Betrayal was just the beginning…

Melanie Hale is a devoted mother to her two children, a diligent caregiver to her ailing mother-in-law and a trusted neighbor in their wealthy Louisiana community. Above all, she’s a loving partner to her wonderful husband, Collin.

Then there are the parts of herself that Mel keeps hidden. She’s exhausted, worried and unfulfilled. So much so that one night, after a writers’ group meeting, Mel begins an affair with a successful local author named Luke. Suddenly she’s transformed into a role she doesn’t recognize—a woman who deceives with unseemly ease. A woman who might be capable of just about anything.

When Mel finds Luke’s dead body in his lavish rented house, she realizes just how high the stakes have become. Not only does she have to keep her affair a secret in order to preserve her marriage, but she desperately needs to avoid being implicated in Luke’s death. But who would want to kill him? Who else in her life is keeping secrets? And most terrifying of all, how far will they—and she—go to keep those secrets hidden?

This is the first book I have read by this author.

The synopsis intrigued me especially since I have been reading nothing but psychological thrillers. The Prologue had me hooked, but then it felt like it was a slow burn for quite a few chapters. However, the author’s writing style captivated me. I felt that I could actually feel the fear and panic of the main character, Melanie. This technique had me turning the pages as fast as I could read them.

Even though I figured out the plot and who the killer was, and it being a bit slow, I would read more books by this author because it was an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Mailbox Monday

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Monday: (08/02/21)

No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield~ Kindle from William Morrow/Scene Of The Crime via NetGalley
All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford ~ Kindle from Amazon Prime

Saturday: (08/07/21)

My Darling Husband by Kimberly Belle~ ARC from Park Row Books

The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.

Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.

One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance

There is someone who is killing young girls on the Colf Creek Highway. The book has three subdivisions.

Hailey: A 17 year old who lost her mother at an early age and was super close to her dad, who was a wilderness guide. Then tragedy strikes again when her father is killed in a motor vehicle accident. Being a minor, she ends up living with her maternal aunt, her aunt’s husband Vaughn, and their son Cash. Vaughn is the Sherriff of the RCMP and is quite controlling. But even worse, Hailey finds something quite disturbing about him that she runs away into the woods, in hopes that her family thinks she was one of the victims of the serial killer.

Beth: A year ago, her sister was a victim of the highway killer and has not been able to move forward from it. She leaves the life she knows and travels to Cold Creek in hopes of finding answers about her sister.

Hailey and Beth: The 2 girls team up to unmask the killer.

The storyline kept my interest. The suspense and action were palpable.

Even though I enjoyed this read, there were 2 issues, at least for me, that took away from the story and the reason for my rating.

The settings in the first 2 parts were mainly in the woods and were quite in-depth about surviving there. Not being a camping person, I found myself skimming over a lot of it because it was so detailed that at times, it just took away from the story for me. The other issue was that it was obvious from the beginning as to who had involvement in the killings. And because of those 2 reasons, and the fact that I had a mindset of setting the bar so high because of her previous books, that I was just a bit disappointed.

Would I recommend it? Yes! Just because this wasn’t a read that I didn’t 100% enjoy, I’m sure many will. And now, I wait patiently for her next book. I just hope that I don’t have to wait as long as I did for this one.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Mailbox Monday

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Monday: (07/26/21)

The Last House On The Street by Diane Chamberlain~ Kindle from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
Woman In Shadow by Carrie Stuart Parks ~ ARC swap from Margaret Yelton

Tuesday: (07/27/21)

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen ~ Kindle from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
Black Label by James L’Etoile ~ ARC from book swap from Quiet Fury Books
An Ambush Of Windows by Jeff Abbott ~ ARC from book swap from Quiet Fury Books

Friday: (07/30/21)

The Unheard by Nicci French ~ ARC from Harper Collins
The Lying Club by Annie Ward~ eBook from Harlequin Books

Two women. A dying wish. And a web of lies that will bring their world crashing down.

