scknitter's Reviews (1.48k)

 An absolutely riveting page turner about motherhood, madness, memory and desire set in an ancient mansion that has been thought to be haunted for years. There are definitely many lies being told but you will never guess who the biggest liar of them is and why the lies are being told. The ensemble cast of narrators helped make the story come alive.

 The murders in 1975 of teens Poppy and Danny, Vince’s brother and sister, continue to haunt him his entire life. He had an alibi, but many still think he killed them including, at times, his estranged daughter. The fact that he became a famous author of horror novels only intensified the suspicion that he was evil. The truth is supposed to finally be revealed when he hires his daughter Olivia, who is a famous ghost writer, to write his memoir. But Vince is suffering from Lewy body dementia, and his memories are at times suspect. Olivia finds diaries written by Poppy, she finds 8-track films of arguments between Vince and Danny, she interviews people who were there at the time and are still alive, and the answer to who might be guilty switches daily. The Ghostwriter is full of family drama, teenage trauma and angst, and unreliable narrators, and you will not want to stop until you finally know the truth about who killed Poppy and Danny – or at least the truth that Vince and Olivia want to be known. 

 Rich people acting badly, domestic abuse, infidelity, PTSD, and just plain rotten individuals all play a role in this edge of your seat mystery as an Australian police detective on his last case tries to find out what happened when a young nanny, her boyfriend, and her two young charges go missing from an isolated private beach in Australia. The estranged mother of the Nanny who was herself an ex-policewoman in the UK and is now an expert on domestic abuse joins the hunt in Australia much to the dismay of the local police. The story is told from multiple points of view which allows us to understand how things have gotten to this point and what must be done to save the children. 

 True crime and mystery/thriller lovers will be hooked immediately as a college student finds herself part of a true crime podcast as a means to give her a purpose after the unexpected death of her father and her unmanageable grief. The murders and the way the amateur sleuths worked are amazing as well as very scary. Some really interesting and disturbing consequences of amateur sleuthing are portrayed as action unfolds, such as do amateur sleuths actually find clues missed by the police, do the police overlook possible scenarios because they are looking for the easiest way to solve a crime and what happens to innocent people when unsubstantiated theories are made public. I thought the way the story was told was amazing and I loved every minute of it. 

 And The Lake Will Take Them is a terrific start to a new series featuring a strong female sheriff in a rural MN town in the middle of a winter blizzard. The internal dialogue Sheriff Red Hammergren shares as she links the death of one teenager and the disappearance of another to several cold cases, paints a picture of a strong no-nonsense sheriff who also has great compassion and empathy for the less fortunate. I can’t wait to learn more about the small MN town and the host of interesting characters we have already met. 

 Fifty Fifty will grab you from the first page and won’t let go until you have witnessed brutal murder scenes, exciting legal maneuvers, and the verdict. There are two sisters, a brutally murdered father and each sister accusing the other of the murder. This book will have you wondering every other page who is lying and who is telling the truth. The fact that I really liked both lawyers made me want to believe that neither sister was guilty. While this book is part of the Eddie Flynn series it is easily read as a stand-alone. 

 The Good Samaritan is not a thriller. So, if you are expecting something fast paced and/or action packed you will be disappointed. However, if you love psychological drama and great character development you will love this intense psychological family drama which covers about as many topics as there are characters. Grief, guilt, alcoholism, teen insecurity, sexual assault are all part of this beautifully written story about a father who has to finally figure out who he is after the tragic death of his young son 8 years earlier. 

Not up to par with previous two.  I missed Laughton's forensics and thought she did some really stupid things in this book. 

 Domestic thrillers have to have something special for me to enjoy and this one did. Being dumped by her boyfriend was just the beginning of Rowan’s nightmare, as she is soon a suspect in his murder. From process of elimination, I was fairly sure who the killer was, but I didn’t know why, and the killer’s background was also a total surprise because I took the author’s bait and made assumptions. I loved the description of the historic house in Portland, Maine and of the process of the restoration. I really liked Harrison, and while Rowan bugged me at first but by the end of the book I understood why she seemed so aloof and cold.