter’s deft psychological insight make the novel completely absorbing.

So many potential quotes in over 700 pages (large print)!

▪ “They were only popular because people were afraid of crossing them, and now that they’re gone, it’s like nobody remembers how cruel they are.” (111)

▪ “I want you out of here. Don’t call me. Don’t email me. Don’t text me. Don’t try to talk to me. Don’t even send me a goddam letter.” (131)

▪ “You recruited Cheyenne and Madison when they were ninth graders.” (181)

▪ She dove into the deep end of the pond, slicing under the surface like a knife. (247)

▪ Her body was turning against her, trying to push out the grief that she kept trying to swallow back down. (333)

▪ “Eventually, they’re gonna find a witness who’ll testify that she was touching the gun when it went off.” (342)

▪ “A man has to prove himself once. A woman has to prove herself every day.” (373)

▪ “You told Dad you wouldn’t step foot back in town until he was dead. Is this your victory lap?” (436)

Kathy Reichs. Fire and Bones. Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2024.

It’s been an eon since I read a novel based on Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist. On the eve of the Memorial Day weekend, Tempe allows her daughter’s friend, up-and-coming journalist Ivy Doyle, to interview her about fire fatalities. Ivy’s online piece triggers Dr Jada Thacker to beg for Tempe’s help with recovery of victims in a disastrous DC fire. There goes Tempe’s weekend plan to spend it with her partner, Andrew Ryan. At the fire scene, she meets Capt. Hickey who directed the operation on the blazing old Victorian structure, and surly arson inspector, Sgt Burgos. Four bodies (i.e. what’s left of the charred remains) are found as expected. But a hidden sub-cellar is revealed, unaffected by the fire, where a small woman’s murdered body is concealed in a burlap bag. No one seems interested in a cold case from the 1940s except Tempe, who stays on in DC as Ivy’s guest—Ivy who is relentlessly pursuing the fire story.

Violent Crimes Detective Deery is in charge of the aftermath, especially when a second fire breaks out nearby. Tempe gets history and architecture lessons on Washington’s Foggy Bottom area as Ivy searches for ownership of the two properties. With Ivy’s boyfriend Ben Zanetti they discuss theories of cause and motive for the fires; Deery disdains Tempe’s efforts at investigating until she’s proven on the right track. But someone is warning Tempe off, someone who scares her. A smattering of genetic genealogy is offered to clarify an extended family of suspects. Real danger aside, Ivy provides a superb Thai chef and the dialogue with a range of characters is great fun.

In spite of some macabre burnt-body descriptions, the novel has charm due to the warmth and wit of Tempe herself. Some of her (mostly) private thoughts are worth repeating:

▪ To say Ivy Doyle was charismatic would be like saying the Atlantic Ocean was damp. (10)

▪ I awoke with my heart busting dance moves in my chest. (141)

▪ “Burgos has an ego the size of a container ship.” (149)

▪ Apparently, we’d be doing some surveillance before approaching the Stoll brothers. An activity as exciting as watching dust settle. (192)

▪ A shapeless apricot housecoat draped her large frame, flattering as a hospital gown on a corpse. (219)

▪ The tension in the room was thick enough to roast in a pan. (226)

Other bits

▪ “I know this fire isn’t the story of the century, but scoring an on-air interview with a celebrity scientist will improve my visibility.” (10)

▪ “But this is so simple.” Spreading her impeccably manicured hands. “You must stay with me.” (38)

▪ Had she offended someone? Seemed unlikely, the kid was Canadian. (106)

▪ Besides the heart-stopping good looks, the man had the warmth of an old parish priest, and the manners of a royal at court. An extremely winning trifecta. (136)

▪ “Oh, my God. Are you a fan of The Oak Ridge Boys?” (166)

▪ “You do understand that you’re not a cop?” (187)

▪ Ordering me to back off from my investigation? My investigation of what? The Foggy Bottom property? The four fire victims? The subcellar lady in the burlap bag? (212)

▪ It was as if a spigot had suddenly been turned. The spike from rational to manic was shocking. And terrifying. (227)

 

Novels No. 104

 

Freida McFadden. The Tenant. USA: Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, 2025.

