The Mystery Starts Here

“Never Tell a Lie” was a quick but ultimately unsatisfying read. Like many other reviewers (check out www.amazon.com) I figured out the plot in the first three pages! If you watch the news or read a newspaper, you’ll figure it out too. The chapters are short and ALL of them have cliffhangers! Yes, Ephron wrote and published a book titled, “How to Write and Publish a Mystery” before she’d actually done it herself! How’s that for Chutzpah!

The characters are stock and cliched and I really didn’t like any of them. I especially hated the protagonist, Ivy Rose (how’s that for a cutesy name???) She’s nine months pregnant with a much wanted child, she’s had several miscarriages, BUT she does dumb things that endanger her own and her baby’s health. She’s wimpy and doesn’t stand up for herself. Yup, she’s TSTL (too stupid to live). At one point she goes to an empty creepy house, walks in and proceeds to find a dead body! Oy, I was waiting for Jamie Lee Curtis to come screaming out of the closet. Don’t even get me started on the ending, Ivy (nine month PG!) and dumbwaiter!

The basic plot is, Ivy and her hubby decided to clean out their old Victorian House and have a rummage sale.  Another very pregnant woman comes up to Ivy and introduces herself as Melinda. Does Ivy remember her from high school? Well, sort of – see Melinda has changed. She’s not the schlub  as in high school. Melinda tells Ivy she used to play in the Victorian as a child because her mother worked there. She asks to see the inside of the house . Ivy’s husband, Dave, agrees to take Melinda inside and….no one ever see her come out. Have you figured out the plot? Not too hard, I know.

I was very irritated when Ivy and her best friend, Jody got together. They reminisced about things that happened in high school and….third grade! Please, these women are in their 30’s! Well, maybe they do remember – this all takes place in Massachusetts after all, where people grow up with six friends, don’t want anymore and never leave the area.  Sorry, got off on a rant. I lived in Mass for nine years and could tell you SUCH stories!!

But back to “Never…..” – it just wasn’t very good! I have to tell you, I believe the ONLY reason this book got published is because the “author’s” name is Ephron. “Nut said.

Want to read some GOOD books? Check out my EIGHT published books at www.carlenedater.com – then buy one. You won’t be sorry!

I was lucky enough to win a copy of “A Circle of Souls,” from Preetham Grandhi’s website. When the book arrived, I snatched it up, sat down and started reading. I was hooked right off the bat.

The book starts with a little girl, Janet Troy, who is kidnapped and killed. Yes, it’s hard to read, but this IS a mystery after all. When the child’s body is discovered, local law enforcement calls in a special female agent from the FBI. Leia Bines has dealt with crimes against children and is the perfect person to solve the case. Leia is puzzled as to why she was yanked from her much-needed Hawaiian vacation and sent across the country to New England, until she discovers the child’s body has been found on the property of a U.S. Senator.

From the beginning the story is told in the alternating viewpoints of the main characters. Besides FBI agent Bines, we have Dr. Peter Gram, a Pediatric Psychiatrist who practices at a local hospital. He’s called to the ER to handle the case of a seven-year-old little girl who almost jumped off the families high balcony while sleepwalking. The girl, Naya, was adopted from India as an infant, and up until now, has been perfectly normal and healthy. Dr. Gram decides to admit Naya for a few days of observation….and then the fun begins.  Naya is a very good artist and when she starts drawing pictures of her dreams, Dr. Gram knows he’s up against something he’s never seen before.

I can’t disclose too much more without giving away the plot.  I read a lot of mysteries and can almost always tell who did it but Grandhi had me fooled. All I can say is, get a copy of “A Circle of Souls!” You won’t be able to put it down.