Hello Stranger Review

Author: Katherine Centeer

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Release Date: July 11, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

4 Hearts

Special thanks to St. Martins Press for an arc of this book.

Review:

Like her late mother, Sadie Montgomery is an artist - a "starving artist".  Her specialty is Norman Rockwell style portraits and while she's struggling to earn recognition, she works hard at her craft.  After learning her work has earned her a coveted top ten spot in the same competition her mother had placed in, Sadie is excited to start on the portrait she'll enter in the contest.  This is it . . . this is her big chance.  The only fly in the ointment is the discovery she needs surgery that can't wait.  She has six weeks until the show so no problem, right?  When Sadie awakens from surgery, it quickly becomes apparent that she can't identity the faces of those around her.  Her doctors explain she has "acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia aka face blindness", but not to worry.  It will resolve itself shortly; however, days pass without any improvement in her condition.  Meantime an emergency trip to the vet with her dog Peanut proves interesting as she feels an immediate mutual attraction with the new vet who soon asks her out.  Embarrassed over her condition, she stays silent about the fact she can't tell what his face looks like and accepts his invitation.  And just like that, Sadie has made the decision to keep her face blindness to herself, telling no one.  She learns to cope and identity people in other ways - like by clothes they routinely wear, etc.  Her annoying neighbor Joe proves to be quite helpful when she needs a hand, and in spite of herself, she has to admit there's also a budding attraction between them.  So here she is - a couple of weeks until the portrait contest, a contest she knows could change her life and she can't paint.  If that's not enough, she finds herself falling for two men . . . and she doesn't know what either of them looks like.  What's she going to do?

Hello Stranger is a highly entertaining, light hearted romance with heavy underlying subject matter.  I've never heard of face blindness, but can imagine it would be quite terrifying for anyone - let alone someone who depends on "seeing" faces for their career.  Through Sadie's struggles with the issue, readers learn more about neurological disorders and available coping skills one can utilize.  Center does a fantastic job with character development and plot twists while setting a steadily increasing pace and hopeful tone.  A healthy dose of laughter and an emerging love affair (or two) make this one a delight to read even as Sadie is faced with deciding which of the two men vying for her attention she'll choose.  Never a fan of love triangles, I was concerned going in as to how this would play out.  It took me until near the end to see what was happening and while it's not completely believable, it makes for a highly entertaining read.  Fans of romance and rom coms will enjoy this one.

Synopsis:

Sadie Montgomery has had good breaks and bad breaks in her life, but as a struggling artist, all she needs is one lucky break. Things seem to be going her way when she lands one of the coveted finalist spots in a portrait competition. It happens to coincide with a surgery she needs to have. Minor, they say. Less than a week in the hospital they say. Nothing about you will change, they say. Upon recovery, it begins to dawn on Sadie that she can see everything around her, but she can no longer see faces.

Temporary, they say. Lots of people deal with this, they say. As she struggles to cope―and hang onto her artistic dreams―she finds solace in her fourteen-year-old dog, Peanut. Thankfully, she can still see animal faces. When Peanut gets sick, she rushes him to the emergency vet nearby. That’s when she meets veterinarian Dr. Addison. And she’s pleasantly surprised when he asks her on a date. But she doesn't want anyone to know about her face blindness. Least of all Joe, her obnoxious neighbor who always wears a bowling jacket and seems to know everyone in the building. He’s always there at the most embarrassing but convenient times, and soon, they develop a sort of friendship. But could it be something more?

As Sadie tries to save her career, confront her haunting past, and handle falling in love with two different guys she realizes that happiness can be found in the places―and people― you least expect.

The Soulmate Review

Author: Sally Hepworth

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Release Date: April 4, 2023 (USA)

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to the publisher for an arc.

Reviewed at Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Get ready for a thrilling, addictive novel about marriage, betrayal, and the secrets that push us to the edge in Sally Hepworth's The Soulmate.

Review:

The Soulmate is a complex, twisted domestic thriller that scrutinizes the ties that bind true "soulmates" and the inevitable consequence of dark secrets and lies on that bond.  With each additional book, Hepworth has carved out a well-deserved spot for herself in the genre.  The Soulmate is another shining example of her expertise in delivering compulsively readable stories time and again.