Blake Porter must be the world’s unluckiest man. A very respected VP marketing manager, suddenly he’s fired for reasons he knows nothing about. At least his loving fiancée Krista, who shares his home, is empathetic. After all, he’s a sensitive, New-Age man. With the drastic loss of income, he’s forced to rent out a room in his Manhattan brownstone to cover his mortgage payments. The only decent applicant is agreeable Whitney Cross and she fits right in. Until she doesn’t. Small aggravations aimed at Blake—eating all his breakfast cereal, using up all his shampoo—start growing to major proportions for a man stressed over finding a new job. He blames Whitney for adding a highly allergenic chemical to his special laundry detergent, and for the untimely death of Goldy, their pet goldfish.

Krista is charmed with the woman, and dismisses Blake’s complaints. When Blake confronts her, Whitney denies the accusations and any vendetta, but the incidents get even more bizarre and Krista thinks it’s all in Blake’s disturbed head—she takes a temporary time-out in the relationship. When events build to the point where Blake is under police suspicion of murder, he’s shocked into realizing he needs to stop reacting and go proactive. Ah: comes the superb twist. McFadden doesn’t stop at just one twist, though. Here’s an author with all the right ingredients for a top-drawer, absorbing psychological adventure.

Bits

▪ “Just get out. And forget about a severance package after what you pulled. Don’t even think of applying for unemployment. I’ll prosecute you for theft, you piece of shit.” (8)

▪ I can’t let anything happen to Goldy. She’s our practice child, and if we let her die, that seems like an ominous harbinger for the future. (47)

▪ What is wrong with this woman? What on earth did I do to make her hate me this much? (111)

▪ I love my home, and Whitney has turned it into a living hell. I’ve just dished a little back to her. (122)

▪ I am in danger of losing Krista if I don’t try to fix things. She’s acting like I’ve become unhinged lately, and that’s not true. (135)

▪ “You’re constantly flying into uncontrollable rages over nothing. You’re extremely paranoid. You’ve basically threatened me.” (193)

▪ “Mrs. Cross?” I say. (228)

Jinwoo Park. Oxford Soju Club. Canada: Dundurn Press, 2025.

This slim spy novel of just over 200 pages was well-received critically, and fellow authors have called it “intelligent” and “riveting.” It’s different. In both plot and style. Apparently the publisher’s blurb had attracted me but it took me at least fifty pages to get a hazy grip on what’s happening. Chalk it up to aging brain? Or it’s simply not user-friendly. It’s more about Korean emigration and identity than spook culture. The first person we meet is Korean Yohan Kim who is masquerading as Junichi Nakamura, a Japanese Frenchman, a post-grad student. Oxford, of course, is full of international students and academics. Yohan is often in the company of Doha, his professor and commander. Secret agents of rival powers, among them a Korean-American young woman who works as a bartender, are not easy to distinguish—nearly every one of them has more than one alias. Whatever their country of affiliation, they are trained to follow orders without question.

Soju is a popular alcoholic drink and the Soju Club is more or less the Korean equivalent of a pub. I’m revealing as little as possible because if you read it, it’s best you fend for yourself. Dead bodies are piling up as Yohan questions his existence. The narrative shifts from one agent to another with generic headings such as “The South Korean” or “The American” or “The Exiled” or “The Rejected” and others, but usually the character reveals itself by word or deed. It’s more problematic when a chapter occurs in an unidentified place and time period. Yet the message of loyalty and individual freedom is integrated.

Watchers are everywhere in the intricate, byzantine world of espionage; in this particular case, it may be difficult to relate to them as fellow human beings. Although the story line is confusing or mysterious at times—with a sly surprise at the heart of it—the author wields a powerful pen.

