Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Croke on this blog tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links, Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
Dr Ronnie Ackerman wakes up in bed alone. Her boss, Nobel Prize-winner Professor Hasely Stone, and the man she got drunk with the night before, is downstairs in the sauna, brutally murdered.
Who did this, and why?
Stone had been working with total dedication on the ultimate cure for all cancers. Was he killed because he failed, or because he succeeded? Ronnie panics, clears the house of all traces of her overnight stay, and then sets out on a mission to find out.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Corke is a fast-paced, twisted, roller coaster ride mash-up medical/political thriller featuring an American research doctor working in England and a British television reporter. I could not put this debut book down and I am so excited there is a proposed second “Deadly” book that I cannot wait to read.
Dr. Veronica “Ronnie” Ackerman is having second thoughts about her move to London six months ago, even though she is working for one of the most brilliant cancer research doctors in the world. Professor Hasely Stone talks Ronnie into coming to his home on the pretense of a business dinner, but after too much alcohol, they end up together in bed. When Ronnie wakes up, Hasely is not in bed. As she looks for him before leaving, she discovers him brutally murdered in his home sauna. Terrified, she tries to eliminate any evidence of her presence and goes on to work.
Journalist Daniel Plowright is one of the Professor’s success stories with his new protocol. When he meets Ronnie, they find a professional and personal connection that has them working to uncover why there are an increasing number of dead bodies connected to the protocol. They find themselves and some friends they make along the way are up against not only violent killers, but a secret plot within the highest echelons of the English government.
This is a page turner that starts off with a terrible murder and keeps up the pace from start to finish. Ronnie is an interesting protagonist, who I did not like at first, but once you get to know her; she is very human, making human mistakes, but she wants to make everything right in the end. Her pairing with Daniel works well as they both work to unravel this twisted plot of murder, intrigue, and corruption. Even though the intricate main plot ends with typical reasons for a crime, the paper Hasely rights about the economic consequences of curing all cancers is chilling. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel because it has everything I want when I pick up a book that calls itself a thriller.
I highly recommend this debut medical/political thriller!
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Author Bio
TV journalist Roger Corke has spent more years that he cares to remember travelling to all parts of the world, making investigative documentaries for series like the BBC’s Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches and ITV’s World In Action and Tonight. It was whilst he was on a filming trip to America that he came up with the plot of Deadly Protocol.
“I was talking to a scientist working there who told me that they had made great strides in cancer research over the past few years.” says Roger. “I asked him whether that meant a cure for cancer might come soon. His answered floored me. He said ‘they may have found a cure for cancer but an lot of people would have a lot to lose if it ever saw the light of day’. Straight away, the plot for a thriller jumped out at me.”
Roger is now writing the sequel to Deadly Protocol, called Deadly Messages.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. Detective Kevin Dawson always wondered if Della even existed.
A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession. Then a girl’s body is discovered—a link to Scarlett’s horrific past—and all her old traumas resurface. So does Della. Scarlett has seen her hiding in plain sight. The girl who knows Scarlett’s secrets, who understands the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive.
As a suspicious Detective Dawson once again comes calling, and obsessions turn deadly, Scarlett fears there isn’t a living soul she can trust. As for Della, who’s watching from afar, what could she possibly want from Scarlett now? And what new nightmare lies ahead?
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Elise’s Thoughts
Another Girl Lost by Mary Burton has suspense, intrigue, and mystery. This plot will keep readers wondering if her characters are like the ones in the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or are they real heroines, especially after the victim becomes a suspect.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession.
Della knew Scarlett’s secrets, understanding the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive, considering they were abused. The scenes of abuse are somewhat disturbing but not graphically described. Now Scarlett is confronted when a girl’s body is discovered, a link to her horrific past, and all her old traumas resurface. Nobody except Scarlett believes that Della ever existed, including Detective Kevin Dawson, who killed her captor and rescued her initially. But Scarlett still feels as if Della is around every corner.
Detective Dawson and his partner Margo Larson are both trying to pin on Scarlett the murder of the girl discovered. They no longer see her as a victim but now a suspect. Scarlett believes that it was Della who participated in the murder, but no one believes Della is alive. The detectives believe Della was made up to help Scarlett cope with her terrible situation or to give her an alibi for the murdered girl found.
What makes the plot very interesting is how it goes back and forth between present and past. Readers get to know Scarlett better realizing she was broken while trapped in the basement, trying to build a normal life, and how she is dangerously obsessed with Della. Although broken, she is did not permanently break even with her psychological and physical abuse.