 Gabe and Pippa Gerard moved several times before finding and purchasing their dream home in a picturesque small town outside Melbourne. Sitting on a cliff high above the sea and rocks below, it feels like they can almost touch heaven - the perfect place to raise their two small daughters once they've fenced in the yard to keep them from wandering too close to the edge.  Sadly, they soon learn their cliff is famous as a spot the lost and forlorn go to end their lives by jumping off the cliff.  The first time Greg spots someone standing on the cliff's edge, he rushes out and is successful in talking them down.  As time passes, he's instrumental in preventing more potential suicides elevating him to town hero status.  Until the day he and Pippa see a woman walking to the edge, and Greg fails to save her.  As Pippa watches her husband and the woman through her kitchen window, she's disturbed by what appears to be an escalating argument between the pair standing near the edge.  Pippa's briefly distracted by her daughters, and when she turns back to look out the window again, her husband is standing alone with outstretched arms . . . and the woman is gone.  What's wrong with this picture?  Something about the scene is unsettling to Pippa, something she can't quite put her finger on but when interviewed by detectives she brushes her unease aside and collaborates Greg's version of events.  However, when police release the woman's identity, Pippa is shocked and bewildered.  Why hadn't Greg admitted to knowing this woman previously?  What is the love of her life hiding?  Pippa is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but the truth may destroy her and her marriage.

The Soulmate is a tension laden domestic thriller that I challenge readers to put down once they start reading.  This reader needed a few hours of alone time as I soon found myself fully engaged and burning through pages in this one.  The story unfolds through two points of view - that of Pippa and Amanda aka the dead woman caught in limbo somewhere between life and death.  Through alternating chapters of past and present, readers assimilate information on how these two women's path's crossed and what ties them together as they join forces vowing to expose the truth.  Short, choppy chapters accentuates the action, drawing readers deeper into the multilayered plot line, and an insane pace heightens an undertone saturated with suspense and ominous vibes while the twists just keep slapping characters and readers in the face until the shocking end.  

Once again, Hepworth has rendered a mesmerizing, character driven story that will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.  Her ability to weave a highly entertaining story while shining a spotlight on major social issues such as mental illness, and the effect it can render on caretakers, as well as the havoc threatening the very foundation of dysfunctional families attempting to deal with the aftermath of trauma is commendable.  The Soulmate is an intriguing, intimate domestic thriller - a story of marriage with its many levels and nuances, of true soulmates and how far the bonds that bind will stretch before snapping.  I highly recommend this one to fans of character driven domestic thrillers.  The Soulmate is another fantastic offering from Hepworth and sure to please.

Synopsis:

There’s a cottage on a cliff. Gabe and Pippa’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t.

When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral...Did the victim jump? Was she pushed?

And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate...lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.

Panther Gap Review & Tour Stop

Author: James A. McLaughlin

Genre: Mystery Thriller, Noir

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: April 4, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to the publisher for an arc.

5++ Thrilling Hearts

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

The thrilling follow-up to the Edgar Award–winning Bearskin, about two siblings on the verge of inheriting millions but who discover dark secrets in their family’s past.

Review:

In this great big reading world, I consider myself lucky to come across a book that holds me captive from start to finish. One that I quickly become totally immersed in to a point of becoming one with the characters and story. These elusive books are rarer than hen's teeth and yet, I finished Panther Gap satisfied in the knowledge I held one in my hands.  Panther Gap is a larger than life story that defies genre and boundaries. One laden with a complex, multifaceted plot line and atypical characters refusing to be locked in a box.  One that delivers a stunning message to humans residing on planet earth.

Panther Gap is a mesmerizing story featuring siblings Bowman and Summer whose early years are spent running wild and free on their father's secluded, off-the-map ranch, hidden away from public eyes in a remote location rich in the history of the "Others" with ancient hidden subterranean passages forming a honeycomb in the Colorado canyon walls. Since losing his wife, their radical environmentalist father appears to be slipping away in fits of paranoia, experiencing psychotic episodes in losing battles with ghosts from his past while guarding dark secrets with his life.  His irrational warnings of unknown danger frighten his children, but even so both siblings absorb his lessons in survival skills and love for nature like a sponge as they grow into misfit teenagers. 