Peeks

▪ “There will be a time when none of us will be here for you,” Doha once said in passing, his soju glass dangling from his fingers, filled to the brim. (19)

▪ “Remember, your identity is your strongest weapon. Forget who you are. Yohan Kim is no good here. But Junichi Nakamura, he is part of the world.” (21)

▪ “It’s called the American dream. I think it’s a wonderful concept. Like everyone is living the same self-centred delusion.” (27)

▪ He must always be ready to leave each and every place. He must never allow himself to be comfortable anywhere and he must never connect with anyone. (70)

▪ “You understand what’s going on, right?” she says, pointing to the photos strewn across the table in front of him. “You’re being liquidated.” (89)

▪ “How many people does it take to make one of you? How many trainees get squeezed into the system for someone like you to come out the other end?” (108)

Novels No. 103

 

Tom Baragwanath. Paper Cage. Australia: The Text Publishing Company, 2022.

Alert: the novel describes the deep racism between two cultures; it can be disturbing.

A New Zealand town. It has a defined neighbourhood of aboriginal residents where half-Maori Sheena Henry lives with Keith Makara, leader of a gang called the Mongrels. Their young son Bradley is a shining light for his great-aunt Lorraine Henry who regrets that the drug of choice in the home seems to be crystal meth—great quantities being available among the Maori gangs. Our narrator Lorraine works as a clerk for the local police station, deploring the environment her beloved Bradley lives in; she loves Sheena but resents Keith’s bad influence and is not always welcome in their surroundings. When Bradley is the third child in that area to disappear completely, Lorraine turns sleuth whether Chief Ambrose likes it or not.

The small police station is supplemented by Detective Justin Hayes from Wellington, joining the search for missing children. He’s a man who appreciates Lorraine’s knowledge of both the police files and the local tensions. Are the kids being used as pawns in a drug war? Keith seems as frantic as they are to find his son but he won’t cooperate with any gang information. Lorraine’s good friend Patty provides welcome support, but our two dedicated hunters are walking straight into murder and mayhem and heart-stopping moments. Many words and terms are colloquial, e.g. “patched” is a gang member; “faheka” is a non-aboriginal person, such as Lorraine (please forgive the absence of diacritical marks.)

The entire landscape comes alive with this talented author’s words, and he’s beautifully drawn an introspective voice for Lorraine. Love and loyalty, death and despair; nothing will stop this woman from bringing Bradley home to his family. Yet that presents a conflict between family solidarity and a child’s best interests. Moreover, there’s tragedy in the apparently irreconcilable extremes of mistrust when people try to justify violent actions.

Pokes

▪ It’s a plastic bag, almost empty, the powder inside like shards of dark sugar. The red lines at the edges of Sheena’s eyes. (40)

▪ “He damn near killed a guy, Sheena!” I point through the window. “Right outside, remember?” (42)

▪ “You want to share a roof with Sheena, that’s her call. But if I hear of any more patched stuff going on around Bradley, it won’t be like last time.” (44)

▪ It’s like Patty says, it’s a wonder they can keep track of their kids at all, that lot. (50)

▪ “But this whole turf war idea doesn’t hang together. You know it doesn’t.” (67)

▪ Us and them, Aunty or no, it’s still the same. Our kids might be missing, the answer just one locked door away, but these are lines that won’t be redrawn. (82)

▪ He takes a bite, chewing deliberately. “Most love is about fear, you know.” (96)

▪ The shotgun barrel swings back to me and there’s a blinding flash, a hundred sunrises flaring all at once. (122)

▪ “They’re taking from you, taking all the time. They take so much, I wonder what’s left for yourself.” (187)

Shari Lapena. A Stranger in the House. Canada: Doubleday Canada, 2017.

After struggling with Abbott Kahler’s mirror-image twins in Where You End (gave up p. 116), this Lapena novel was a relief: steady, straightforward, and somewhat predictable. Karen Krupp crashed her car at high speed in a panic one night, now recovering from her bangs and bruises but with total amnesia of the whole event. She comes under suspicion when a murdered man is discovered near where she crashed. Detectives Rasbach and Jennings believe the amnesia is fake despite the medical opinion; they find evidence she had been at the site. Even husband Tom is beginning to doubt her diagnosis because even after she’s recovered, Karen is acting strangely jumpy. So many times the couple declare their love for each other, but the words have no impact without character development.

