Nadine Finch is a forensic psychologist. Her whole career and life have been shaped by having a serial killer for a mother, a fact she keeps hidden from her colleagues. But now the truth is threatening to be revealed as a new killer is on the loose, a copycat using Nadine’s mother as inspiration.
A Killer’s Daughter is an intriguing thriller. The premise of the psychologist assisting in a case similar to her mother’s is a great way to introduce a new lead character. Being the first in a new series, author Jenna Kernan takes time to build up our knowledge of Nadine, her backstory and her personality so that we become invested in her catching the killer.
Nadine has inner strength from the past she has endured but her secret from her colleagues makes her vulnerable and anxious. Ethically I don’t think she should have got involved in the case due to her personal circumstances but I understand her determination to find the truth because it is so personal. There is a spark of romance for Nadine but due to her past she has significant trust issues.
We do see some chapters from the perspective of the killer. This serves to give us extra insight into the murders and the killer’s motives. Clues to the identity of the killer allowed me to suspect almost every character and there were plenty of twists to prevent me guessing correctly.
A Killer’s Daughter was an enjoyable serial killer thriller and I look forward to seeing what happens next in the series.
A Killer’s Daughter book description:
Who better to catch a murderer than a woman raised by one?
The beautiful young woman’s long black hair clings to her face like seaweed. As Nadine turns the body, she prays this will be different: but seeing the wounds, her prayers go unanswered. It’s just like the others. An exact match to her mother’s victims.
Keeping her head down and refusing to let anyone get close is Agent Nadine Finch’s atonement for never realising her mother Arleen was a serial killer. But when the body of a young woman is found drifting in the warm Sarasota Bay waters, right where Nadine grew up, the past she’s worked so hard to keep hidden comes calling.
Rushing to the scene, Nadine is the first to notice the circle carved around the girl’s ring finger. It’s the exact same marking Arleen left on all her victims. Suddenly, Nadine is a teenager again, watching her mother come home to their trailer in the middle of the night, covered in blood.
With a heartbroken family reeling, and no witnesses or forensic evidence, Nadine has no choice but to face her demons and visit her mother in prison. When her mother whispers a name Nadine hasn’t heard for years, the case takes a terrifyingly personal turn, and returning home, the bag of bloodied clothes left on Nadine’s bed tells her someone is watching her every move…
With her dark family history out in the open, it’s not long before suspicion falls on Nadine herself. As her team turn against her, the closer she gets to her mother and this case, the more danger she’s in. Time is running out. Can she catch the killer—or will she be the next victim of this dark family legacy?
An unputdownable thriller that will have you racing through the pages until the final, jaw-dropping twist. Perfect for fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Gardner and Mary Burton.
Author Bio:
Publishers Weekly bestselling author Jenna Kernan is a two-time RITA nominee and winner of the Book Buyers’ Best award. Prior to signing with Bookouture, she published over thirty novels including her popular APACHE PROTECTOR series. Jenna is a member of numerous writing groups, including International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Florida Mystery Writers and Novelists, Inc. She frequently attends conferences on police procedure at the Writers Police Academy and MurderCon. Jenna currently lives on Florida’s Gulf Coast with her husband. A natural redhead, she has recently increased her sunblock to SPF 50.
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Liv and her son Simon live in the shadow of her controlling father Vidar. He keeps power over them following the suicide of her mother and will never let Liv abandon him in the same way. Set in a small remote Swedish village, full of vengeful characters who resent Vidar’s wealth, danger threatens…
The Last Snow is not a book that I would normally have picked as it is a translation from the orignal Swedish. Many of the names are in English such as Simon and Liam so I was not concerned with pronunciation which I sometimes find a little distracting.
The book is written in a certain pattern: a snippet of the past and Liv’s attempts to find freedom and then followed by the present day where she is a devoted mum and daughter. She feels trapped but has a secret liaison with her father’s tenant Johnny that gives her a taste of freedom.