Bowman is especially psychic when it comes to the wildlife living in the natural habitat surrounding their refuge, often venturing off for extended periods of time to live among the animals as one. At times, he becomes dangerously close to losing touch with reality as he often transcends space in a hallucinatory state during which time the fragile lines between his human form and animal counterpart merge. Much of the story, especially anything pertaining to Bowman, is engulfed in a surreal, phantasmal state.  During these times, Summer fears she may lose her brother to the same apparent madness that drives her father.

Bowman and Summer eventually become estranged when he leaves the security of the ranch to pursue the elusive panthers in Central America, with hopes of discovering his own true identity and place in the universe, and she is left to take over the running of the family ranch which is bordering on financial disaster. It's only in later years when their father's warnings prove to be sound and the much maligned inheritance from their late grandfather comes into play that they reunite to battle the crime and mafia drug forces threatening them and their way of life. The story that ensues is a dark, gritty, raw, sometimes heartbreaking thriller that this reader could not put down.

Panther Gap is a beautifully written, action packed thriller that swept me away. I love a story that integrates the surrounding environment into the plot line as an extra character as McLaughlin does in this one. Add a cast of nonconformist characters pushed over their physical and mental limits, and I'm one happy reader.  Top that with a family drama - estranged, eccentric family members forced back together in the battle of their lives against bad guys coming at them from every direction in a multifaceted plot line, and I'm in book heaven.  Panther Gap is rendered through the points of view of Bowman and Summer in riveting past/presence chapters. This allows readers to understand the radical upbringing that shaped them into the adults they've become in this place and time with an appreciation for the environment as well as the source of the deep sorrow they bear in the knowledge that many of the earth's resources and species are being depleted and destroyed by climate change in the name of progress.  When it's all said and done, will they be able to say they made a difference? Can you?

Panther Gap has all the best of an old timey, shoot 'em up western - rugged setting, conflicted family, dirty money and a slew of bad guys gunning to claim a legacy. The action is swift, the characters damaged and the outcome in question until the final page.  I was hopelessly and totally captured by the brilliance of McLaughlin's writing as he wove this tale of a family in crisis, of a man and woman searching for their identities as individuals - one that "fit" . . . or at the very least, one they can live with.  I like that the ending is a bit open, not all wrapped up in a box with a bow.  Yes, there's much needed closure and yet one is left to wonder, what if?   

In reality, I haven't come close to conveying the magnitude and magnificence of Panther Gap in this review so I'll just say I highly recommend this entertaining book to fans of suspense thrillers, crime fiction and anyone who loves to get lost in a fantastic story that doesn't let you go until the end. 

Synopsis: 

Siblings Bowman and Summer were raised by their father and two uncles on a remote Colorado ranch. They react differently to his radical teachings and the confusions of adolescence. As young adults, they become estranged but are brought back together in their thirties by the prospect of an illegal and potentially dangerous inheritance from their grandfather. They must ultimately reconcile with each other and their past in order to defeat ruthless criminal forces trying to extort the inheritance.

Set in the rugged American West and populated by drug cartels, shadowy domestic terrorists, and nefarious business interests, Panther Gap shows James McLaughlin’s talents on full display: gorgeous environmental writing, a white-knuckle thriller plot, and characters dealing with legacy, identity, and their own place in the world.

What Have We Done Review

Author: Alex Finlay

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date: March 7, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to the publisher for an arc of this book.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

In one of the year's most anticipated thrillers #1 New York Times bestseller Sarah Pekkanen calls "Alex Finlay's best yet," What Have We Done is a tale about the lives we leave behind and the secrets we carry with us forever.

"What Have We Done is both an edge-of-your seat thriller and a gut-wrenching coming-of-age story. And it cements Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in thrillers today."

