CERRI ELLIS - MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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Curiosity may have killed the cat, but Cerri Ellis never let a little thing like fear stop her from playing sleuth. When she's not snapping photos of ghosts, solving riddles or sifting through dusty tomes in library catacombs, she writes articles and book reviews for magazines and web sites. Her hobbies include reading mysteries, herbal gardening, and searching online and estate auctions for arcane curios. She is currently at work on a paranormal thriller set in Southern Appalachia. Ms. Ellis enjoys hearing from her readers. You can contact her at cerridwen_ellis @ yahoo.com Or stop by her blog: www.cerriellis.blogspot.com |
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September 2006
LAST
WHISPER
Carlene Thompson
St. Martin’s Press, September 2006, $6.99, 354pp.
ISBN 0-312-93728-8
Brooke Yeager’s innocence was shattered at an early age. First when
her adored father died from cancer. Then once again when she woke late
one night and found her new stepfather standing over her mother’s
lifeless body–with a gun in his hand. Her only living relative, her
beloved German grandmother lay in a hospital bed, fighting to survive.
Brooke shuttled from foster home to foster home, before being reunited
with her elderly grossmutter.
She manages to put the past behind her and create a life for herself working
for Townsend Realty, as a sales agent. Brooke is showing a house with
a new agent trainee one night when the unthinkable happens. Her world
teeters once more on the edge of fear when she discovers her stepfather
has escaped from prison.
Vincent Lockhart writes bestselling true crime novels and is the son of
the lead detective who worked The Rose Murder. He has come back to West
Virginia to care for his ailing, retired father and assess his father’s
condition. The last thing he needs is to get involved with a woman someone
is trying to kill. He finds himself drawn to her gentle personality, Scandinavian
beauty and inner strength.
As the body count rises, Vincent and Brooke must piece the puzzle together
before she’s the next victim.
Thompson writes prose with an eye for detail, every word calculated to
propel the story. She artfully places her red herrings, causing the reader
more than a few nail-biting moments. The characters are sympathetic and
the romance subplot tingles with promise. Last Whisper is a riveting page-turner–a
rush to the finish thriller that will shock and delight fans of the genre.
Cerri Ellis
RAINBOW’S
END AND OTHER STORIES
John M. Floyd
Dogwood Press, October 2006, $19.95, 299 pp.
ISBN 13: 978-0-97216-112-1
Over thirty short mystery and suspense stories are included in this collection,
all written by John M. Floyd. The author takes readers through time to
the old west (The Early Death of Pinto Bishop, Lucy’s Gold) then
back to modern day Texas (The Proposal). From Polynesia (The Blue Wolf)
to an airplane on the tarmac at LAX (Creativity), each tale shows versatility.
In the case of a few stories, characters exceeded the boundaries of the
page and escaped into the next tale, intertwining to pull together any
loose threads (Guardian Angel, A Gathering of Angels, Henry’s Ford,
etc.).
I always have a favorite story or stories I single out in anthologies,
and RAINBOW’S END AND OTHER STORIES is no different. In The Jumper,
the narrator is asked by a man named Rufus, “What’s the smartest
thing you’ve ever done?” His reply is both ingenious and very
telling. Lindy’s Luck is a game of wits between a female shoplifter
and the off-duty cop who catches her. With more twists than a sidewinder,
the clever little tale keeps you guessing until the end.
Both The Jumper and Lindy’s Luck are refreshing, as I didn’t
see the twists in advance, something rare for this reviewer.
Mr. Floyd has created a unique collection of short mysteries. With a wink
to legendary tale “twister”, O. Henry, Mr. Floyd has created
a thoroughly enjoyable anthology.
Cerri Ellis
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