Something is bothering Karen, and it apparently precedes the fatal night. Good friend and neighbour Brigid Cruikshank is acting strangely too. Unable to conceive a child that she’d love to have, Brigid has too much time on her hands while husband Bob spends most of his time tending to his funeral home business. Everyone has secrets, of course, and the pace only picks up when Karen secretly recovers most of her memory. Lawyer Jack Calvin is needed because Karen is about to be arrested and Tom is about to be shocked. Why passively cringing Tom is an object of desire for two women eludes me.

The lack of character insight makes for a tedious journey through a predictable plot with moments that seem artificially contrived. Far too much dwelling on anxious thoughts and unspecified fears. My “relief” was brief; it’s disappointing, unlike other Lapena books I’ve read.

Snips

▪ “Yeah, well, lots of housewives have a secret drug habit that hubbie knows nothing about,” Kirkton says. (16)

▪ Karen knows that whatever kind of trouble she might be in, Brigid would drop everything and race to her side. (60)

▪ He remembers the ease with which his wife lied to them about the gloves. In contrast, he had lied badly, and they all knew it. (92)

▪ She really isn’t the woman he thought she was. She’s much tougher, much harder, and much more damaged than he ever suspected. (191)

▪ His world is coming completely apart. He doesn’t know what to do, how to act. (194)

▪ If she were alone in this room with Rasbach, she might make a mistake. But Calvin is here to make sure that doesn’t happen. (196)

▪ What if she visits Karen in jail and tells her what he did? (223)

Novels No. 102

 

Ragnar Jonasson. The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer. 2023. USA: Minotaur Books, tr. 2025.

[in-house filler] Helgi is a great fan of crime fiction, collecting books wherever he goes. He also happens to be a policeman in Reykjavik, working in an office once the domain of recently retired Hulda. His new case involves Iceland’s most famous crime fiction author – Elin Jonsdottir – gone inexplicably missing. The usual police process takes place quietly somewhere in the background but the focus is on Helgi’s movements and thoughts (it’s amazing that he finds time to read classic detective works during the investigation), lacking real clues. At the same time, he’s curious about the quiet disappearance of his predecessor Hulda. And lest we think Helgi is your typical alpha-male cop, we know his ex-girlfriend Bergthora often physically attacked him in drunken rages; he’s ashamed he put up with her abuse for so long. After he finally left her, she is stalking Anita, his lovely new girlfriend.

Interspersed throughout are excerpts from a taped interview with Elin by an unnamed journalist. Plus, we have back stories lurking about an old bank robbery and Hulda’s struggles in a misogynistic career environment. And who is Marteinn Einarsson?—another crime writer, popular, but not quite Elin’s calibre. Elin had contentedly retired when her ten-book series was completed. Elin’s lawyer Baldur reluctantly provides the clue that ignites Helgi’s investigation while he deals with her old friends and her publisher Rut.

Not your average format, with an unusual policeman. No peers in sight, no office politics. Helgi’s happy relationship with Anita underscores a fear of loneliness among most characters. The twists come thick and fast, then a cliffhanging climax. Jonasson is a veteran author; his prior series feature Hulda (Hidden Iceland trilogy). I’m looking for more.

Bits

▪ This was what it was all about: the chance to tackle demanding cases, under pressure, and emerge victorious. (19, Helgi)

▪ “Live life well, you said, but sometimes we need to break with habit, smash a few eggs along the way, do something unexpected.” (22, Elin)

▪ Suddenly she was running for her life, not daring to glance over her shoulder to check if anyone was in pursuit. (114, Anita)

▪ Her target was obviously him, not Anita. She intended to go on making his life unbearable, poisoning the very air until he was struggling to breathe. (136, Helgi)

▪ He was exasperated with Rut for withholding such an important piece of evidence. And now he wanted more than anything to read the manuscript. (227, Helgi)

▪ “The interview has been preying on my mind ever since you told me yesterday that Elin had gone missing.” (246, Kristin)

Jonathan Kellerman. Serpentine. USA: Ballantine Books, 2021.