Meanwhile we see single dad Liam, a small time crook in his brother’s shadow. They have had a terrible childhood with a violent father but Liam is determined he wants better for his own daughter. He needs to break the cycle and stealing Vidar’s fortune offers him a way out.
But Vidar isn’t robbed. He is murdered, sparking a mystery that laces through the remaining story.The murder part of the plot is intriguing and I had plenty of theories, none of which were correct.
Liv and Liam are both hugely likeable characters although I didn’t approve of their actions. Both want to be freed from the power of their fathers which has significantly impacted on their lives. The backstory to both characters increases our sympathy and empathy for them.
The Last Snow had drama, hope, loss, grief and a murder mystery. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two dysfunctional families and was completely lost in the plot.
The Last Snow book blurb:
What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland?
Early spring has its icy grip on Ödesmark, a small village in northernmost Sweden, abandoned by many of its inhabitants. But Liv Björnlund never left. She lives in a derelict house together with her teenage son, Simon, and her ageing father, Vidar. They make for a peculiar family, and Liv knows that they are cause for gossip among their few remaining neighbours.
Just why has Liv stayed by her domineering father’s side all these years? And is it true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune? His questionable business decisions have made him many enemies over the years, and in Ödesmark everyone knows everyone, and no one ever forgets.
Now someone wants back what is rightfully theirs. And they will stop at nothing to get it, not matter who stands in their way…
About the author
Stina Jackson (b. 1983) hails from the northern town of Skellefteå in Sweden. Just over a decade ago she relocated to Denver, Colorado, where she penned her debut novel, the acclaimed The Silver Road. A runaway bestseller, the novel established Jackson as a rising new star within Nordic suspense.
Awards
The Glass Key (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel) The Nordic Countries – Silvervägen 2019
Book of the Year Award Sweden – Silvervägen 2019
The Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel) Sweden – Silvervägen 2018
Four old college friends decide to spend the weekend together to reconnect but each hides a secret. Elise feels lonely despite her wealth and has been squirrelling money away but now her husband has found out. Ivy is almost bankrupt and has started working as an escort. Ada is hiding her postnatal depression. Widow Libby has found a second chance at love. However, there are more secrets from the past…
Her Guilty Secret is a great title as it can apply to each of the four main characters. They have been hiding secrets from each other as well as their loved ones. Yet for all of them, things are going to come to a head this weekend as tensions and personalities collide.
The four main women are all likeable, facing their own struggles and desperate to cling on to their lives yet terrified of what will happen next. I liked the strength of the women’s friendship that ebbs and flows throughout the book. The realism of their emotions makes this an enjoyable book to read and there is a naturalness to the situations that makes us think ‘what if it was me’.
We get to see different perspectives as each chapter gives us insight into one of the women’s viewpoints. They are all treated equally by the author who shows us their version of current and past events through third person narrative.
Her Guilty Secret is an enjoyable tale of enduring friendship and modern life.
I have previously reviewed Everybody Lies by Emily Cavanagh
Emily Cavanagh Media Kit:
Title: Her Guilty Secret
Publication Day – Feb 12th 2021
Author: Emily Cavanagh
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Description:
Everyone has one big regret…
Ivy has been looking forward to seeing her oldest college friends for months. But the reunion couldn’t have come at a worse time. Her husband has left her and she is struggling to pay the bills. She’s never felt less like sitting around drinking cocktails. And as the reunion weekend approaches, Ivy can’t stop thinking about the life-altering mistake that changed everything during her senior year…
Not wanting to let everyone down, Ivy boards the plane to Boston and makes her way to Elise’s stunning Cape Cod summerhouse, where Ada and Libby are waiting. That evening, as everyone gathers on the sofa with several bottles of wine, someone suggests they play truth or dare.
When Ada picks truth and is asked about her biggest regret, something is said that can’t be taken back. Something that makes Ivy question the moment she has always blamed herself for and makes her wonder if these women were ever her friends to begin with.