Nina and Marie were best friends—until Nina was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Before she died, Nina asked Marie to fulfill her final wishes.

But her mistake was in thinking Marie was someone she could trust.

What Nina didn’t know was that Marie always wanted her beautiful life, and that Marie has an agenda of her own. She’ll do anything to get what she wants.

Marie thinks she can keep her promise to her friend’s family on her own terms. But what she doesn’t know is that Nina was hiding explosive secrets of her own…

This is the first book that I read by this author but I surely will be checking out both past and future works by her.

There is nothing more than Marie wants and that is a child. And secondly would love, and covets, the life of her best friend, Nina, who has it all. A husband, Stuart, who loves her, 2 children, and the proverbial white picket fence. Until, the horrible news that Nina has only a few months to live.

Nina asks Marie to keep several requests and promises. Marie being the absolute loyal friend will do just that. To love and watch over her 2 children as much as she does, not to have her husband choose another woman that is unworthy, and if so, Marie must step into the role, and to keep the family home where her children have so many memories.

This book had my head spinning. Characters that have deadly secrets, betrayals, lies, hidden agendas, and forced alibis, all to protect the family. But one character has the biggest secret and the perfect setup that encompasses all the players in this story.

This story will definitely have you turning the pages trying to figure out who the master manipulator is.

Did Marie keep the promises she swore to? That you will have to find out on your own!!!!

A nail-biting and chilly read!!!!!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Synopsis:

Regency widow Lily Adler didn’t expect to find a corpse when visiting a family friend. Now it’s up to her to discover the killer in the charming second installment in the Lily Adler mysteries.

Regency widow Lily Adler has finally settled into her new London life when her semi-estranged father arrives unexpectedly, intending to stay with her while he recovers from an illness. Hounded by his disapproval, Lily is drawn into spending time with Lady Wyatt, the new wife of an old family friend. Lily barely knows Lady Wyatt. But she and her husband, Sir Charles, seem as happy as any newly married couple until the morning Lily arrives to find the house in an uproar and Sir Charles dead.

All signs indicate that he tripped and struck his head late at night. But when Bow Street constable Simon Page is called to the scene, he suspects foul play. And it isn’t long before Lily stumbles on evidence that Sir Charles was, indeed, murdered.

Mr. Page was there when Lily caught her first murderer, and he trusts her insight into the world of London’s upper class. With the help of Captain Jack Hartley, they piece together the reasons that Sir Charles’s family might have wanted him dead. But anyone who might have profited from the old man’s death seems to have an alibi… until Lily receives a mysterious summons to speak with one of the Wyatts’ maids, only to find the young woman dead when she arrives.

Mr. Page believes the surviving family members are hiding the key to the death of both Sir Charles and the maid. To uncover the truth, Lily must convince the father who doesn’t trust or respect her to help catch his friend’s killer before anyone else in the Wyatt household dies.

Praise for Silence in the Library:

“Schellman’s gracefully written whodunit is equally a tale of 19th-century female empowerment and societal conventions…More than a clever murder puzzle, this is an immersion in a bygone era.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The fast-paced, engrossing story has a climactic confrontation worthy of Rex Stout or Agatha Christie.”
—Library Journal, starred review

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 13th 2021
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 1643857045 (ISBN13: 9781643857046)
Series: Lily Adler Mystery #2 | The Lily Adler series are stand alone mysteries but even more fabulous if read in sequence
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Given the way she hadn’t hesitated to interfere in the Wyatt family’s affairs, Lily expected Lady Wyatt to politely rescind her invitation to ride the next morning. But she had insisted, saying her arm was sure to be better by morning. So after breakfast, Lily instructed Anna to lay out her riding habit.

Though she had forgone her usual routine of breakfasting in her own room and instructed Mrs. Carstairs to lay breakfast in the parlor, Lily hadn’t seen any sign of her father. She didn’t mind. If she couldn’t be cozy while she dined, she was at least happy to be alone. And it gave her the opportunity to go over the week’s menus with her housekeeper and offer several suggestions for managing her father’s requests while he was with them.