[another in-house grab] Must be years since I read a Kellerman, but here’s the old familiar duo of psychologist Dr Alex Delaware assisting L.A. detective Milo Sturgis. The two often interact like comedians in their own abbreviated language. Milo’s been given a doozy cold case going back almost forty years: Dorothy Swoboda died in a fiery car accident but it didn’t destroy the bullet in her skull that the then-investigation ignored. Now her daughter Ellie Barker, who had been three years old at the time, wants to learn the truth. Pulling political strings, she has Milo’s boss order him to take it on. Right from the start, it’s a messy, puzzling case where other suspicious deaths followed Dorothy’s. Three previous detectives had failed to solve it; or, pressure was applied by parties unknown to remove them from it? Only retired cop Dudley Galoway is still alive to recall small details.

Records have disappeared and so many principals are dead. After Dorothy, death followed at different times for her angry husband Stanley; her more recent wealthy boyfriend Anton Des Barres; Anton’s second wife Arlette; and earlier detectives McClatchy and Seeger. Interviews with Anton’s three adult children and anyone who knew the family relate their father’s mid-life metamorphosis into bizarre behaviour with a series of dubious women. Only the most skilled investigator could make any sense out of numerous characters that appeared over the forty year period—not to mention missing women—and come up with a viable suspect. Even while the pressure is on to solve it, from police superiors and Ellie, someone else is attempting to chase our guys off the case.

Mercifully, the frustrating hunt for Dorothy’s killer is leavened by the Sturgis-and-Delaware banter, bouncing theories off each other. Vivid locales around the extensive L.A. area and its traffic are a feature of its own. Dorothy’s necklace of serpentine stone provides one tiny clue; Serpentine the book provides more than satisfactory entertainment.

Overheard

▪ “I didn’t push the bio-dad issue because he already looked pretty stricken and I didn’t want to hurt him.” (18)

▪ “Take a look around, my friend. You see any addresses? Only thing I had to go on was Seeger’s notes.” (61)

▪ “My sister said something about a woman who lived with our father umpteen years ago.” (123)

▪ “Strictly speaking, Arlette wasn’t followed. But someone rode into the forest soon after her.” (147)

▪ “It’s like they’re blow-up dolls. He’s into control.” (167)

▪ Her eyes got wet. Several tears got loose. “This is only the second photo I’ve seen of her.” (180)

▪ “Here’s what he said: ‘Bring the devil into your home, you’re the devil’s disciple.’” (192)

▪ “I got nearly identical tips from two sources about a girl named Benni.” (247)

Novels No. 101

 

Abigail Dean. The Death of Us. USA: Viking, 2025.

To begin with, Dean plays it cool and cryptic with main characters Isabel and Edward so their relationship is confusing. What is clear is that the serial “South London Invader” – Nigel Wood – is about to be sentenced for numerous crimes including murder, dating as far back as twenty-five years. After selecting and spying on his victims, Wood notoriously invaded homes at night in order to terrorize a husband-and-wife couple—restraining the man, raping the woman. Escalation then moved to killing his victims. The sentencing hearing involves many victim impact statements, Edward and Isabel included. Crowds of people are in attendance, some having come long distances. Edward plans to be one of the courtroom speakers; will he finally be able to articulate what he can’t express to Isabel?

