"Don't Look for Me" by Wendy Walker

Molly disappears during a terrible storm while driving home from her son’s high school football game (in another town). Her car is abandoned on the side of the road with her cell phone inside. A few days later, a note is found in a nearby hotel room telling her family that she has left and “don’t look for me”. After an exhausting community/police search, no trace of her can be found. The search is called off and everyone goes back to their lives as best they can.

We are taught from an early age to be polite to strangers, our elders, teachers, law enforcement. But we are also taught not to get in the car with someone we don’t know; don’t be lured away from the playground with candy or the promise of petting a puppy. When do you cross that line from being polite to being more concerned about a situation and being rude if necessary? 

 

What would you do? Would you continue to look or obey her wishes and let her go? After all, her entire family is still reeling from her youngest child’s death a few years ago. A death that was her fault.

 

“Don’t Look for Me” by Wendy Walker is a twisted tale of lies, deceit, hatred, anger, obsession, and guilt. The story unfolds as a witness comes forward after the search for Molly has ended. Everyone believes that the witness is simply after the reward money; one million is a nice nest egg. Nicole, Molly’s daughter, does not believe that her Mother would just walk away from their family even though they have all treated her very badly as they blame her for Annie’s accidental death. Nicole decides to meet with the eyewitness to determine if she might just be telling the truth.

 

As Nicole tries to track down exactly what happened the night her mother disappeared, she finds that no one in the town is telling the truth and they all have something to hide.

 

This story made me quite uncomfortable sometimes. But aren’t those the best kind? The ones that make us ugly cry, ache for something more, make us uncomfortable? That doesn’t mean it was not a good book, it was. Some of the dialog/scenes just disturbed me.

 

As for me, I can tell you what I would do. My husband, daughter, sister, niece, or someone else I love disappears… you’d better hide well if that is your intent because I am never giving up!

 

Publication Date: September 15th 2020

Format: eBook

Genre: Thriller, mystery, suspense

Cover: Perfect

Rating: 4 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this great book!

#/DontLookForMe #NetGalley 

"The Caretakers" by Eliza Maxwell

Sisters! If you’ve got one, you know what I’m talking about. As for me, I ruined mine’s life when I was born. She continually tried to get rid of me. Seriously. Locked me in the refrigerator back in the olden days when they locked when closed (you couldn’t just push them open from the inside). Apparently, I fit inside perfectly. She pushed me down a hill in a cardboard box into rush hour traffic. Told me Indians were in the barn and waiting for darkness to come scalp me. Anyway, you get the point. Sisters can be huge pains in the you know what.

Don’t want to lead you astray. This book is not a comedy. Sisters can be many things.

Tessa Shepherd has just made a mistake. A big one. She filmed a documentary about a murderer who was wrongly accused. After her film helps to get him released, he kidnaps the daughter of the police officer who convicted him and implies that Tessa knew the plan all along. She is hounded by the press but cannot call the one person she needs to share her side of the story with… her twin sister. They have not spoken in years.

Tessa’s mother dies suddenly. During the reading of the will, she and her sister find that their Mother was not who they thought she was. They now own a once beautiful, magnificent home that is now ruined and decaying.  A home where her Mother’s entire family was murdered when she was just a baby.

In an attempt to hide from the press and the murderer, Tessa goes there only to find that the caretakers are two elderly sisters. One of them does not want her there and they don’t seem to be telling Tessa the truth about her family. Tessa vows to get to the bottom of the story, but will she be able to find the truth about her family before time runs out?

“The Caretakers” was a great story that blended old, family secrets with new ones and had a touch of the supernatural. Great imagery of the old house, forest and care taker’s cottage. It had some good twists and turns while getting to the end.

Oh, and by the way, it’s all good now. We laugh about my sister’s attempts to strike me from her life. She is my best friend.