It is interesting how the main characters are all involved in subterfuge and deception. All the characters are complex. The plot is gripping, engaging, twisty, dark, with triggers and twists.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What is the idea for the story?
Mary Burton: This is stand-alone. I wanted to use gaslighting, how a woman believes she knows the truth but everyone around her is convinced she is wrong. I thought that is a good jump off point to have the heroine remember something while everyone around her is trying to convince her that might not be true.
EC: You like the heroines to be complex?
MB: I wanted my heroines to have imperfections that push the boundaries and are dealing with their own demons and imperfections. Their intentions are very good people with their methods unconventional. They are also trying to be independent.
EC: How would you describe Della?
MB: She is connected to the heroine, Scarlett. Scarlett thinks she comes back for her own reasons to want to control her. She was trapped with Scarlett, which bonded them in many ways. She discovered the body of another girl when trapped with Scarlett by the rapist. She embraced the darkness. While trapped with Scarlett she used hate and fear to her advantage.
EC: How would you describe Scarlett?
MB: She is frustrated that people think she is lying or confused about Della returning. She is clear-headed. She has not let go of Della. She is angry about Della, even obsessed with her, and cannot move on. This is why she keeps repainting Della’s picture. I think she is broken, trying to put herself back together, but the cracks are there. She is getting stronger, but still is fragile. Scarlett is searching for normalization. She is trying to leave her past behind, but it is not letting her go. Scarlett is trying to distance herself from the darkness, which was helped by the Judge.
EC: How would you describe Margo?
MB: She is broken and damaged, and she did some bad things in the name of justice. She is desperate for love and attention. She is angry and readers can see that in how she has handled her former cases. She is looking for retribution and has a destructive pattern. She likes being on the edge, taking dangerous assignments, and has an edgier relationship with Detective Dawson. Margo very much likes control and manipulates people. She presses the boundaries and sometimes breaks them. She wants to set Scarlett up. She is very persuasive and a bit of a sociopath. She knows how to use people’s emotions against them.
EC: What role does Detective Dawson play?
MB: He likes to give orders. He is determined and has tunnel vision. He is not a perfect guy and is not a great detective. His loyalty to Margo is his Achilles heel. He is manipulated by Margo.
EC: What about the rapist Reed?
MB: He is pure evil. He found Della who became his facilitator and helper. He is a psychopath who will do physical harm.
EC: Next book?
MB: It will be another stand alone with a complicated heroine who is trying to piece together clues from a cold case. No title yet.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer…
A secluded cabin retreat
For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.
A murderer in their midst
Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying….Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.
Who killed Mercy McAlpine?
It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…
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Elise’s Thoughts
This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter is a book that has all the trademarks including twists, and intensity. A word of warning there is child abuse, domestic violence, brutal treatment of women, incest, substance abuse, and rape as part of the story, but it is done in a very empathetic way for the victims.
The plot has GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, going to McAlpine Lodge to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night. They investigate and find out that Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying.
Every member of this family is despicable. They are cold, unfeeling, manipulative, abusive, and controlling. There are suspects galore because almost everyone in the story, not just the family, has some sort of motive to kill Mercy.
The story unfolds through the dual points of view from Will and Sara. Mercy’s point of view and backstory are revealed in the letter entries written to her son over the years that chronicle her mental and physical abuse as well as the resentment festering within her toxic family.
This is a great crime procedural. As Faith, Will’s police partner, says about the crime, “an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery with a VC Andrews twist.”
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How is the TV series coming along?
Karin Slaughter: It is going great. It is starting up on the third season. I read the first script, and it is fantastic. I think they are doing a terrific job. I think they captured the spirit of the characters and Ramon, who plays Will Trent, is incredibly sexy and really has the heart of Will. This is what matters. I think of this as a separate thing where the books are the books, and the show is the show. I keep to the books as I tell stories based on the characters I created, and they tell stories based on the interpretation of the characters.
EC: How did you get the idea for the story?
KS: It was a locked lodge mystery. I go up to my cabin in the North Georgia mountains when I write my books. I want to lean into it to write about the woods and the mountains. Of course, I must bring in a murder and not have people just being happy.
EC: Did you take any of your characters out of their comfort zone?
KS: Sara is comfortable in the woods, while Faith hates it. Sara and Will see nature as beautiful and amazing. Faith complains about there being too many birds, the heat, not to mention how many mosquitoes. She is not an outdoor person by any stretch.
EC: What role did Will and Sara’s honeymoon play in the story?
KS: I think it was my way of moving the relationship forward without having to write a wedding scene. I was able to show the difference for them between dating, living together, and being married, having it formalized. Sara previously has been in a bad marriage and a good marriage, to the same guy. Sara wants to make sure she is supportive, but also very clear about her needs. Sara has learned as she got older to listen and compromise.