“And do you know how long might that be, Mrs. Adler?” Mrs. Carstairs asked carefully. “Mr. Branson was unable to say when I spoke to him last night.”

Lily pursed her lips. “For as long as he needs, Mrs. Carstairs. Or as long as I can bear his company. My record on that score is fifteen years, however, so let us hope it will not come to that.”

The housekeeper wisely didn’t say anything else.

Lily’s pleasant solitude lasted until she was making her way back upstairs to change, when she found her path blocked by her father’s belligerent frame. Unwell he might be, but George Pierce was still a solid, imposing man, and Lily had to remind herself to square her shoulders and meet his scowl with a smile as he did his best to tower over her from the step above.

“Good morning, Father.”

He didn’t return the greeting. “I am going to breakfast,” he announced, eyebrows raised.

Lily waited for a moment and then, when no more information was forthcoming, nodded. “I hope you enjoy it. Mrs. Carstairs is an excellent cook.”

He sniffed. “And I assume your excessively early rising is an attempt to avoid my company?”

“It is past nine o’clock, father,” Lily said. “Hardly excessive. And I have an appointment this morning, so if you will excuse me—”

“What is your appointment?”

He couldn’t curtail or dictate what she did with her time, Lily reminded herself. Even if having him in her home left her feeling as if her independence were being slowly stripped away once more, in practical terms he had no say in her life anymore. Answering his question was only polite. “An engagement with a friend—”

“That sailor again, I assume?”

Lily took a deep breath. “Captain Hartley was also invited, but no, the engagement is to ride with Lady Wyatt this morning. Which I assume you would approve of?” Seeing that she had momentarily surprised him into silence, she took the opportunity to push past her father. “You would like her, I think. She is charming and elegant.”

“And her husband’s a fool for marrying again,” Mr. Pierce grumbled, but Lily was already heading down the hall and didn’t answer.

Jack was coming just before ten to escort her to the Wyatts’ house, and Lily was in a hurry to dress and escape her father once again. Her room was empty when she walked in, but Anna had laid out her riding habit on the bed, pressed and ready, its military-style buttons glinting in the morning light amid folds of emerald-green fabric.

Lily stared at it without moving. She had forgotten that her habit wasn’t suitable to wear when she was in mourning.

She was still staring when Anna returned, the freshly brushed riding hat in her hands. When she saw Lily’s posture, Anna paused.

“You don’t have another, I’m afraid,” she said gently.

Lily nodded, unable to speak. One hand reached out to brush the heavy fabric of the habit; the other clenched a fold of the gray dress she wore. She had stopped wearing colors even before Freddy died—in those last months of his illness, she had traded all her pretty dresses for drab gowns more suited to nursing an invalid who would never recover. And even after full mourning was complete, she had lingered in the muted shades of half mourning long past when anyone would have required it of her, even Freddy’s own family. Laying aside the visual reminders of her grief felt too much like leaving behind her marriage.

But that had meant more than two years of sorrow. And in the last few months, since she had come to London and taken control of her life once more, something had shifted inside her.

“Yes, thank you, Anna,” Lily said quietly, her voice catching a little. She cleared her throat and said, more firmly, “I will wear this one.”

***

She managed to leave the house without encountering her father again. When her butler, Carstairs, sent word that Captain Hartley was waiting in the front hall, Lily felt a pang of anxiety. Jack had loved Freddy like a brother. And he had never given any indication that he thought her mourning had gone on long enough.

Jack was in the middle of removing his hat, and his hand stilled at the brim as he caught sight of her. Even Carstairs fell still as they watched her come down the stairs, the heavy folds of her green skirts buttoned up on one side to allow her to walk freely and a single dyed- green feather curling over the brim of her hat and flirting with her brown curls.