Review:

I've heard it said you can never outrun your past.  Sooner or later, it will come for you - as the three main characters in Finlay's What Have We Done learn.  What do they have in common?  Twenty-five years ago, all three were orphans, living in a group home called Savior House that existed as a so called safe place for parentless children.  However, the safe haven it should have been came into question when several kids went missing without a trace over time.  Before the imminent closure of the home, a bonded group of three - Jenna, Nico and Donnie along with two others - enter the dark woods surrounding Savior House to bury a deep, dark secret, each swearing to never speak of it again.  The home soon closed and the children are sent to different areas of the country to live with foster families, leaving their past and each other behind.  In present day, each one lives a somewhat productive if problematic life . . . until the day their secret past escapes and catches up to them.  Now one person is dead, and the others reunite to figure out who knows their secret . . . and why are they stalking them? 

What Have We Done is a tension laden thriller, most of which is narrated by three characters: Jenna, a housewife with unusual deadly skills; Nico, a reality television show producer with some dangerous connections; and Donnie, a famous rock star fighting a losing battle with an addiction.  Interspersed among the chapters narrated by these three characters, the villain's voice is also heard.  A brisk pace drives this highly readable story forward through a twisty plot line that kept this reader turning pages.  Alternating timelines allow readers to dial in on events in both the past and present as they attempt to put the pieces together to figure out the identity of a killer before time runs out.  I found some of the past renderings to be even more intriguing than the present. 

The action in What Have We Done is literally non-stop and brimming with a multitude of unique plot twists.  Finlay's utilization of shorter chapters and alternating points of view are highly effective in keeping readers slightly off kilter as they race toward the climax.  There comes a point where the plot line becomes a bit over the top, calling on readers to suspend belief and allow their imagination to carry them away to fiction/fantasy land.  I'm actually okay with that as I believe most of us can use a little escapism fiction in our lives from time to time - especially when it holds you hostage from start to finish.

Alex Finlay has become one of my favorite authors when I'm looking for a complex crime thriller to get lost in for an evening.  I almost always find myself totally immersed in his books, frantically turning pages seeking answers.  While What Have We Done isn't my favorite offering from this author, it is a highly entertaining, addictive thriller that most will find hard to put down.  I look forward to what's coming next from Finlay as he's become one of the must-read voices in crime fiction today.  I highly recommend What Have We Done to fans of suspense thrillers and crime fiction.

Synopsis:

A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Three disparate lives.
One deadly secret.

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, a bond forged as residents of Savior House, an abusive group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down—after the disappearance of several kids—the three were split up.

Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live successful, if troubled, lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them.

To save their lives, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their past—a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

It’s a reunion none of them asked for . . . or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.

Encore In Death Review

Author: JD Robb

Series: In Death

Publisher: St Martins Press

Release Date:  Feb. 5, 2023

Purchase: Amazon

4.5 Stars

Review:

Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh are the Hollywood IT couple at the top of their game.  Tonight is their night to shine . . . or at least her night as they throw a big party to celebrate the revival of the play that launched her to stardom.  Brant will be leaving the next day for six weeks in New Zealand as he starts a new vid project.  This is a couple that has apparently beaten the odds by maintaining a loving relationship in Hollywood.  Brant gets Eliza's signature drink from the bar and makes his way over to her.  But instead of drinking, Eliza has him hold her drink as she and her costar perform an impromptu duet.  Being the loving husband he is, Brant offers a toast to his beautiful wife, takes a sip of the drink meant for her and collapses on the floor - dead within seconds from apparent poisoning.  Chaos ensues until Lt. Eve Dallas and her partner Detective Delia Peabody arrive on scene to take control.  The story that ensues is a sea of red herrings with little motive, and a whole lot of acting.  And yet, as Eve works the case, the clues and evidence begin clicking in place until her Aha moment when she nails it.

Encore In Death is another classic Eve Dallas police procedural.  I never tire of following along as Eve unravels clues to solve a case.  Her mind is a fascinating place to be.  I'm a huge fan of Peabody and was happy with her enhanced role in this one.  I was never 100% sure of the villain in this one, but I did have my suspicions which proved true in the end.  Plenty of Roarke time as well as the signature humor I've come to expect in this series makes for another fantastic addition to the series.  Highly recommended.

Synopsis:

It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.

From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…

Birds In Flight Review & Author Interview

Author: Anni Taylor

Genre: Mystery

Release Date: March 7, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

5 Stars

Special thanks to the author for an arc of this book and for a fantastic interview (see below)!