EC: Can you talk about this dysfunctional family? How would you describe Mercy?
KS: She is complicated. Women like her tend to be presented in black and white. She needed to get away from her family, protect her son, break the cycle of abuse, and get away from her lover, Dave. As readers find out more about her, they will realize she has no money, no friends, no place to live, no driver’s license, and no car. Questions to explore: if in that situation could someone walk away and take their child with them? For Mercy the answer is no. Dave has always pulled her back each time. For her, it is easier to just give in and stick with the devil she knows. She is really cut off from the world. She makes bad decisions for herself.
EC: Did you base her abuse on reality?
KS: Yes, considering that is how someone in an abusive relationship lives with no one to turn to, no one to help them, and in complete isolation.
EC: How would you describe Dave?
KS: He has a similar background to Will but is a miserable, horrible turd, while Will is on his honeymoon, and this is the happiest time in his life. Dave is a drifter, abusive, and an alcoholic addict. Amanda, Will’s boss best sums it up, Dave is addicted to being broken.
EC: What is the theme of the book?
KS: It is about safety. Mercy never felt safe. Sara felt safe because of her family and Will. The realization for Will is that he can trust Amanda, Faith, and Sara. He has a support system he never had as a child.
EC: Is Mercy the likable character and Dave the dislikable character?
KS: I do not think it is that easy. If you met Dave in real life someone would think he is fun, interesting, and charming, while people would not particularly warm to Mercy. Like people I have known, in her core Mercy is trying but she cannot get out of her own way.
EC: What role did Mercy’s letters to her son Jon play?
KS: They are important. They give readers some clues to figure out who done it. They also show how she felt invincible in her own life. She does not feel anyone is looking out for her. She is very aware that her job is to protect him and not the other way around.
EC: What do you want to say about Jon?
KS: Mercy tried to separate him from the toxicity of their family. She has diluted herself that Dave never hit him and was never awful to him. Like a lot of women, she does not understand their children watched what was happening, when their mother was being abused by their father. In Jon’s world it was acceptable, and the abuse was normalized.
EC: What about Cecil, Mercy’s dad?
KS: He is just an angry old man. He has lost his sense of who he is. From a physical level he lost some of his mobility. I think he knows he is an asshole and wants his way. Mercy speaks about him being two different people where guests see him as laid back, outdoorsy guy, but he is a miserable person. He knows how to be nice and accommodating with strangers but does not do it with his own family. He was a bully and cruel, a choice he made.
EC: What about Bitty, Mercy’s mom?
KS: She is a lousy mother and grandmother. She is the worst kind of liar because she gaslights both her children, saying ‘listen to your father and do not talk to him that way,’ even though he deserves to be talked to that way. Her silence is just as damaging than showing anger. She was never on her children’s side. She was psychologically abusive and cruel.
EC: Would you say that Christopher, Mercy’s brother is a schlump?
KS: Yes. He is just a weak-willed person who never stands up for her. He does the easiest thing. He allows her to be on her own. He never confronts anybody. He likes to fish, because it is solitary and quiet.
EC: How did you come up with the way you did the interviews with the suspects?
KS: I showed the different aspects of how they can approach an interview. They can be defensive, combative, disinterested, or helpful. This is policing 101. I did want to show these different sides. The title of the book becomes so appropriate because everybody is lying. Some lie because they want to be helpful and exaggerate. But exaggeration is a lie. Some are hiding something that has nothing to do with the crime. Some are lying because they know about the crime and are complicit.
EC: Do you canoe because you wrote a whole scene about it?
KS: Yes, I do and kayaking. I prefer kayaking because it is a good workout and can take people to the most beautiful places.
EC: Next books?
KS: It will be a stand-alone crime novel, and my 25th book, out next year. No title. After that I will do another book with the whole gang surrounding Will Trent.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Novella 0.5: Into the Fire Book 1: You’ll Never Find Me
Book Description – Into the Fire (Angelhart Investigations Book #0.5)
Margo Angelhart was recently certified as a private investigator, but she isn’t convinced that it’s her calling. All of her cases have been minor, mostly for family and haven’t paid the bills. She’s more than happy to keep bartending and figure out her post-military career later. That is, until prosecutor Andy Flannigan walks into her bar and offers her a case she can’t turn down…
Nineteen-year-old Sergio Diaz has confessed to murder—except Andy doesn’t buy it. With his own job on the line, Andy asks Margo to work the case discreetly. The more she digs, the more she’s convinced an innocent kid is going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Now she just needs to figure out why he’d confess. Can Margo prove Sergio’s innocence and help Andy find the real killer before anyone else dies?
