Blog

The Temp by Michelle Frances [Book Review]

Posted on March 21, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Temp

Author: Michelle Frances

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: January 29, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

A successful career woman pays the ultimate price for having it all in this “outstanding psychological thriller” by the USA Today bestselling author (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

With a dream career and a handsome screenwriter husband, TV producer Carrie is at the top of her game. Now with a baby on the way, she will truly have it all—she’ll just need someone to fill in for her while she’s on maternity leave. A young script editor with some missteps in her past, Emma is determined to make the most of the temporary position. She wants a life just like Carries . . . exactly like Carries.

Carrie has given up more than anyone knows to get to the top of a ruthless business. But with Emma filling in for her at the office, her perfect life starts to unravel. Her bank account is inexplicably overdrawn, her husband seems strangely distant and colleagues are all too happy to take Emma’s creative direction. Carrie finds herself dying to get back to work . . . until a letter left at her door changes everything.

MY REVIEW

Carrie, a successful TV producer, is pregnant and needs to hire a temp. She will need time off work after the baby comes, even though she hates having to leave her job. She hires Emma. Emma is ambitious and eager to work with Carrie.

The Temp is told with the alternating points of view of Carrie and Emma. Carrie and her husband have successful careers and a happy marriage. When Carrie finds out she is pregnant, they’re well planned lives get off course. Emma wants to work in the television industry, but hasn’t had much luck. A temp position with Carrie is a dream for her, and she desperately wants it to work.

The Temp is a slow-burning psychological thriller. Interesting characters and twisty plot made for a captivating read. Intriguing, suspenseful, and twisted.

Books by Michelle Frances:

The Girlfriend
The Temp
The Daughter
Sisters
The Boyfriend
The Playground

Nothing to Lose by Victoria Selman [Book Review]

Posted on March 20, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Nothing to Lose

Author: Victoria Selman

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: March 26, 2019

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Ziba MacKenzie #2

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

He’s looking for his next victim. She looks just like his last.

Primrose Hill, London. Offender Profiler Ziba MacKenzie arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder with a disturbing sense of déjà vu. Nine days earlier, another woman’s body was found: same location, same MO, same physical appearance. For the police, it’s clear a new serial killer is on the loose. But for Ziba, it’s even more sinister—because the victims look just like her.

Ziba has been the focus of a killer’s interest before, and knows that if she gets too close again this case could be her last. Still, she’s not one to play by the rules—especially when her secret investigation into her husband’s murder begins to attract unwanted attention.

With someone watching her every step, can Ziba uncover what connects the two victims before she becomes one herself?

MY REVIEW

Nothing to Lose is the second book in the Ziba MacKenzie series by Victoria Selman. Ziba is a profiler who works on gruesome murder cases. Her latest case involves the murder of two women who bear a striking resemblance to Ziba, making her a potential target. In addition to this case, Ziba is secretly investigating her husband’s murder, which was never solved.

The first book in this series is Blood for Blood. In the first book, Ziba wasn’t all that interesting to me, but I enjoyed her character more in this book. Maybe I was more in the mood for this type of read, or maybe this one is just a better book. Could go either way. Anyway, I recommend reading Blood for Blood first, but Nothing To Lose can be read as a standalone.

This story is told over a series of days as Ziba works to discover who is behind two gruesome murders. To complicate matters, Ziba seems to be a target herself, adding an extra layer of suspense. While the women’s murders presents an interesting and twisty case, I also enjoyed Ziba’s investigation into her husband’s death.

A highly entertaining read for fans of crime fiction. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and exciting.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Ziba MacKenzie series:

Blood for Blood
Nothing to Lose
Snakes and Ladders

Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly [Book Review]

Posted on March 18, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Little Lovely Things

Author: Maureen Joyce Connolly

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publish Date: April 2, 2019

Genre: Domestic Suspense

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly

BOOK BLURB

A mother’s chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent’s worst nightmare in this gripping thriller. Could any family endure such crippling suspense?

It is the wrong time to get sick. Speeding down the highway on the way to work, her two little girls sleeping in the back seat, medical resident Claire Rawlings doesn’t have time for the nausea overtaking her. But as the world tilts sideways, she pulls into a gas station, runs to the bathroom, and passes out. When she wakes up minutes later, her car—and her daughters—are gone.