Publication Date: April 14, 2020

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Thrillers, Kidnapping, Family Secrets, Supernatural
Cover: Perfect

Rating: 4 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

#TheCaretakers #NetGalley

"Invisible Girl" by Lisa Jewell

We think we can do things and no one will notice. That we are sly. That we can meet a lover, shower afterwards, and no one will question why that second shower of the day. Sneak a cigarette, spray perfume, and no one will catch a whiff of that underlying scent. Perhaps we slip a shot or two of vodka into our juice, brush our teeth after, and believe no one will be the wiser. We are just fooling ourselves. Our spouse knows; our children know. Eventually, they will get tired of keeping our secrets.

 “Invisible Girl” begins on Valentine’s Night 2019; the night seventeen-year-old Saffyre Maddox literally vanishes from the streets of London. Everyone is concerned as there have been several attacks on women that seem to have escalated; the last sending the target to the hospital. Is Saffyre a victim of the unknown assailant or did she simply run away?

During a series of flashbacks, we learn the last several years have been hard ones for Saffyre. She lives with her uncle who is only ten years older. She has a secret. A secret that causes her to harm herself and has kept her in therapy for years. Her therapist, Roan, believes that she has been healed and quit seeing her. But Saffyre is far from healed. She cannot sleep, eat, or even stay indoors. She roams the streets of London where she eventually sees Roan from afar. Unbeknownst to him, she begins stalking both him, his family, and his lover.

While doing so, she encounters Roan’s creepy neighbor who lives across the street with his elderly aunt. She also befriends Roan’s son,

But what happened to Saffyre?

I love to think about why authors give a book a certain title. Why “Invisible Girl”? Who is the invisible girl and does she choose or try to be invisible or is it just the way life unfolds. All interesting questions to ask while reading this book!

I have read several Lisa Jewell books and this is one of my favorites! Great ending… twisty, turning read to get there.

Publication Date: June, 2020

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Thrillers, Kidnapping, Incel,
Cover: Good
Rating: 5 stars
Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

#InvisibleGirl #NetGalley

"Little Secrets" by Jennifer Hillier

Start pulling that string and you never know what is going to unravel and eventually, if you keep pulling, something will unravel. After all, everyone has secrets… even little ones.

Marin’s life has been in chaos for sixteen months; simply surviving after her son went missing at Seattle’s Pike Place Market just before Christmas. In the end, it was her fault and there are no leads. Someone dressed up like Santa with a child is not uncommon. And now, her husband Derek is having an affair with a much younger woman. Her best friend and long ago boyfriend, Sal, wants her to leave him or to let him “take care of him”.

Jennifer Hillier writes an engaging tale of kidnapping, lies, deceit, and desires with a satisfying ending.

When I requested this book, I looked at goodreads and marked it “Want To Read”. I knew I had to read it when I saw that it had no one or two star ratings! I looked at the author’s bio, it read “Jennifer Hillier writes about dark, twisted people who do dark, twisted things “. Looking forward to reading all her other books. 😊

Update: I checked out “My Year in Books 2019” on goodreads; her book was the highest rated of the 84 books I read last year.

Publication Date: April 21, 2020

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Psycological Thrillers, Kidnapping, Crime, Adultery
Cover: Good
Rating: 5 stars
Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!
#LittleSecrets #NetGalley

"The Long Call" by Ann Cleeves

If you are in the mood for an intriguing mystery/police procedural, British author Ann Cleeves’ “The Long Call” fits that bill! This is the first in a new series, Two Rivers, by the author in some time and it introduces Detective Matthew Venn.

Detective Venn has already had a rough day when he is called to a murder not far from the North Devon beach home he shares with his husband, Johnathan. Earlier, he viewed estranged father’s funeral from distance. He was not welcome because his parents belonged the Bretheren, a religious cult from which he was cast out several years prior.

As the investigation begins, a young lady from the Woodyard Centre goes missing. Everyone in the area wonders if the two events are related as this area has a very low crime rate. As Venn and his colleagues investigate the murder and kidnapping and grow closer to finding the culprit, several suspects emerge. It seems that the murdered man, the Woodyard, the Bretheren, and perhaps even Johnathan are tangled in the scheme.