INTO THE FIRE (Angelhart Investigations Book #0.5) by Allison Brennan is an introductory novella to a new P.I. series from a favorite author. Margo Angelhart is from a large extended family and is bartending after returning from the Army while getting her P.I. license on the side. This is a quick novella that introduces Margo a few years before the start of the series and demonstrates her tenacity and thinking outside of the box on her first case as a P.I.
Prosecutor Andy Flannigan is a regular customer and stops into the bar while Margo Angelhart is bartending. He has a case with a young man, Sergio Diaz, who has confessed to murder, but Andy does not believe him. Margo is willing to help and take a second look. The more she investigates, the more Margo believes in Sergio innocence, and she must discover why he is willing to go to prison for a crime he did not commit.
I enjoyed getting to know Margo and her family. Ms. Brennan’s writing brings all the characters to life and makes them believable. The crime plot is interesting even in this shorter novella format. I feel the main purpose of this novella, besides being an introduction to the characters, is to show Margo finally believing in herself and her path as a private investigator. I am looking forward to starting the first full length book in this series!
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Book Description – You’ll Never Find Me (Angelhart Investigations Book #1)
Working alone as a private investigator is tough. Estranged from her PI family, Margo Angelhart does what she must to get by—including taking on sordid cases that pay the bills, even if she’d rather be helping those the justice system has failed.
That is, until a cheating husband case she’s working intersects with her siblings’ corporate espionage investigation, forcing Margo to cooperate with the Angelhart firm. Now, as the siblings compare notes, it’s clear they need to work together before a white-collar crime escalates to murder.
With far more questions than answers and a key suspect on the run, they’ll need the whole family to pitch in. But as they investigate the ever-twisting mystery, Margo isn’t sharing everything. Can she learn to trust her family and heal their once-close relationship before her secrets put those she loves most in danger?
YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (Angelhart Investigations Book #1) by Allison Brennan is an exciting and action packed P.I. crime thriller and a great start to this new series. Margo is a relatable protagonist from a large extended family in Phoenix, Arizona and a smart P.I. Besides introducing us to the main characters, there are two crime plots intersecting throughout the story.
P.I. Margo Angelhart is estranged from her family and working on her own and not with Angelhart Investigations. She helps an abused wife and mother of two disappear and to help pay for this pro-bono work she takes on a case to find proof of a cheating spouse. The cheating spouse case intersects with a corporate espionage investigation her family is working on. Her brother talks her into working together and the case soon escalates to attempted murder. At the same time, Margo has the husband of the family she helped disappear on her tail and threatening those she loves for information on the location of his missing family.
Margo is not sure how much she is willing to trust her family and keeps certain facts to herself, but this could put those she loves in danger. Is she willing to heal the family rift and become a part of her once close-knit family and the family firm again?
This is going to be a fabulous series! Margo is a fully developed protagonist. She is independent, brash and stubborn to a fault, but also extremely kindhearted to the underdog. The interactions with her various family members felt realistic and believable. The P.I. investigations were intriguing with plenty of twists and surprises. Everything together kept me turning the pages.
I highly recommend this first captivating book in this new Angelhart Investigations series!
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About the Author
Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award winning author of more than forty thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. Originally from northern California, in 2019 she and her husband relocated to Arizona where they enjoy baseball Spring Training, hiking, and spending time with their kids, grandson, and assorted pets.
Six experienced saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. Calm and professional, they know that rapid decompression would be fatal and so they work in shifts, breathing helium, and surviving in hot, close quarters.
Then one of them is found dead in his bunk.
With four days of decompression to go before the locked hatch to the chamber can be safely opened, the group must watch one another’s backs at all times. And when another diver is discovered unresponsive, everyone is on edge. What…or who…is taking them out one by one? And will any of them still be alive by the time the four days is up or will paranoia, exhaustion, suspicion, and pressure destroy them all?
THE CHAMBER by Will Dean is a psychological crime thriller/mystery with the ultimate locked room. Six experienced saturation divers begin to die, one-by-one, in their place of work, a hyperbaric chamber. If you are claustrophobic, this may not be the book for you, but you will be missing out on an amazing who-dun-it thriller that leaves you questioning your assumptions all the way to the last page.
Locked in a hyperbaric chamber is a tight and hot environment in which to live as six professional saturation divers work in shifts on deep sea oil rigs. They all depend on each other for their lives and know there is no exit until after decompression. After only one dive shift, one of the divers is discovered dead in his bunk and then it happens again. The divers can find no reason for these deaths and do not know who to trust. Now, as the company calls a halt to the month-long job, the divers must wait through four days of decompression as they continue to die one-by-one.