Reviewed at Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Interview at Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Review:

Birds In Flight is the story of two estranged sisters, reuniting after twenty four years in an effort to solve the mystery of what happened to their mother and a young child accompanying her one dark, stormy night a lifetime ago.  Their mother had fled their father and America for a life road tripping around Australia in an old camper van for reasons unknown to her two unhappy daughters.  They traveled from place to place, sometimes pausing long enough to get to know a few of the locals before being abruptly jerked up and forced to move on again by their skittish mother.  While dutiful Lily quickly adjusted to her mother's flighty ways, rebellious daughter Iris resented the life she'd been forced to leave behind in America and took every opportunity to make her resentment and displeasure known.  And then came the fateful night they drove through the Australian everglades on the way to the next small town - her mother stopping on the side of the dark road, picking up the small child traveling with them and disappearing into the black, rainy night never to be seen again.  Later, Lily will recall being alone in the van, petrified and jumping at shadows when police abruptly stormed the van shouting questions.  A man had reported seeing a woman in the area running down the road chasing a little girl and called it in to authorities.  What Lily can't forget or justify is the sight of her older sister Iris running back to the van, soaked to the core with her yellow rain jacket held over her head.  Iris refusing to answer questions about where she'd been or what she'd done, warning Lily to keep her mouth shut.  Iris creating a rift between siblings that grew wider day by day until their relationship is hopelessly fractured by lies, secrets and innuendos.  A fracture that will keep them apart, living on two different continents for twenty four years.

Now, a lifetime later, Lily receives a phone call from police in Australia - during a big flood of the Everglades, something of her mother's surfaces.  Could this be the piece of evidence they've been waiting for?  Lily returns to Australia to meet the detective and hopefully, finally, shake the truth about what happened that fateful night from her sister Iris.   The two sisters form a tentative, fragile truce and, with their own children in tow, decide to reenact their mother's road trip from twenty four years ago - hoping to uncover clues, to find answers and maybe, just maybe, find their way back to each other.  But is either woman ready to accept the truths that emerge when skeletons are rattled?  Will it bring them back together . . .  or finish ripping them apart?

Birds In Flight is the second book I've read by the multi-talented author Anni Taylor.  Her descriptive narrative brings Australia, with its ever changing landscape and environment, to life in living, breathing color - the vivid sights and smells, the unrelenting heat and cold, the merciless dry and wet.  I felt like I was on the road trip with Lily and Iris, both as young girls with their mother and later as adults with children of their own.  Through past and present chapters, the author renders a mesmerizing tale of two doomed road trips twenty four years apart.  The tempo of each road trip sets a steadily increasing, ominous pace, building tension as they move from place to place, person to person, asking questions, seeking answers even as the strain and half-truths between siblings fester.  As they travel, they begin learning more about their mother's life and motivation before them, and it shocks and saddens them, driving their desire to find either her . . . or justice for her.  Characters are well-fleshed out and believable with a few red herrings woven in throughout.  Taylor does an excellent job of manipulating both characters and readers through an emotional, twisted plot line to an ending I didn't see coming.

Anni Taylor is an author that's earned a spot on my short list of favorite authors.  Her books are highly readable and entertaining while also managing to draw attention to social issues such as misogyny, estranged siblings/families, abuse and social class.  Birds In Flight is a dark, highly atmospheric story about love, loss, forgiveness and second chances.  It's about the true meaning of home and embracing our past in order to live our future to the fullest.  It's about learning to forgive even if you never forget.  Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, suspense and thrillers with a lot of depth and heart.

Synopsis:

Two estranged sisters reunite to solve the harrowing mystery of their missing mother.

In 1998, the American Jorgenson family had been on a year-long road trip in Australia. One humid, storming night, the mother - Elsa Jorgenson - vanished in an isolated stretch of Australian everglades. Elsa was never seen again.

That night, twelve-year-old Lily Jorgenson was left alone and terrified in the family camper—even her teenage sister Iris is missing. When Iris comes racing back through the rain, she refuses to tell where she’s been. Lily is certain her sister is hiding a dark secret.