The police have no leads, and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each new hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere.

As uplifting as it is devastating, Little Lovely Things is a poignant mystery about a family shattered by tragedy and a mother’s fierce determination to make it whole again—whatever that may take.

MY REVIEW

Claire Rawlings gets sick while driving with her young children in the car. While her girls sleep in the back seat, Claire pulls over at a gas station. When Claire comes out of the bathroom, her car, and her girls, are gone. The guilt of leaving her children alone and the search for them weighs heavily on Claire. Her health, marriage, and work all suffer as the search for her daughters seems to go nowhere.

Told with alternating points of view, which allows the reader to not only be aware of Claire’s experiences, but also what happened to her girls. A tragic story of two missing children and the impact of their loss on their parents. This book doesn’t look too closely at the investigation into the girls’ disappearance, but instead looks at the people and relationships involved.

An emotional story of every parent’s worse nightmare. The idea of your children disappearing, and having no idea what happened or where they are, is heart-wrenching. A heartbreaking story of guilt, loss, and hope.

The Banker’s Wife by Cristina Alger [Book Review]

Posted on March 14, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Banker’s Wife

Author: Cristina Alger

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Publish Date: July 3, 2018

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

On an early morning in November, a couple boards a private plane bound for Geneva, flying into a storm. Soon after, it simply drops off the radar, and its wreckage is later uncovered in the Alps. Among the disappeared is Matthew Werner, a banking insider at Swiss United, a powerful offshore bank. His young widow, Annabel, is left grappling with the secrets he left behind, including an encrypted laptop and a shady client list. As she begins a desperate search for answers, she determines that Matthew’s death was no accident, and that she is now in the crosshairs of his powerful enemies.

Meanwhile, ambitious society journalist Marina Tourneau has finally landed at the top. Now that she’s engaged to Grant Ellis, she will stop writing about powerful families and finally be a part of one. Her entry into the upper echelons of New York’s social scene is more appealing than any article could ever be, but, after the death of her mentor, she agrees to dig into one more story. While looking into Swiss United, Marina uncovers information that implicates some of the most powerful men in the financial world, including a few who are too close to home. The story could also be the answer to Annabel’s heartbreaking search–if Marina chooses to publish it.

The Banker’s Wife is both a high-stakes thriller and an inside look at the personal lives in the intriguing world of finance, introducing Cristina Alger as a powerful new voice in the genre.

MY REVIEW

Annabel’s husband Matthew dies when the private plane he was on crashes. Matthew worked in the world of finance. After his death, Annabel discovers her husband was keeping secrets, and she becomes a target of her husband’s enemies. Meanwhile, Marina, a journalist, is working on a story that could disrupt the financial world.

Told with the alternating viewpoints of multiple characters. I enjoyed the different POVs and found it worked well for this story. Both Annabel and Marina are strong female protagonists with interesting stories.

The Banker’s Wife is an intriguing thriller focused on the financial world. There is a fair amount of financial jargon, but it works and is not boring. Complex, compelling, and suspenseful.

Books by Christina Alger:

The Banker’s Wife
Girls Like Us

The Line Between by Tosca Lee [Book Review]

Posted on March 13, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Line Between

Author: Tosca Lee

Publisher: Howard Books

Publish Date: January 29, 2019

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: The Line Between #1

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestselling author and master storyteller Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost and causes madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming.

When Wynter Roth finally escapes from New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.

As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play: that the prophet they once idolized has been toying with the fate of mankind, and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.

Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter, herself.

MY REVIEW

Wynter Roth is banished from the cult New Earth. Now in her twenties, Wynter has lived with them since she was a kid. New Earth has cut itself off from the rest of the world and maintained a self-sufficient environment. New Earth has always told its members that the end of the world was coming. When Wynter leaves, she enters a world where a mysterious disease is quickly spreading. She has been told the apocalypse was coming, and now she is faced with that reality. However, Wynter soon learns she may be able to help save the world.

Wynter is a smart and courageous young woman. She wants to protect her sister and her niece, but she doesn’t know how after she is banished from New Earth. When Wynter’s sister locates her and gives her some medical samples, along with information that Wynter did not know, Wynter does all she can to help. Wynter needs to get the samples to Colorado, and she’s not sure who she can trust along the way. Enter Chase, a former military man.

