Suspense

The Darkest Evening

Filed Under: Books Read

The Darkest Evening

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves
Published by Minotaur Books on September 8, 2020
Series: Vera Stanhope #9
Pages: 336
Format: arc_pdf
Genres: Mystery, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

From Ann Cleeves—New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—comes the stunning new Vera Stanhope novel, The Darkest Evening."Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers."—Louise Penny
"As a huge fan of both the Shetland and Vera series of books, I had high expectations for Cleeves’ latest. . . . A stunning debut for Cleeves’ latest crimefighter."—David Baldacci on The Long Call
On the first snowy night of winter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope sets off for her home in the hills. Though the road is familiar, she misses a turning and soon becomes lost and disorientated. A car has skidded off the narrow road in front of her, its door left open, and she stops to help. There is no driver to be seen, so Vera assumes that the owner has gone to find help. But a cry calls her back: a toddler is strapped in the back seat.
Vera takes the child and, driving on, she arrives at a place she knows well. Brockburn is a large, grand house in the wilds of Northumberland, now a little shabby and run down. It’s also where her father, Hector, grew up. Inside, there’s a party in full swing: music, Christmas lights and laughter. Outside, unbeknownst to the revelers, a woman lies dead in the snow.
As the blizzard traps the group deep in the freezing Northumberland countryside, Brockburn begins to give up its secrets, and as Vera digs deeper into her investigation, she also begins to uncover her family’s complicated past.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book. It’s been a while since I have read an Ann Cleeve book and now I am wondering why I don’t read more of them. I am a fan of the Vera TV series starring Brenda Blethyn and it is Blethyn that has made DCI Vera Stanhope come alive for me on the pages of Ann Cleeve’s newest book in the series.

DCI Vera Stanhope

No Fixed Line

Filed Under: Books Read

No Fixed Line

No Fixed Line by Dana Stabenow
Published by Tantor Audio on January 9, 2020
Format: audiobook
Genres: Mystery, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

... though there is no fixed line between wrong and right, There are roughly zones whose laws must be obeyed.
It is New Year's Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world.
But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the National Transportation Safety Board unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement to try to identify the aircraft, collect the corpses, and determine why no flight has been reported missing. But Jim discovers survivors: two children who don't speak a word of English.
Meanwhile, PI Kate Shugak receives an unexpected and unwelcome accusation from beyond the grave, a charge that could change the face of the Park forever.

Nothing More Dangerous

Filed Under: Books Read

Nothing More Dangerous

Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens
Published by Mulholland on November 12, 2019
Format: audiobook
Genres: Coming of Age, Southern, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

A coming-of-age novel in the tradition of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: In a small town where loyalty to family and to your people carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition. After fifteen years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn't being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him.Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady's life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins -- a black family settling into a community where notions of us and them carry the weight of history -- forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he's taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle.But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of Lida Poe, the African-American woman who keeps the books at the local plastics factory. Word has it that Ms. Poe left town, along with a hundred thousand dollars of company money. Although Boady has never met the missing woman, he discovers that the threads of her life are woven into the deepest fabric of his world. As the mystery of her fate plays out, Boady begins to see the stark lines of race and class that both bind and divide this small town -- and he will be forced to choose sides

I have enjoyed several of Allen Eskens’ books. This was a good coming of age story. 15-year-old Boady Sanden, who lives with his widowed mother in a small town in Missouri in the mid-1970s get his introduction to the complexities of adulthood.