24 years later, Lily is a travel writer living a settled life with her son in Pennsylvania, USA. Lily and Iris are estranged, with Iris’s secret having torn them apart. When floods dredge up their mother’s backpack from the everglades, tantalizing clues are uncovered, and the police reopen the cold case.

Lily returns to Australia, determined to force Iris to finally tell her secret - and to do that, she'll have to reunite with her. But when Lily unlocks the gut-wrenching events of the past, everything she thought was true about her family is about to shatter.

Interview with Author Anni Taylor:

Q. Tell us a little about Birds in Flight.

Anni: Birds in Flight is about loss and forgiveness and finding a place to belong.

Two estranged sisters—Lily and Iris—reunite in an attempt to find out why their mother vanished on a road trip when they were young. The story follows the younger sister (Lily) as she navigates this deeply traumatic path.

Lily discovers a tantalizing poem her mother wrote, which speaks about the one big mistake she made. Iris is certain that their mother’s big mistake was having children. Is it true? On that stormy night 24 years ago, did their mother decide to run away and leave her daughters behind? Or did something terrible happen?

Q. Where did the idea for this book come from?  What compelled you to write this story?  What’s the significance of the title?

Anni: I was enchanted by the idea of an endless summer, of a mother who felt compelled to take her children and follow the sun up and down a coastline. I had a strong sense of this person, but I wasn’t sure what was driving her. Was she seeking truth? Or was she running from something or someone—or herself?

The title, Birds in Flight, was just a working title at first. It came from a line the mother told to her girls—that they were birds in flight—forever free. Over time (the book was a year in the writing), it began to seem perfect.

Q. The setting for Birds In Flight is Australia – one you’ve used in your other books.  What’s special about this place/setting for you?  Why was it the perfect setting for Birds In Flight?

Anni: In Australia, the caravan/campervan holiday road trip around our coastlines is something very familiar to Australians. In my story, a familiar, ordinarily happy thing takes on a dark tone.

The two girls—Lily and Iris—don’t understand why their mother dragged them all the way to another country after she left their father. They feel like fish out of water, especially when their mother yanks them out of their new school to take them on a road trip (a road trip with no definite end). The sisters are footless and falling through air, with no one to catch them. When their mother goes missing, that sense of freefalling is magnified.

So, the setting was all about magnifying the feeling of being completely lost and out of place—and about the characters trying to find a way out of the wilderness in their own minds. Also, the setting mirrors the mother’s mind in the eyes of her daughters—strange, unknowable and wild.

Q. What do you see as the role of the estranged sisters Lily and Iris in Birds In Flight? What makes them the best choice of characters through which to render this story?

Anni: In 1998, 12-year-old Lily is bewildered by the circumstances that landed her in a foreign country. But life turns unexpectedly blissful for her—travelling & exploring & (importantly) developing a close relationship with her mother. But fifteen-year-old Iris is resentful and rebellious, being at the stage where she wants independence and interaction with other teenagers and boyfriends.

After their mother goes missing, Lily is desperate to reconstruct what she’s lost, while Iris is equally as focused on making up for lost time.

The two sisters are both very driven characters and neither of them forgive easily. With Lily being certain that Iris knows something about their mother’s disappearance, it makes for an intense dynamic between the two sisters.

Q. In Birds In Flight, you use the mother’s missing journal to reveal her past story to her daughters and to readers. Why did you choose this method of including her story vs. having her story revealed through flashbacks? 

Anni: I wanted those scenes to play out as if Elsa (the mother) was in the room telling her story to her daughters in person. The journal allowed me to show the immediate reactions from her daughters—the shock, disbelief, heartbreak, despair and rage.

Q. Talk to us about what’s next for you. Are you working on something you can share with readers?

Anni: I took a break over January, with my youngest son home from school (school holidays in Australia run the whole of January). The problem for me now is having so many ideas for a new story and being unsure which idea to go with!

I have two exciting ideas that I’ve started. The way it always happens is that a character begins standing out in my mind so vividly that they take over and take the lead. For example, in 2019, I was writing the story of a young police officer, and I had a detective near retirement age showing her the ropes. This older detective (Kate Wakeland) completely dominated every scene I put her in—so much so that I had to throw out the story I was writing! I ended up writing three books about Kate Wakeland (Tallman’s Valley Detectives).

