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Doreen Doris Mayfield DeWitt tapped her tapered glossy ruby nails on the gleaming end table while watching the woman pace before her. Although she felt like swiping the woman with her claws, she remained passive, watching as her guest spewed forth countless words trying to explain her situation.
Title: Death by Bourbon
Author: Abigail Keam
ISBN: 9780615651590
Publisher: Worker Bee Press/2012
Pages: 196
Book Description:
Life takes a dramatic turn for Josiah when she witnesses a death at an engagement party for Matt. Matt? Yes, Matt.
Charming socialite Addison DeWitt falls into a fit after taking a sip of bourbon. That would be upsetting enough, but Josiah is sure it is murder. However, no one will believe her except for Lady Elsmere and Meriah Caldwell, the famous mystery writer. The three of them conspire to bring the murderer to justice. It turns out the suspect is always three steps ahead of them.
To make matters worse, Josiah's daughter, Asa decides to move to London, Franklin leaves town and Jake starts singing a different tune. Josiah doubts her ability to meet the future alone. Maybe it's time to sell the Butterfly and move to Florida with the rest of the old folks.
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My thoughts:
With ups and downs, this book made a very enjoyable read. It has wit, humour and suspense mixed in the right ingredients. I especially loved Asa, Josiah's daughter. The two sentences given below are taken from a letter she wrote to her mother. For all those who love a good whodunnit and cozy mystery, this makes a great any time read.
"The frame is covered from silver melted from the jewelry Dad took that awful evening when he left us. I figure things are pretty even now."
~~Page 193
Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham
The story starts with Sienna. Sienna cuts herself. “you want to know the reason? you want to know why someone would want to bleed in secret? it’s because i deserve it. i deserve to be punished. to punish myself. love is pain and pain is love….you think you understand me. you don’t. i bleed for you.”
This book gets right to the business of sucking you in as a reader as any good crime fiction should. Ex-detective Ray Hegarty is found in a pool of blood in his teenage daughter Sienna's bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. It looks like a clear cut case of the daughter murdering the father. The protagonist, Professor Joe O’Loughlin is made investigating psychologist on the case. Sienna happens to be his daughter Charlie's friend. When Joe starts his work of analyzing Sienna, murky details start coming up, with the murderer being someone totally unexpected.
Professor O’Loughlin is battling the onset of Parkinson’s disease, along with battling separation from his wife and daughters. Parallel to the main story, we also get to know about the trial of a boy who has been accused of burning an entire family of immigrants to death. It seems like a racial hate crime. There are many issues dealt with in the book, e.g., psychopathic murderers, child abuse, and racism all dealt in a very plausible manner.
I teach young girls like Sienna and Charlie. At certain points, the novel scared me. It does deal with teenage issues, like anguish, conflicted emotions and confusion. The novel resonated with me. Yes, I recommend this novel. To all crime fiction readers and also for teachers as well as parents. Do you really know what goes inside your child's mind?