But Ivy’s not the only one keeping secrets. Ada, Elise and Libby’s perfect lives are not quite what they seem. As new revelations come to light, will this weekend bring the three friends closer than ever or tear them apart for good?
A gripping, emotional drama about the complexities of friendship and the lengths we will go for the ones we love. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies, Elin Hilderbrand and The Family Next Door.
Author Bio:
A teacher as well as a writer, Emily Cavanagh lives with her husband, two daughters, and an Australian Shepherd on Martha’s Vineyard Island. Her work has been published in Red Rock Review, Grain Magazine, Transfer, and Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Ideas. Read more about Emily’s work and life at www.emilycavanaghauthor.com.
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Mattie Banks is travelling by bus to an abortionist when Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat. This simple act inspires Mattie to keep her baby and hope for a better future. In the present day, Mattie’s granddaughter Ashlee loses a prestigious promotion and discovers that her grandmother’s cancer is back…
Wow. Just wow.
The Girl at the Back of the Bus is quite extraordinary in its careful balance of tragedy and hope. The power of the opening chapter where we are introduced to the racism and segregation of 1950s America is shocking and revolting. Yet the Black characters act with courage and dignity throughout the book, aspiring for a life of equality and acceptance.
Author Suzette D. Harrison includes the casual and normalised use of terms of racial abuse: this is terrible and inspires a revulsion in modern readers. I cannot believe that such inequality and despicable attitudes were permitted and enshrined in law in my parents’ lifetime. I felt ashamed of the overt White acts and insidious institutional racism that continue to perpetuate the discrimination even in modern times.
Ashlee and her white boyfriend Brad negotiate personal as well as racial politics. The shadow of their different histories of their ethnic backgrounds impacts on their interracial relationship. Ashlee appears to have more opportunities than Mattie yet she is still held back by her sex and race, doubly discriminated against compared to her colleagues.
Despite the intensity of the historical content, The Girl at the Back of the Bus is a love story and a story of love between the generations. The love of Ashlee for her grandmother and her other family is beautiful and compellingly written. It brought a tear to my eye, especially due to the lockdown and our current enforced separation from loved ones, as well as the grief that I have now lost all of my own grandparents. The enduring love between Mattie and her husband was also charming and I hope that my husband and I keep the romance alive in our 80s!
The Girl at the Back of the Bus was thought provoking and brilliant. My heart hurts with the love and pain contained within its pages.
The Girl at the Back of the Bus book description:
“I watched in awe as Miz Rosa stopped those men on the bus with her clear, calm “no” and I thought about that word. What if I said no? What if I refused to follow the path these White folks wanted for us? What if I kept this precious baby?
Montgomery, Alabama, 1955
On a cold December evening, Mattie Banks packs a suitcase and leaves her family home. Sixteen years old and pregnant, she has already made the mistake that will ruin her life and disgrace her widowed mother. Boarding the 2857 bus, she sits with her case on her lap, hoping that the driver will take her away from disaster. Instead, Mattie witnesses an act of bravery by a woman named Rosa Parks that changes everything. But as Mattie strives to turn her life around, the dangers that first led her to run are never far away. Forging a new life in a harsh world at constant risk of exposure, Mattie will need to fight to keep her baby safe.
Atlanta, Georgia, present day
Ashlee Turner is going home. Her relationship in ruins, her career held back by prejudice, she is returning to the family who have always been her rock. But Ashlee’s home is not the safe haven she remembers. Her beloved grandmother is dying and is determined to share her story before she leaves…
When Ashlee finds a stack of yellowing letters hidden in her nana’s closet, she can’t help the curiosity that compels her to read, and she uncovers an old secret that could wreak havoc on her already grieving family. As she tries to make sense of what she has learned, Ashlee faces a devastating choice: to protect her loved ones from the revelations, or honor her grandmother’s wishes and follow the path to the truth, no matter where it may lead.
For readers of The Help, Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours comes a beautiful and heartbreaking novel about redemption, family secrets and the spirit of survival found at the hardest time.