The Line Between is a fast-paced and exciting thriller. Intriguing characters. Suspenseful story. Great for fans of novels involving cults and apocalyptic storylines.

I received a digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Books in The Line Between series:

The Line Between
A Single Light

And Then You Were Gone by R.J. Jacobs [Book Review]

Posted on March 13, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: And Then You Were Gone

Author: R.J. Jacobs

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publish Date: March 13, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

For fans of B. A. Paris and Mary Kubica comes a propulsive, twisting psychological thriller that asks, How can you save someone else if you can’t save yourself?

After years of learning how to manage her bipolar disorder, Emily Firestone finally has it under control. Even better, her life is coming together: she’s got a great job, her own place, and a boyfriend, Paolo, who adores her. So when Paolo suggests a weekend sailing trip, Emily agrees—wine, water, and the man she loves? What could be better? But when Emily wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone.

A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. Where else could he have gone? And why? As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip.

But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy. To clear her name, Emily must find the truth—but can she hold onto her own sanity in the process?

MY REVIEW

While on a sailing trip, Emily wakes to find her boyfriend Paolo is missing. Since Paolo is a strong swimmer, Emily finds it hard to believe he could have drowned. As days pass, Paolo’s disappearance starts to lean toward murder… with Emily as a suspect. Emily struggles with managing her bipolar disorder, which she though was under control, while she searches for answers to what happened to Paolo.

Emily makes for an interesting unreliable narrator. She has been managing her bipolar disorder well, but when Paolo goes missing and she becomes a suspect, she no longer has control. In addition to that, her memory of the night Paolo went missing is very hazy. The fun thing about unreliable narrators is the reader never knows if they can be trusted.

When Emily looks into Paolo’s disappearance, she learns more about his work. Paolo works in medical research, and while Emily was aware of the virus he was working with, she learns a lot more about his research and coworkers as she questions what happened to him.

And Then You Were Gone is a fast-paced psychological thriller. Intriguing, suspenseful, and twisty.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by R.J. Jacobs:

And Then You Were Gone
Somewhere in the Dark
Always the First to Die
This Is How We End Things

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty [Book Review]

Posted on March 11, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: A Beautiful Corpse

Author: Christi Daugherty

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publish Date: March 12, 2019

Genre: Amateur Investigator

Series: Harper McClain #2

My Rating: 5/5

BOOK BLURB

From Christi Daugherty, author of The Echo Killing, comes another pulse-pounding suspenseful thriller featuring crime reporter Harper McClain.

For a woman, being killed by someone who claims to love her is the most ordinary murder of all.

With its antebellum houses and ancient oak trees draped in a veil of Spanish moss, Savannah’s graceful downtown is famous around the world. When a woman is killed in the heart of that affluent district, the shock is felt throughout the city. But for crime reporter Harper McClain, this story is personal. The corpse has a familiar face.

Only twenty-four years old, Naomi Scott was just getting started. A law student, tending bar to make ends meet, she wanted to change the world. Instead, her life ended in the dead of night at the hands of an unseen gunman. There are no witnesses to the crime. The police have three suspects: Scott’s boyfriend, who has a criminal past he claims he’s put behind him, her boss, who stalked another young bartender two years ago, and the district attorney’s son, who Naomi dated until their relationship ended in acrimony. All three men claim to love her. Could one of them be her killer?

With the whole city demanding answers, Harper unravels a tangled story of obsession and jealousy. But the pressures on her go beyond the murder. The newspaper is facing more layoffs. Her boss fears both their jobs are on the line. And Harper begins to realize that someone is watching her every move. Someone familiar and very dangerous.

Someone who told her to run before it’s too late…

MY REVIEW

Crime reporter Harper McClain is back in the second book in this suspenseful series. A local woman is killed late at night in Savannah’s tourist district. There are no witnesses to the crime, but the police have three suspects. Harper digs deep to discover who is behind the murder.

Harper is back in A Beautiful Corpse, and after the events in the first book, her relationship with the Savannah police department is suffering. Since she is a crime reporter, this makes her job a little more challenging. Using the few connections she still has, along with her smarts and determination, Harper works to discover the killer in a local murder. This death has hit a little close to home since Harper knew the victim. Being close to the crime both helps and hinders her work as a crime reporter.

