Usually, I avoid books described as fantasy or horror. This book turned out to be a mystery whose main warning was be careful what you wish for or don't mess with DNA. A murder occurs in an apocryphal town in Wisconsin whose total economic success depends on the story of a creature created early in the town history that is supposedly nice. Since I committed to reading and reviewing this, I kept reading and was pleasantly surprised. Although simple to follow, the story was interesting and suspenseful. Learn about a Hodag, what people think DNA can do, and how you never mess with a town's income without severe consequences.

I thank the publishers and Bookbrowse for providing me the book for a thoughtful review and apologize for taking so long to review.

Its almost 13 years since I read my first mystery about subjects involving books. From then on mysteries became my thing. In my heart those about books, libraries, writers, publishers, and authors always intrigued me the most. This book did not disappoint me either.
A disappointed lawyer to be wants to be an author, but her hippie-like parents want her to be a lawyer. She moves away to the other side of the world and thus our caper begins. Theodosia Benton, an Aussie Tasmanian, moves to the USA, where her brother had relocated many years before becoming a successful lawyer. They live in the fictional town of Lawrence, Kansas which seems to be an artist colony for aspiring authors.
Not very exciting? How wrong you will find yourself as you follow Theo towards her goal to become an author. Intrigue is everywhere. Murder, Armageddon theories and manipulation are being used to cover up, create, and destroy everyone involved. From her brother Gus to Cormac the PI who has fallen for Theo to the whole town. A complex and riveting mystery evolves. Not finishing this book would be a mistake!
Thanks to BookBrowse and Poisoned Pen Publishers for this wonderful arc.

Reading this was a fabulous experience, but the book itself's story was only fair. At first, I could not figure out where this plot was going with the intense description of a Beethoven performance and an interlude with an original game of tennis. But there I was in the middle of a production of a new Beethoven work, as he masterfully guided the orchestra through its presentation. I was there, and could just imagine the sounds from the wonderful description. Haydn was sitting there, maybe even Mozart-but what did this have to do with plot. Next, I was playing tennis with the lead characters, but could not recognize the game-just a pleasure. This was an excellent attempt to set the stage for what was to come, the prelude to build up to the war in the early 1800's between Spain with France against England- supposedly at peace with England. The plot, though entertaining, was meager compared to the described events. A light read done in a few nights, with some likeable characters.
Thank you to BookBrowse and the Norton Publishers for providing an ARC of this book.

Definitely a moving story, but it will take some perseverance to get thru this. I felt it was difficult to follow the story from day to day, too much going back then forward, could not always figure out what time zone I was in. In my opinion this book needs some heavy editing before being published.

As I titled this book review it just is is unbelievable. Follett, whose works I previously adored, did a horrible job. He makes everyone look like a fool. This type of book wasn't needed.

It's been a long time since a book made me feel like I was on a roller-coaster being bored, then excited to keep going. Disguised as a very good mystery, the author was able to discuss so many current themes of life in a coherent way that I felt mesmerized and jealous at how she put it all together.
Murder, sex, abuse-child and adult, drugs, childhood purity, gay rights intertwined in such an exciting story that you just had to stop and think not only what the author was trying to convey, but how you, the reader felt, about these issues.
I must admit its been a long time since I felt this way about a mystery - an excellent plot, good stimulating questions about life, and great ending.

Attracted to a description of this book as a "literary thriller" and taking place in the great city of Venice, I enthusiastically delved into the lives of the three main protagonists: Frankie - the author, Jackie her best friend, and Gillian the aspiring author and much younger of the three.

Frankie, sensitive, single, not immune to criticism is suffering a downer from the not well received publication of her latest novel has just physically accosted someone she believed wrote the poor review. At Jackie's suggestion she takes a break from her life in London traveling to Venice in the Winter only to be subsumed by what she feels is a depressing life in general. There she meets Gillian who inveigled herself into Frankie's life under false and suspicious pretenses.

More of a dissection of a life of an artist cum three women with life crises then a literary thriller, I enjoyed the prose used to describe each character's dilemma at a special time in their lives-mid life crisis versus starting a anew.

Having never read any of MJ Rose's works I went in not knowing what to suspect. What I found was a historical mystery well written, heart wrenching full of witticism, romance, and informative. Rose's command of how a women thinks when used was superb and her definitions of many nuances of interpretation of life experiences were most interesting. I found myself taking some notes, looking up words, and just overall enthralled with the story.