Isabel (in 1^st person) and Edward (3^rd person) take turns to narrate the story—their history together and apart. Since Wood was not caught for years while repeating his crimes, the victims’ psychological damage was rarely healing. Support groups and friends do their best. Through that time, Detective Etta Elioglu was the only police to recognize the same-perpetrator aspect of the crimes, working persistently to try to identify him. Among the avid media, journalist Royce is the most obsessed with the magnitude of the drama. Isabel’s portion of the book’s narrative addresses Wood directly; this is her impact statement—will she ever be rid of him?—how she and Edward could not speak of it to each other, thereafter failing to communicate the necessary comfort.

Human nature can respond variously to an external imposition of impotence. With skilled insight, Dean has crafted how a mystery was solved, but more: a profound love story that weaves before and after the fatal night.

Isabel

▪ “I cannot conceive of the idea,” Etta said, “that these are his first attacks.” (72)

▪ You moved the knife to the corner of my eye, and you said, to Edward: “Shut the fuck up. Come here. You’ll tie her up for me.” (111)

▪ “It may not feel like it, just now. But you’ve been injured. You’ve been traumatised.” (125)

▪ I spoke to Patrick Royce, Etta’s first choice, the same man who had followed us to France and made a career of South London Invader speculation. (245)

Edward

▪ That was the only way Edward could live, believing that he had faced something inhuman and undefeatable. (29)

▪ “Some records referred to a support group for the Invader’s male victims. Something Elioglu thought she’d set up.” (39)

▪ Isabel was good at not appearing to be frightened, but she always was, and he knew this because he was, too. (178)

 ▪ How was he supposed to stand before a judge who had read his name in a newspaper just that morning? How was he to instruct associates, interns, secretaries, knowing how they talked? (209)

Charlie Donlea. Guess Again. USA: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2025.

You have to buy into forty-five-year-old Ethan Hall being, first, a highly successful detective with the state Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) for ten years, then retraining to become a highly successful emergency room doctor. Ethan is much happier helping people than witnessing the carnage caused by bad guys. But his former partner, Pete Kramer, and state governor Mark Jones convince him to investigate the cold case of the governor’s daughter who went missing ten years ago. Callie Jones was a high school student at the time; we know (Ethan doesn’t) that Callie had been having a secret affair with her school sports coach, Blake Cordis. Over thirty years ago, Francis Bernard was suspected but never charged for the “Lake Michigan Massacres”—a series of young women murdered and left on a beach. Instead, Bernard was arrested and convicted of killing policeman Henry Hall, Ethan’s father. Oddly, it’s devious Bernard – locked up in prison – who gives Ethan a clue to Callie’s case.

Moreover, we also know that a mystery figure named Eugenia Morgan is able to communicate with and follow instructions from Bernard. Examining what’s known about Callie’s last day before vanishing, Ethan will try to find her old friends, her sister Jaycee, and others to interview—but it’s all been done before. Area newcomer Christian Malone provides extra-special tech assistance; Dr Lindsay Larkin provides psychological expertise; and Ethan’s girlfriend, city detective Maddie Johnson doesn’t doubt that Bernard will find a way to kill her. Ethan finds himself dealing with more than one surprising crime. Good title!

Each chapter is tightly constructed for creating maximum suspense, but please—an entire chapter in italics (small-ish font)? Annoying, and breaks the rhythm. Compelling as it is, the story has several moments or occurrences hard to swallow; nevertheless, you’ll be guessing again and again.

Bits

▪ Her therapist called it an obsession. The medical term was hybristophilia. But Eugenia knew she suffered from neither obsession nor a medical condition. She was in love. (44)

▪ “It’s sad, really. You’re so lost you have to ask your father’s killer for directions.” (108)

▪ “You were in prison for more than twenty years when Callie went missing.” (146)

▪ “How I know is immaterial. What I know is crucial. And most importantly, what I want in exchange for that information.” (146)

▪ She climbed through the window, carrying with her a Callaway 9-iron golf club, and headed straight for his office. (183)

▪ Months of planning had shrunk to weeks. Weeks to days. And now mere hours stood in the way of their new beginning together. (224)

▪ “Maddie doesn’t need a gimp DCI agent to protect her. She’s got round-the-clock protection from Milwaukee PD.” (254-5)