The local murder isn’t the only mystery in Harper’s life. It seems someone is watching her. This storyline started in the previous book, but it goes much further in this one. Add in work place drama and a little romance, and this makes for a gripping read.

I loved the first book in this series, The Echo Killing, so I was looking forward to reading this one. I’m happy to say, this continues to be an engaging and thrilling series. I recommend picking up the first book in this series before reading this one.

Compelling characters. Complex and entertaining story. Atmospheric setting. A perfect choice for fans of mystery thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Harper McClain series:

The Echo Killing
A Beautiful Corpse
Revolver Road

Smash and Grab by Joe Albanese [Book Review]

Posted on March 6, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Smash and Grab

Author: Joe Albanese

Publisher: Books to Go Now

Publish Date: February 28, 2018

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Wick was a normal young man, passing his days at a part-time job and wasting his nights with friends and booze. That was until someone smashed a brick to the side of his head and knocked Wick’s life upside down. The culprit, Kenny, a young man in a dire situation, has only one goal: to get the job done, no matter who gets in his way.

MY REVIEW

Smash and Grab is a novella about two young men, Wick and Kenny, and their shady group of friends and acquaintances.

This is a quick read at 52 pages. A clever story with crime, drugs, and enough twists to keep it interesting.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Until the Day I Die by Emily Carpenter [Book Review]

Posted on March 6, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Until the Day I Die

Author: Emily Carpenter

Publisher: Lake Union

Publish Date: March 12, 2019

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

From the bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls comes a riveting novel about a mother and daughter separated by grief, secrets, and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy their lives.

If there’s a healthy way to grieve, Erin Gaines hasn’t found it. After her husband’s sudden death, the runaway success of the tech company they built with their best friends has become overwhelming. Her nerves are frayed, she’s disengaged, and her frustrated daughter, Shorie, is pulling away from her. Maybe Erin’s friends and family are right. Maybe a few weeks at a spa resort in the Caribbean islands is just what she needs to hit the reset button…

Shorie is not only worried about her mother’s mental state but also for the future of her parents’ company. Especially when she begins to suspect that not all of Erin’s colleagues can be trusted. It seems someone is spinning an intricate web of deception—the foundation for a conspiracy that is putting everything, and everyone she loves, at risk. And she may be the only one who can stop it.

Now, thousands of miles away in a remote, and oftentimes menacing, tropical jungle, Erin is beginning to have similar fears. Things at the resort aren’t exactly how the brochure described, and unless she’s losing her mind, Erin’s pretty sure she wasn’t sent there to recover—she was sent to disappear.

MY REVIEW

Erin Gaines, her husband, and two friends created a tech company that has started to take off. Erin’s husband died unexpectedly, and Erin is grieving his loss. Her daughter Shorie is leaving for college, but wants to stay home and work at her parents company. Between their grieving and difference of opinions regarding Shorie’s future, the mother-daughter relationship has become strained. Erin is encouraged to go to an exclusive spa for help, but it turns out the spa is not the relaxing resort experience she was expecting.

Told with alternating viewpoints – Erin and Shorie. Erin is grieving, working too much, and doesn’t seem to be taking care of herself. Shorie is smart and resourceful, and wants to work with her parent’s tech company rather than go to college. Erin and Shorie love each other, but their relationship is strained with what is currently happening in their lives. Erin’s friends and family encourage her to attend a spa on a private island to help her get back on track. The island resort turns into a dangerous experience. While Erin is away on the island, Shorie starts to look into some questionable activity going on with the tech company.

Until the Day I Die is an exciting thriller, especially the parts that take place in the jungle of the private island. This book combines a mystery at a tech company and a perilous island experience. Overall, a wild, mysterious, and fast-paced page turner.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Emily Carpenter:

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls
The Weight of Lies
Every Single Secret
Until the Day I Die
Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare [Book Review]

Posted on March 4, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Call Me Evie

Author: J.P. Pomare

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Publish Date: March 5, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Don’t trust him. It wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been me.

