From the opening obsequies to the climactic game of cat and mouse, Wilhelm gilds the oh-so-familiar plot with a sensitivity...
SF/fantasist Wilhelm interrupts her series of legal dramas starring Barbara Hollway (Defense for the Devil, 1999, etc.) for a stand-alone whodunit that develops into a did-he-do-it.
During the years she needed him most, Abby Connor’s father was never entirely there for her. He split up with his wife instead of buckling down to solve the problems that haunted their marriage; he toiled for years in obscurity as an unsuccessful writer; he retreated to a wilderness cabin like a hermit, then mortgaged the cabin, his only possession, to the hilt. But all that time, Abby felt closer to Judson Vickers than to anybody else in her life, and now that Jud’s achieved wealth and fame as a novelist and a certain notoriety as a murder victim, the mysterious bond she’s always felt with him seems closer than ever. Closer and more demanding, since the discoveries she’ll make about Jud will sorely challenge her patience, her tolerance, and her understanding of her father’s past and his self-willed isolation, her own links to him, and the world she’s continued to take for granted ever since striking out on her own, first as gambler Matthew Petrie’s wife, now as financial advisor Brice Connors’s. As she takes on the daunting role of Jud’s literary executor along with the unwelcome role of bereaved daughter, she’ll have to contend with the former teacher who became her father’s self-possessed lover; Jud’s coolly knowing neighbors; the police’s courteously persistent questioning; and Brice’s jealousy of her enduring love for her father. Ever so slowly—though not as slowly as in a true whodunit—Abby’s suspicions will focus on one of the few intimates Jud could have admitted to the cabin without his dog barking.
From the opening obsequies to the climactic game of cat and mouse, Wilhelm gilds the oh-so-familiar plot with a sensitivity that makes Abby’s detective work seem like a logical extension of her grieving.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-312-26143-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
This thriller aims right for the heart and never lets go.
A tense thriller explores the bond between sisters and family dynamics that give new meaning to the term “dysfunctional.”
Three years ago, 17-year-old Emma Tanner and her 15-year-old sister, Cassandra, left home, disappearing into the night; as Walker's (All Is Not Forgotten, 2016, etc.) book opens, Cass shows up at her family’s house—without Emma. Dr. Abby Walker of the FBI, a forensic psychiatrist who’s been on the case from the beginning, is desperate to find out what happened and to find Emma before it’s too late. Cass tells Abby she and Emma had been arguing the night they took off and that it soon became obvious that Emma was packing up to leave. Cass, hoping to get her sister in trouble, hid in the car when Emma drove off, heading to the beach, where she was met by a man and woman Cass didn't recognize. When Cass revealed herself, they decided to take her with them as they left for a remote island off the coast of Maine. Emma was pregnant, Cass says, and the couple had offered to help her, but what they really had planned was to keep the baby for themselves. Cass finally managed to escape, she says, but without Emma. It’s a harrowing tale, and Cass says all she wants is to find Emma, but Abby suspects she's hiding something. Cass’ first-person narrative, interspersed with Abby’s investigation, paints a shocking picture of Cass’ ordeal and her family’s disturbing history. Her mother, Judy Martin, has always used her beauty and charm to manipulate her family, and her girls had to flatter her to win her affection. She was jealous of the attention given to her beautiful daughters, which threatened her fragile ego, and she was always scheming to get what she wanted—even seducing her stepson, Hunter, who was obsessed with Emma. Cass is a survivor, forced to become an adult very quickly, and readers will root for her as she tells her disturbing story and looks back on what could have been, when hope was all she and Emma had.
This thriller aims right for the heart and never lets go.Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-14143-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
Michaels’s fan base isn’t likely to be increased by this improbable distaff pastiche of Mission: Impossible.
The Sisterhood takes on yet another evildoer in their endless quest to right wrongs against unjustly maligned women.
Architect Isabelle Flanders’s life was destroyed when her coldly ambitious employee Rosemary Hershey framed her for vehicular manslaughter and stole her ideas and her fiancé Bobby Harcourt. Now the Sisterhood (The Jury, 2005, etc.) has devised a diabolical plan to help her get revenge and recover her reputation. Wealthy Sisterhood stalwart Myra Rutledge installs Isabelle in a luxurious office and buys a Virginia property to set up a bogus contest in which local architects will be invited to design a sumptuous horse farm, planning to make Isabelle and Rosemary the only finalists. Meanwhile, Bobby, long fed up with Rosemary’s greed, sues for divorce, planning to start his own architectural firm. Rosemary, who’s receiving anonymous letters reminding her that it was she and not innocent Isabelle who ran down and killed a family, is sinking into a funk as the Sisterhood increases the pressure. A rainy night in a cemetery, bogus snakes and a broken rope finally get Rosemary to confess and leave the Sisterhood ready to plot their next adventure.
Michaels’s fan base isn’t likely to be increased by this improbable distaff pastiche of Mission: Impossible.Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7278-6349-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