Lily felt exposed as she descended the final few steps, though she was bolstered by the approval that softened Carstairs’s smile. She had never considered herself a shy person, but she could barely meet Jack’s eyes as she crossed the hall to give him her hand.

For a moment neither of them spoke, and when she raised her gaze at last, Lily thought she saw the captain blinking something from the corner of his eye. “That was Freddy’s favorite color,” he said at last, his voice catching.

Lily nodded. “I know.”

Jack’s jaw tightened for a moment as he swallowed. But he smiled. “Well done, Lily,” he said quietly. “Good for you.”

***

There was a lightness between them as they made the quick journey to Wimpole Street. As Jack waved down a hack carriage and handed her in, Lily found herself laughing at all of his quips or droll pieces of gossip, even the ones she normally would have chastised him for repeating. And Jack kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Do I look that dreadful?” Lily asked at last as he handed her down from the carriage in front of the Wyatts’ home.

“Quite the opposite,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he released her hand. “Did you know, you are actually quite pretty?”

“You mean you did not find me pretty before?”

“I think I had forgotten to consider it one way or another,” Jack admitted, grinning. “What a shame everyone has left London already; you would cause quite a sensation.”

Lily shook her head. “I know full well I am not handsome enough for that.”

“Surprise can cause as much of a sensation as admiration,” Jack pointed out.

“Captain!” Lily exclaimed in mock indignation. “You were supposed to argue with me!”

They continued bantering as they mounted the steps to Sir Charles’s townhouse, only to fall silent and exchange a puzzled glance as they realized that the door was half-open, the sounds of raised voices echoing from within.

Lily glanced at Jack, an uneasy sensation beginning to curl in the pit of her stomach. “Should we knock?”

He shrugged and did so, rapping firmly on the wood of the door. There was no response, but it swung open a little more. After hesitating a moment, Lily bit her lip and said, “Well, we ought to at least make sure Lady Wyatt knows we’ve come. If it is no longer convenient to ride, she can certainly tell us to leave.”

“And you were already happy to interfere yesterday,” Jack pointed out, though she could hear the unease lurking beneath his playful tone. “We might as well do it again.”

“Very true.” Lily pushed the door the rest of the way open and strode in, Jack following close behind.

The front hall was empty, but they could still hear voices not far away, now low and urgent, and the sound of quiet crying from somewhere just out of sight. The uneasy feeling began to spread through Lily’s chest and arms, and she reached out her hand in blind anxiety. She was relieved to feel Jack take it and press it reassuringly into the crook of his arm.

She had just decided that they should leave after all when quick steps echoed down the stairs. A moment later Frank Wyatt came rushing down, checking himself at the bottom as he stared at them in surprise.

His face was pale and his eyes red as he gaped at them, his easy manner vanished. “Lily? And Captain . . . I’ve quite forgot your name. You must excuse . . . what are you doing here?”

“The door was open, and no one answered our knock,” Lily said, feeling a little ashamed of their hastiness in entering. “I apologize, Frank; we did not mean to intrude, but we had an appointment to ride with Lady Wyatt this morning. Is everyone well?”

“Is everyone . . . No. No.” Frank gripped the banister with one hand, his knuckles white. “I am afraid that Lady Wyatt will not be able to ride today. My father . . .” He swallowed. “My father has died.”

Lily stared at him, unable to make sense of his words. They had seen Sir Charles just the day before. If he had seemed a little older and weaker than she remembered, he had still been utterly vital and alive. “Died? But . . . how?”

“In point of fact,” a new voice said quietly from behind them. “It seems Sir Charles Wyatt has been killed.”

***

Excerpt from Silence in the Library by Katharine Schellman. Copyright 2021 by Katharine Schellman. Reproduced with permission from Katharine Schellman. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Katharine Schellman is a former actor, one-time political consultant, and currently the author of the Lily Adler Mysteries. A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Katharine currently lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her family and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.

Q&A with Katharine Schellman

What was the inspiration for this book?