Meet Evie, a young woman who has fled with her uncle to the isolated New Zealand beach town of Maketu. Jim says he’s hiding her to protect her, that she did something terrible back home in Melbourne. Something Evie can’t remember.

But Evie isn’t her real name. And Jim isn’t really her uncle.

In a house that creaks against the wind, Evie pieces together the events that led her here. And as her memories return, she starts to wonder if Jim is really her saviour . . . or her captor.

MY REVIEW

Kate, a teenager, is living in a remote cabin with Jim. She has no memory of why she is being kept in the cabin, or who Jim is. She only knows that something terrible has happened. Jim says he’s trying to help her, but she’s not sure she can really trust him.

Call Me Evie is told with alternating timelines – before and after. In the before timeline, Kate has some disturbing things from her past, but also some pretty normal teenage problems. In the after timeline, it’s clear something bad has happened, but the details are slowly revealed.

Call Me Evie is a story that combines memory loss and kidnapping into an entertaining psychological thriller. The main character is a teenager, and this book does read a lot like a young adult story rather than adult. Good for fans of YA thrillers. Suspenseful story of secrets and lies.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Books by J.P. Pomare:

Call Me Evie
In the Clearing
Tell Me Lies
The Last Guests
The Wrong Woman
Seventeen Years Later

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry [Book Review]

Posted on February 27, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Perfect Child

Author: Lucinda Berry

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: March 1, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.

Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.

MY REVIEW

Christopher and Hannah are a happy couple, but they long to have a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, shows up at the hospital where they work, Christopher wants to foster her. Despite the warnings about raising a child with an abusive past, they take her into their home and family. They are not prepared for the challenges they face.

The Perfect Child is told with alternating points of view – Christopher, Hannah, and Piper, Janie’s social worker. Christopher adores Janie and finds it difficult to believe she is capable of the harmful behavior others warn him about. Hannah is more realistic about the difficulties they face. Piper is Janie’s social worker, and presents an outsider’s view of the family and their behaviors.

It’s no surprise that Janie suffers from physical and mental issues due to her abusive past. With their medical background, Christopher and Hannah do seem like the perfect couple to take care of Janie. Unfortunately, Christopher is blinded by his love, and Janie’s manipulation, to see how bad things are. My biggest issue with this book was Christopher’s disregard for Hannah’s concerns and the safety of their family. If Christopher hadn’t been such a dolt, this would have been a better book for me.

The Perfect Child disturbing domestic thriller. While it is clear something very bad has happened, the very bad thing isn’t revealed until late in the book. Makes for a suspenseful read. Good for fans of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage.

Books by Lucinda Berry:

Missing Parts
Phantom Limb
Appetite for Innocence
Saving Noah
The Perfect Child
When She Returned
The Best of Friends
The Secrets of Us
Under Her Care
Off the Deep End
Keep Your Friends Close

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets [Book Review]

Posted on February 27, 2019January 15, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Last Woman in the Forest

Author: Diane Les Becquets

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: March 5, 2019

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. When they’re separated on another assignment, she’s shattered to learn of his tragic death. Before long, Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life, and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women.

Hoping to clear Tate’s name, Marian reaches out to a retired forensic profiler who’s haunted by the open cases. But as Marian relives her relationship with Tate and circles ever closer to the truth, evil stalks her every move.…

MY REVIEW

Marian learns about four unsolved murders, and wonders if her recently deceased boyfriend, Tate, could have been involved with them. She finds it difficult to reconcile the man she loved with him also being a murderer. She wants to keep her questioning private, and involves a retired profiler to help her learn more about the unsolved cases.

Told from Marian’s point of view, the story alternates between past and present. The past is about her work in wildlife research and her relationship with Tate. In the present day timeline, she questions everything she knew about Tate. Marian loved Tate, but she is faced with inconsistencies between what he told her and what she learns after his death.

The wilderness is a large part of this story. Personally, I loved that aspect of this novel. As someone with a background in environmental research, I enjoy stories that highlight outdoors and research. The research Marian is involved with uses rescued dogs to track and monitor wildlife populations. The setting is the wilderness of Montana and Canada.

This is a character-driven mystery. Intriguing, atmospheric, and complex. Good for fans of mysteries and thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Other mysteries by Diane Les Becquets:

Breaking Wild
The Last Woman in the Forest