Excerpt: “No one asked her to be a stripper. She drove past the Lady a few times on her way to somewhere else, noticing the sign advertising amateur nExcerpt: “No one asked her to be a stripper. She drove past the Lady a few times on her way to somewhere else, noticing the sign advertising amateur night and a cash prize. One day she thought, I could do that. And, she needed the money. Simple as that. It makes her impatient, the way people think that a stripper must be some cracked-out whore, like no good woman ever took off her clothes for practical reasons.”
This is what Georgia is thinking when detective Holly Meylin recruits her to be a CI, after two dancers from the Lovely Lady strip club, go missing in 1999. She is pleased, despite herself, as no one has ever recruited her for anything before. She isn’t really thinking about how her involvement could make her the killer’s next victim.
“Samantha needs you” the detective says.
Samantha-a stripper with a boyfriend who has a daughter, Rosie, that she loves with all of her heart.
Samantha-who was just driving Lady Jade, “the new girl” home after she was fired for taking drugs.
Samantha-still missing although Lady Jade was found dead at the scene.
Told from the alternating perspectives of the dancers and their children, the detectives, and club patrons, this is a fast paced book, brimming with a vast list of credible, possible suspects and I had no idea who would end up being the culprit.
I wish we had gotten to know Samantha a bit better, perhaps through some additional flashbacks showing us the bond she had created with Rosie, when she wasn’t dancing, but it’s a small critique for a really impressive book.
The author draws from her own personal experience as a dancer and from interviews with Police, making this an authentic read perfect for readers who enjoyed “Please See Us” by Caitlin Mullen and “These Women” by Ivy Pochoda-which were both favorites of mine in 2020.
Thank You to Goodreads for my copy, which I won in a Goodreads Giveaway!
In the opening sentence of the prologue, Ryan Francis will confess to you that he has a blackmailer.
He is lying.
He actually has two blackmailers!
HeIn the opening sentence of the prologue, Ryan Francis will confess to you that he has a blackmailer.
He is lying.
He actually has two blackmailers!
He will also tell you that he is no Angel.
That’s the Truth.
So, when his “friend” asks him to retrieve some incriminating letters from a woman’s apartment for him, while she is attending an evening Yoga class, he really cannot say NO.
But, when he enters, he doesn’t find the letters...he finds the woman, DEAD.
As he stands there shocked, his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the Victim.
Sirens approach, and he flees, wondering if his friend has set him up for Murder, and if so WHY?
This is my fourth novel by David Bell, and I am now starting to realize a few things about his books..
1. His protagonists are men who love their wives, their children and their parents, and who appreciate the simple things in life like curling up on the sofa together to enjoy a movie. ...more
She cannot forgive him a second time, but she does want stability for
This was a CLEVER novel of domestic suspense!!
Bram has cheated on Fiona. AGAIN.
She cannot forgive him a second time, but she does want stability for her two young sons, so she proposes a bird’s nest custody agreement, where the boys stay in the family home, while Fiona and Bram, take turns living there with them.
It seems to be working until Fiona arrives at the home one day, and sees another family moving in. How could this be happening? And, where are Bram and the boys??
The book opens on Friday the 13th, of January, 2017 with Fiona confronting the unsuspecting new owners. The reader also learns in chapter one, that Bram is in Geneva, but we do not yet know why.
Chapter Two jumps to March, 2017. Fiona has decided to share her story on the acclaimed website and crime podcast The Victim.
“Brand-new episode “Fi’s story” is available now” “Don’t forget to tweet your theories as you listen using #VictimFi. (Tweets follow each episode)
The book continues as if you are listening to each installment>00:00:00
Bram’s version of events -excerpted from a Word document e-mailed from Lyon, France, March 2017-follows each Podcast.
This slow burn story continues, alternating from Friday 13th, to the Podcast with tweets, to the Word document until all is revealed in the SHOCKING conclusion!
This book falls into my “tale of two halves” category.
The book starts out a bit confusing with a snippet of a newspaper article-informing us that a bThis book falls into my “tale of two halves” category.
The book starts out a bit confusing with a snippet of a newspaper article-informing us that a body has been found, followed by a page in italics (which I later surmised must have been one of Vicki’s diary entries) and then the alternating perspectives of Vicki and Scarlett, told 11 years apart.
Vicki is David’s ex wife. An aromatherapist who David divorced after she developed epilepsy. Nice guy.
He has now gone missng, and although no body has been found, the police have one suspect-Vicki.
After all, she still calls his cell phone all the time to hear his voice, and has clearly, not let go. They use her medical condition against her, as she doesnt always remember everything, after she has suffered a seizure.
Scarlett is a child who was exploited by her drug addicted Mom. She is now growing up in the foster care system.
For the first 50% of the book, the narratives alternate leaving the reader in suspense as to how they will intersect.
And, I WAS engaged till this point.
And, then the second half begins.
At 51%, Helen is introduced. She was an intern at David’s firm, around the time he went missing. I figured out “who” she was, but not “why” she wanted a job at the firm.
I thought the story would really focus on both of David’s wives, but Tanya, David’s current wife, is not well developed at all. So, I WILL give the author credit for going in a completely unexpected direction.
However, after a long build-up, this tale of “revenge” became far fetched to me.
Helen’s involvement-maybe...But what was hard to believe was that David would ever marry Vicki- and the last reveal was even more of a stretch for me!!! (Final newspaper snippet/letter)
I need an ending that surprises me, while simultaneously being believable-not a twist just for the sake of having a twist-not a twist that comes out of nowhere.
So, despite a strong start, this became MY least favorite of author’s three books by the end.
I enjoyed reading and discussing this with the Traveling Sisters group!
It was a book I won on Goodreads, (thank you!) and though candid reviews are not required from winners, they are appreciated!...more
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