Author Bio:
Suzette D. Harrison, a native Californian and the middle of three daughters, grew up in a home where reading was required, not requested. Her literary “career” began in junior high school with the publishing of her poetry. While Suzette pays homage to Alex Haley, Gloria Naylor, Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, and Toni Morrison as legends who inspired her creativity, it was Dr. Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings that unleashed her writing. The award-winning author of Taffy is a wife and mother of two teens, and she holds a culinary degree in pastry and baking. Mrs. Harrison is currently cooking up her next novel…in between batches of cupcakes.
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Lottie Parker is all set to marry fellow police officer Boyd, thankful that he has beaten cancer. But their nuptials are interrupted by their latest murder case. A number of women have been killed with strychnine leading to an agonised death. Can they catch the killer and make it down the aisle…?
Silent Voices is the 9th book in Patricia Gibney’s Lottie Parker series. Each book can be read as a stand alone novel but the life stories of the police team follows on. I’d be surprised if you didn’t want to read about their history!
Lottie and her team are inundated with suspicious behaviour and keep coming back to the Fleming family. There are plenty of suspects and a lot of history to sift through. What could connect an entrepreneur with a psychologist and a fifteen year old desperate to be loved? I admit to feeling a little overwhelmed with the number of characters and the length of the book. I had plenty of ideas about who was responsible and why but wasn’t right!
The highly anticipated wedding adds an extra dimension to the stress and drama of the case. I enjoyed the personal relationships and professional dynamics of the book which follow on from previous books.
Some of the forensic detail is a bit stomach churning as are the descriptions of the effects of the poison. The descriptions are vivid which is why they create such a horrifying image in the readers’ minds. A clever plot, carefully and brutally imagined in words.
Silent Voices is a fab addition to the Lottie Parker series and I can’t wait to see what happens next… I have previously reviewed books 6, 7 and 8 in the series (Final Betrayal, Broken Souls, and Buried Angels).
The words blurred as she read the note. She could feel her blood turning to ice. ‘Before you make the biggest mistake of your life, meet me. If you don’t, her blood will be on your hands.’
When Beth Mullen returns home, expecting to find her twin Rachel waiting for her, the silent house sends a shiver down her spine. She races upstairs to find her beautiful beloved sister cold in her childhood bed, her sparkling blue eyes closed forever, the morning after attending a glittering party…
Newly engaged Detective Lottie Parker knows that Rachel has been murdered the minute she enters the bedroom. Rachel’s neck is bruised and a shard of glass placed in her throat. Confronted with such a horrifying killing, Lottie wastes no time in pursuing every clue.
While interviewing the partygoers, Lottie discovers that Rachel’s handbag and keys are nowhere to be found. But as she is searching for them, a brilliant young doctor is found murdered with glass in her throat. The doctor was nowhere near the party and Lottie is forced to question everything. Two beautiful young women with the world at their feet have been brutally silenced. Why did the killer need them to die?
Desperate to find proof of what really happened to Rachel that night, Lottie gets close to the hostess of the party, whose two daughters were friends with Rachel. But Lottie’s hunt for the truth is getting under the killer’s skin, and when Lottie’s fiancé Boyd goes missing, will she be able to find him before it’s too late? Or will he too be silenced forever?
An unputdownable crime thriller from bestselling author Patricia Gibney, with an ending that will blow your mind. If you like Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine you’ll be totally hooked by Silent Voices.
Author Bio:
Patricia is the million-copy bestselling author of the DI Lottie Parker series. She yearned to be a writer after reading Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene and even wanted to be Nancy Drew when she grew up. She has now grown up (she thinks) but the closest she’s come to Nancy Drew is writing crime!
In 2009, after her husband died, she retired from her job and started writing seriously. Fascinated by people and their quirky characteristics, she always carries a notebook to scribble down observations.
Patricia also loves to paint in watercolour and lives in the Irish midlands with her children.
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