This is the first book of Ann Cleeves I have had the pleasure to read, but it won’t be the last. Excited to find a new author with so many books from which to choose!

Publication Date: September 3, 2019

Genre: Mystery, thriller, suspense, police procedural, crime, international mystery, detective

Cover: Perfect

Rating: 5 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

#TheLongCall #NetGalley

"You Belong to Me" by Mark Tilbury

Those last three paragraphs! Wow… didn’t see that coming. That’s literally all you need to know.

When you feel like giving up because the chapters seem to be rehashing the same material over and over… keep on plowing through it. Don’t give up; it will be worth it! And when you are finished, let that last sentence sink in. Then give that title a little think.

Those of you who know me or who have read some of my other reviews know that I love me some justified revenge. Sometimes it’s fairly quick (Four Brothers) and sometimes it takes years (Remember… one of the best movies ever). Sometimes, two wrongs can make a right!

When I was close to the end, I almost thought that that there might be a part two. I hate those books that are written thinking that there will be two or three in the series (same story) and leave you hanging at the end of book one. Rest assured, you will be content when you read that final word.

#YouBelongToMe #NetGalley

Publication Date: February 4, 2019

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Cover: OK

Rating: 4.5 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

"Once Upon a River" by Diane Setterfield

I have been waiting for this book since I closed the cover on “The Thirteenth Tale”! (If you haven’t read it, download it now!) Diane Setterfield spins a tale like no other.

“Once Upon A River” begins with the discovery of a lifeless child at the river. A child whose “corpse was a blank page” and gave up no story about what had happened. The child, a girl, was discovered by a man who stumbles, half dead himself, into the The Swan; an ancient inn that was known for its storytelling.

Rita, the local nurse, is sent to attend to the man and to hopefully discover what exactly happened to the child. Before Rita can finish her examination of the dead girl, for she was indeed dead, the girl comes back to life.

Who is this girl? To whom does she belong? Is she the daughter of a local couple whose child was kidnapped two years ago? Is she the child of a local prostitute who jumped from the bridge a few weeks ago? Is she the ghost of another’s sister?

As the story unfolds, we learn about the characters and the girl. We learn their stories-their hopes, dreams, character. We learn how virtuous people can be and we learn how despicable they can be. We learn about the river. How it gives life and how it takes it away.

The characters are so very well developed that I did not want to say goodbye to them. I wanted to continue, but remember, we all have rivers of our own to attend to!

#OnceUponARiver #DianeSetterfield #NetGalley

Publication Date: December 4, 2018

Genre:  Suspense, Mystery, Kidnapping, Supernatural, Gothic, British

Cover: Perfect

Rating: 5 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

"Paradox (FBI Thriller #22)" by Catherine Coulter

I love justified revenge: Four Brothers, Carrie, Taken, Remember, True Grit and my all-time favorite The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Now that is some beautifully orchestrated justified revenge! And I can’t wait for Jennifer Garner’s new movie, Peppermint. That one looks awesome!

The problem is that everyone who seeks revenge thinks it’s justified. That’s what’s going on in Catherine Coulter’s latest Sherlock and Savich case, “Paradox”.

The book begins with a botched kidnapping of their son Sean. While trying to figure out who could want to kidnap him and why, they are called in to assist in another case. Willicott, Maryland’s police chief witnesses a murder early one morning while gazing at the lake from her home. When local officials drag the lake for the body, they discover bones from several bodies. A subsequent search uncovers an odd clue as to whom the bodies may belong. This seemingly idyllic little town has lots of secrets and a creepy murder house to boot!

Meanwhile, they discover that the kidnapper may be someone out for revenge and they must stop him before their family and others are devastated.

A great read for any Sherlock and Savich fans. Coulter tackles forgiveness and mental illness in this one, too.  Good story; this one has a truly satisfying ending! After all, some revenge may truly be justified!

#Paradox #CatherineCoulter #NetGalley

Publication Date: July 31, 2018

Genre:  Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Kidnapping, Mental Illness

Cover: Perfect

Rating: 5 stars

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!