Not truly being a fan of the paranormal theme, I found this book was able to combine an exciting mystery with just enough ghosts not overwhelm the plot. The paranormal enhanced the quality of an excellent mystery, not making the outcome unrealistic.
Having never read anything by the author, I would surely read her other books because of the quality of this writing. Using the technique of discussing two separate characters in alternating chapters, bringing them together as the book ended lent a sense of wanting to always continue and see what the outcome was. Once started I could not put the book down until finished.
The author was able to combine many pertinent topics of the time especially those, as a male I feel primary relate to the ongoing issues of male-female relationships in our society. Discussed in nuance terms are facts like women get killed because of the vulnerability, men like women who are vulnerable, and women can do their own things and do it well.
I highly suggest this book to all people, you will never forget Viv Delaney, her niece Carly and all the ghosts of the Sundown Motel.

This was very different from Harper's first book which I realized received rave reviews despite my less than enthusiastic review. This book on the other hand was terrific, although I feel labeling it a mystery is not right. This in a true sense is a novel about a dysfunctional family, despite Harper's attempt to make it out to be a mystery by providing many twists and turns.

Writing again about Australia again, Harper gives us great insight to a large desolate area of the Outback region. Life was hard, the people were hard, and misery was around every corner.

Her prologue lead us on into the search for a reason why anybody would live there.

We meet the Bright family, an almost successful ranching family, and as their story unravels we cover many modern and varied issues from child abuse, spousal abuse, divorce, suicide and depression. Five stars from me, a must read.

This novel was reviewed by some very high powered authors to great acclaim predicting that the author would be an "instant new favorite". With those expectations I anxiously read this book.

The story evoked a great deal of feelings about a great number of issues for me. Death and dying, parental relationships, interpersonal relationships, revenge and figuring out what you really want to do with your life. The author using simple prose was able to convey a myriad of feelings that will stimulate the reader.

The first part of of the book developed a somewhat somber theme of a person having to deal with their end of their life. This part seemed to take a long time to develop but once in place set the tone for the rest of the characters development.
As stated, these characters had to deal with a slew of feelings they had been avoiding for most of their life.

The read has many ebbs and flow as the characters deal with their many issues. All in all the novel makes for an interesting read, but at times very depressing.

This book was more like a cozy mystery for young adults. Being an enjoyer of the mystery genre, I found this book not to be my cup of tea. There really was minimal suspense, and the characters were not very deep. Dealing with the turn of century topic of a woman aspiring to be a cop about the time women's suffragette movement was gaining steam lacked authenticity. Just a simple plot, simple characters, and not much to keep one interested. Sorry, this just wasn't for me.

Was Mr. Hawkins naïve, foolish, a true rake like the book says or was it just a great mystery. This book was thoroughly enjoyable as the plot was concise, funny, and thrilling. Taking place in the early 18th century the author gave us a taste of the time and what war was really like. The main character Thomas Hawkins really makes one think what a character would do when pressed to the wall. He made the decision to hang trying to protect a number of people all who turned out to be the wrong perpetrator of the crime. The fast pace, the in-depth look at the times, and the twisted plot led to a a most enjoyable read.

A combination mystery and tale of finding oneself in the lands of Cambodia and Laos, where ghosts and demons are an integral part of their everyday lives. A British citizen, who is a teacher who usually vacations over his off time finds himself wondering where should he be in life as he travels the country side in the far east. Meeting an American expatriate who convinces him what he needs to do is basically find himself. Complications arise, murders ensue, lust overwhelms our teacher as one is never sure of the outcome till the very end. The author's writing style is very deep full of exciting imagery, mixed metaphors, and quest to combine the modern world with the ancient of the far east. This book represents a very different approach to often banal novels where one tries to discover oneself. Cultures are examined through the eyes of people with varied experiences in life from the atrocities of Pol Pot and the Khmer rouge, communists, disaffected Americans, Buddhists, and a very staid Englishman. Have your dictionary near and Wikipedia available

Who else should be able to plan a murder and get away with it but the mystery writer? Give that writer Alzheimer's disease and how could he ever be convicted. This is the recurring theme in this book and it does add an interesting twist to the genre. Jerry Grey, our protagonist, is a most successful murder mystery writer with stories described as often beyond the pale. Where does he get his material, how does he create his plot, and could these stories be based on real murders committed by the author himself? Then give Jerry a pen name, an alter ego, Alzheimer, and watch a most interesting plot develop. Sometimes one needs a guide to follow all the side twists, which the author provides conveniently every so many pages.

Reading some of the provided reviews, I expected a gripping, fast moving psychological thriller. What I found was a disjointed, hard to follow story that absolutely had no credence. I found the author was trying to write for a course in her MFA rather than a story. Her words were flowery, her insight narrow, and the plot just droned on. I do believe with some good editing the story could be made more believable and thus more entertaining. Since I never not complete a book I start, I was bitterly disappointed.