I love a good amateur sleuth series — it’s so fun to see the characters go through their own personal arcs along with whatever puzzle they’re solving at the time. So even though I wrote the first Lily Adler Mystery, The Body in the Garden, to work on its own, I was hoping there would be more books.

When I was getting reader feedback on The Body in the Garden, more than one person commented that they were so curious about Lily’s father and her relationship with him. So when it came time to start planning book number two, he was my starting point. The rest of the plot grew from there.

What has been the biggest challenge in your writing career?

It’s not a very creative answer, but the biggest challenge is the juggle. Like many writers, I work a day job — and of course there’s the rest of life outside work that needs time and attention too! Finding time for everything can get tricky.

When I was writing this book, it was also in the middle of the covid pandemic, so that added an extra layer of difficulty to the process. There were several weekends when I had to escape from all the distractions by checking into a hotel for 48 hours while my husband handled everything at home. It was exhausting for both of us, but somehow it all got done!

What do you absolutely need while writing?

I almost always have a cup of tea by my side. But mostly I need quiet! I get intense tunnel vision while I’m writing, so I can’t multitask or having music going or anything like that.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?

I don’t have a strict routine, and my daily schedule can be all over the place depending on what other work (day job, marketing, editing, promotions) needs to get done.

I’m a big fan of the “sit down and write even when you don’t want to” method of getting things done. I set a time when I know I have to sit down and stare at the screen until I start putting words on the page. And if I keep doing that, eventually I end up with a book.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?

That’s so hard — I love them all! Part of the magic of writing — and reading! — is that you have to put yourself inside the mind and motivation of each character to figure out why they do what they do. Everyone, after all, thinks of themselves as the hero of their own story. And once you’ve been inside someone’s head like that, it’s impossible not to have a degree of love and empathy for them.

Tell us why we should read your book.

One of my favorite things about genre fiction is the way it takes very ordinary people and puts them in extraordinary circumstances. But they’re still just people, with the same hang-ups and fears and strengths and flaws that we all have. It’s an amazing way to explore really interesting elements of human nature and relationships.

I think Lily Adler really embodies this. She’s a young woman whose life was completely upended when her husband died. She had to figure out what she was going to do with herself after that massive, unexpected change, and not everyone she meets approves of what she chooses.

Most of us, of course, don’t end up dealing with grief and loss by solving murders. But I think the experience of building or rebuilding your life, while knowing that a lot of the people aren’t going to approve, is a pretty universal one that a lot of readers will be able to connect with.

Plus, mysteries are just so much fun to read!

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?

Because of various pandemic-induced constraints on my publishing schedule, I had to write the whole thing in about two and a half months! I had no idea if I could do it or not, but I had a great team cheering me on and telling me it would all work out.

Still, I’m glad I get a little more time for the next one!

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I’m so grateful to each and every one of you for stopping by and reading! Connecting with readers is truly my favorite part of doing this work, and I treasure every interaction I have and message I receive.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I first told my parents I wanted to be a writer when I was six years old, and it was something I always knew and felt confident that I would do. Still, it took me a while to actually get there. While I was writing lots of bad books, I also worked in political consulting, danced and acted, and even spent some time as a wedding makeup artist.

I still miss being on stage sometimes, but I’ve found I’m much more suited to life as a writer.

What’s next that we can look forward to?

I have two books coming out next year. The third (still untitled) Lily Adler Mystery will be released in Fall 2022. It’s got a little bit of a gothic vibe to it, along with a little bit of romance. I think it’ll be a perfect fall read.
And before that I have a new series starting!
Last Call at the Nightingale, which is coming June 2022, will be the first in a series of mysteries set in 1920s New York City at a speakeasy known as the Nightingale. It’s a little grittier than the Lily books, and not quite a traditional whodunit, which has made bouncing between the two so much fun. I’m hoping readers enjoy both equally!

Find her online:
katharineschellman.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @KatharineSchellman
Instagram – @katharinewrites
Twitter – @katharinewrites
Facebook – @katharineschellman

 

 

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