I got to read this very good mystery/thriller/suspense as an ARC.
About: "Julianna Burke, bestselling mystery novelist, has a secret that those closest to her are hiding from the world. Julianna is losing her memory, and with it her powerful gift for storytelling that propelled her to fame. A further devastating blow comes when Connor, Julianna’s beloved husband, is murdered. Even this is not something Julianna’s mind can hold on to, and every day her assistant has to break the heart-wrenching news all over again. Julianna is desperate to know what happened to her husband. As she battles her failing mind to investigate, a detail of the murder surfaces that makes Julianna question everything she’s ever known. Somehow she must fight to find the truth, even though her grip on reality is fading."
I really enjoyed this book. It takes place in South Carolina on Sullivan's Island.
The author does a great job showing us what Juliana, a popular mystery writer, is thinking and what she can remember and can't remember day to day. The apparent beginnings of dementia.
They mystery unfolds after Juliana finds her second husband, Connor, stabbed with a letter opener in his study. Her daughter Logan comes to stay with her. Margot is Juliana's assistant and lives with her. As the days go on after the memorial for Connor, Logan starts picking up clues to what maybe happened, who killed Connor. It had to be someone well known to the household because the dog Annabelle did not bark. Trouble is, everyone in the neighborhood, has a key to everyone's ones house in this close knit, well established neighborhood. But who has a key to Juliana's mind, to unlock what she is forgetting.
As the days go on, everyone could be a suspect; including Logan's brother who has made it clear the house on the beach should be sold and a bundle made. Did Harrison want to get his stepfather out of the way and declare his mother incompetent? Was Connor having an affair and the lover's husband has taken revenge? Or the lover? Juliana in a moment of confusion? The answer may be in the latest novel Juliana is working on.
The story also shows the complicated relationships between family and friends, step-parents and step-children. The island setting adds to the mystique because it limits who the suspects could be and what could have happened.
The pace really picks up as the another tragedy occurs and the investigation almost comes to a stop.
Very suspenseful ending.
About Deb Richardson-Moore: Deb Richardson-Moore is a former journalist and former pastor of a church whose parishioners included homeless people. Those experiences combined in her first four books -- a 2012 memoir about her early years at the Triune Mercy Center, and the three-book Branigan Powers mystery series featuring a news reporter and a homeless man.
She has now turned to darker domestic thrillers with the release of "Murder, Forgotten" in 2020.Deb lives in Greenville, SC, with her husband. They are the parents of three adult children.
Gayle, thanks for sharing about this book. I think it looks really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really good. I do want to read others by her. (almost done with LP)
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