With Birds in Flight, Lily, Iris and their mother seemed very real to me. I could sense these three women and their inner lives. I need that strong sense of character in order to write a story about them.

Cold Blooded Liar Book Tour & Review

Author Karen Rose

Series: Romantic Suspense #27; San Diego Case Files #1

Genre: Romance Suspense

Publisher: Berkley Publishing

Release Date: Feb. 28, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Big thank you to Berkley Pub. for an advanced readers copy!

 

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Brace yourself for a scorching new series from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose, where San Diego means sun, surf, sand…and serial killers.

Review:

Psychologist Sam Reeves is deeply disturbed after a court-ordered client - a pathological liar - starts talking about a 'pretty young thing' in a park. Sam can't break doctor/patient confidentiality, but he's compelled to make an anonymous phone call to the San Diego Police Department telling them of a potential grave site in a park.  He leaves his message for homicide Detective Kit McKittrick because of her reputation to stand for victims no matter what.  After a second alarming session during which the patient becomes belligerent and threatening toward Sam and a potential new victim, he phones in another tip via a payphone to McKittrick hoping to remain nameless.  Unfortunately for Sam, a short while later, he finds himself a suspect, spread-eagled on the floor of his apartment with Det. McKittrick slapping handcuffs on his wrists.  After being released for lack of evidence, Sam begins an ill-advised investigation of his own in an effort to protect his own hard earned reputation and livelihood as a reputable psychologist and overall decent human being.  When more girls are murdered with the same m o (modus operandi), it becomes apparent that a serial killer dating back a couple of decades is back in action.  Evidence begins stacking up against Sam, and he doesn't have any believable alibis.  Det. Kit McKittrick is inexplicably drawn to believe Sam, cutting him some slack much to the surprise of her partner and co-officers.  Kit's instincts and gut are telling her something is off about this investigation, and she won't stop until justice is served.

 Karen Rose's Cold Blooded Liar is a fantastic introduction to a new spin off series, San Diego Case Files.  Rose renders a dark tale of the abuse and horrific murders of young teenage girls over several years, all with dreams of becoming big time actresses.  McKittrick suspects this is the bond that the killer uses to draw them into his lair.  Readers are quickly transported into the story through the terrifying sessions of a killer with his psychologist and the investigation.  Tension escalates quickly and the tone is dire as the police always seem to be one step behind the killer even as the media is one step ahead.  As in all of this author's books, the small details are extremely important.  As a reader, I've learned to look for and follow the small crumb trail the author sprinkles throughout her stories as they prove to be important later on.

 Cold Blooded Liar is a tense, complex, emotionally charged story that kept me turning pages in an effort to figure out what I was missing . . . who is the killer?  I felt sure of who it wasn't, but while there are a couple of possibilities, I couldn't zero in on the person I thought was the most likely suspect and that's due to Rose's expert manipulation of both characters and readers.  Characters are convoluted and well developed and are introduced with just enough background information to draw you in, and yet remain elusive enough to peak readers curiosity - leaving this reader looking forward to what happens in future books in this series.  Fans of the Romantic Suspense series will enjoy appearances by past characters.  As for the romance, there's a strong attraction between Kit and Sam, but as readers quickly learn, the baggage Kit carries makes her skittish about relationships which results in her attempting to hold Sam at arm's length.  I loved the final line of the book with its implications that we'll see more sparks between this couple in future books which can't come soon enough.  Highly recommended to fans of suspense and psychological thrillers.  You don't want to miss this one!

 Synopsis:

Sam Reeves is a kindhearted psychologist who treats court-ordered clients. After one of his patients—a pathological liar—starts revealing plausible new details from a long-unsolved serial murder case, he’s compelled to report anonymously to the SDPD tip line, though his attempts to respect patient confidentiality land him facedown and cuffed by the aggressive (and cute) Detective McKittrick.

San Diego homicide detective Kit McKittrick loves the water. She lives on a boat, and when she’s not solving crimes with the SDPD, she’s assisting her foster sister with her charter fishing business, scuba diving, or playing with her poodle. But there’s nothing that intrigues Kit more than a cold case, so when an anonymous caller leads her on the path of a wanted killer, she’s determined to end the decade-long manhunt.