The story is told by Ellen Brooke, one of few female saturation divers, and she is in the chamber with five other experienced divers. Ellen is a wife and mother who does not know if she will return home. As the clock ticks down the time of decompression, the dead bodies increase and so does the level of suspicion and conspiracy theories. I always thought I was slightly claustrophobic until I read this book and now, I know I am much more claustrophobic than I believed. This is definitely not a job for the feint of heart.
I loved this book! I learned about a career I knew nothing about and would never attempt but found fascinating. I changed my mind so many times as to who or what was killing the divers. This mystery/thriller is fast paced, even with the explanations of sat diving and the countdown to the end builds to a heart pounding climax. No spoilers here, but make sure you read to the very last page.
I highly recommend this psychological crime thriller/mystery!
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About the Author
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a vast forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s book club on ITV, shortlisted for the National Book Award (UK), TheGuardian’s Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year. He is also the author of The Last One, First Born, The Last Thing to Burn, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Chamber.
London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.
Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.
As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen is more of a suspenseful novel that a historical one. There is a mystery, but also a dose of romance along with the serious topic of memory loss.
The book opens in London 1968 where Liz Houghton has been demoted to obituary writer for a London newspaper. After a young girl has disappeared, Liz decides to investigate, hoping for a scoop. Helping her is her best friend and roommate Marisa who happens to be a police detective.
They venture to Tydeham where during WWII the Army had all the residents relocated because they needed the area for military operations. Now it is a ghost town. But through her investigation Liz discovers that there were three girls who disappeared during WWII while evacuating London for the countryside. One was found murdered in the woods and the other two were never seen again. Helping with her desire to get to the bottom of what happened is James, someone who grew up in Tydeham and is now back trying to salvage some of his parents’ items.
The multiple interrelated story lines raise questions that will keep people engrossed.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Rhys Bowen: I read an article on a real abandoned village on which the story is based. The army had come and said to the people who lived there for generations, that they had three weeks to get out. Then the army took it. The community was given government housing. Many people thought they could come back after the war. But the army had destroyed it completely after they trained for the invasion there. This village was army property since WWII. There are still live ammunitions so no one can go there. This is sad. After I saw this, I wanted to write about it.
EC: What would you say the book is about?
RB: The past is not exactly what people think it was and the different types of mothers.
EC: How would you describe Liz?
RB: She is in her late 20’s. Her father thought it would be a waste of time to educate a girl, so she was sent to a secretarial course. She has been overprotected all her life, being the only child of older parents. She has lacked confidence all her life. She is ambitious and wants to make her way in the world. She now has a job as a newspaper reporter. She jumps at the story where a little girl has vanished from London. She sees this as a way to redeem herself with her employer. Her parents are controlling and manipulative. She is curious, angry at times, and would like to be more daring than she is. She does feel that her parents are smothering.
EC: What role did Marisa play in the story?
RB: Marisa is a detective and Liz’s roommate. She is the opposite of Liz who had a privileged upbringing. Marisa has come from a working-class family. Liz envies her because Marisa’s family is very close. Liz would like to be Marisa.
EC: How would you describe James?
RB: He, like Liz, has been wounded by his upbringing. He lost his mother early on, but she was a woman who made it quite clear she did not love him. He lost his two siblings. Now he is trying to be the support for his father. He and Liz both feel responsible for their parents as they get older. He is a nice and caring person.
EC: What about the relationship?
RB: They click immediately because they both come from similar backgrounds. They bond early on. They take it slowly.
EC: Why the dementia type illness of Liz’s mother?
RB: It plays into the plot because her mother does not remember something terrible that happened. But Liz’s discovery triggers something that has terrible consequences. It helps me plant the clues for the reader that things are not exactly as we thought they were. Liz feels very guilty that her mom is slipping away more and more. It is very hard to take for Liz.
EC: Next books?
RB: It will be in the Royal Spyness series titled We Three Queens coming out in November. King Edward announced he wants to marry Mrs. Simpson causing a huge Constitutional crisis.
The next Molly comes out in March. It is about the early days of the movie industry. Most of the people in the book are real characters. It is titled Silent as The Grave.
My next big stand-alone is a historical novel about a woman who has the perfect wife. One day he announces he wants a divorce. She drives to the South of France and creates a whole new life for herself. The working title is Mrs. Endicott’s Excellent Adventure. It takes place from 1938 to 1947. It will be out in August of next year.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