Sam is soon released but goes home with both a newfound distaste for the SDPD and a resolve--not unlike Kit’s--to uncover the truth. Kit and Sam repeatedly butt heads in their separate investigations but are forced to work together to find one of the deadliest serial killers the city has faced in a decade.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.karenrosebooks.com

Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON'T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels and two novellas. Her seventeenth novel, ALONE IN THE DARK, will be released in 2016.

Karen's books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London's Sunday Times, and Germany's der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa (#1) and Australia!

Her novels, I'M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America's RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages.

A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.

COLD-BLOODED LIAR by Karen Rose

Berkley Hardcover | On sale February 28, 2023

Excerpt:

Longview Park, San Diego, California

Monday, April 4, 5:30 p.m.

Kit pulled the handkerchief across her nose and mouth as she watched the two CSU techs

meticulously uncovering what was, indeed, a grave. Based on the odor, the body had been there

awhile.

They'd arrived at the mystery caller's coordinates to find that the ground had settled somewhat,

creating a slight depression that measured five and a half by two and a half feet.

Ground-penetrating radar had shown a body.

The victim had been small.

Kit slipped her hand into her pocket, finding the little cat-bird figurine. Stroking it with her

thumb. Please don't be a child.

"I hope it's not a kid," Baz murmured, echoing her thoughts.

All homicides were difficult. Even drug dealers murdered on the street had been loved by

someone. Were missed by someone.

But the child homicides were a completely different level of hell.

She looked away from the grave to where Sergeant Ryland, the CSU leader, was making a

plaster cast of the only footprint they'd found in the area. It was a man's shoe, size eleven.

"You got anything for us, Ryland?", she called.

"I just might."

She and Baz walked from the grave site to where someone had stepped off the asphalt path,

leaving the single footprint in the strip of ground between the path and the field of grass.

Ryland finished pouring the plaster over the footprint, smoothed it out, then set the timer on his

phone. 

"Thirty minutes for the plaster to set. Come see the photos I took of the print while I

wait".  He retrieved his camera and beckoned them closer. "There was lettering on the sole of the

shoe-likely a brand name. I can't quite make it out in the photo, but I'm hoping to get detail from

the plaster cast."

"I'll be seventy-two hours or so," Baz said and Ryland nodded.

Kit leaned closer to the screen. "Can you zoom in on it?"

Ryland did, handing the camera to Kit. "I can make out what looks like a Y at the end of the

brand name, but-"

"Sperry," Kit said. "Sorry to interrupt, Sergeant. I recognize the logo. They're Sperry Top-

Siders." She gave him back his camera. "My sister runs a charter fishing business and sometimes

I first mate for her on my days off. A lot of her customers wear them."

Ryland studied the photo. "You could be right."

She was, Kit was certain. "Trouble is, that's a popular shoe. I've even got a pair."

"So do I," Baz said. "Tracking those will be nearly impossible."

Kit shrugged. "But when we find the guy who owns these shoes, we can put him at the scene.

Any way to get a weight estimate on the wearer?"

Ryland shook his head. "Ground's too hard. Barely enough sinkage to get the plaster cast. I'll let

you know when I have something definite."

"Detectives?" one of the techs at the grave called, his tone urgent. "Something over here you

need to see."

"Thank you, Sergeant," Kit said, then approached the grave alongside Baz, schooling her

expression. If it was a child's grave, she would maintain her professionalism. She'd let herself

react later, when she was alone.

"Victim's a postpubescent female," the tech said when they were graveside. "The ME will be

able to give you a better age than I can, but I'm guessing somewhere between fourteen and

eighteen."

Feeling Baz's eyes on her, Kit reassured him with a quick glance. She was fine.

He always worried about her reaction when the victim was the same age that Wren had been

when she'd been murdered, but after four years as a homicide detective, Kit had seen far too

many victims who'd been Wren's age. It never got easier.

She hoped that it never would.

Excerpted from Cold-Blooded Liar by Karen Rose Copyright © 2023 by Karen Rose.

Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved.