THE PERFECT HOSTS

4 stars out of 5

What a mash-up of nasty characters – all of them, including even the “hero” - have some kind of agenda that’s not totally revealed till the end. And speaking of the ending, we’re left with a bit of a cliffhanger – making me think there’ll be another installment (at least) to come. If that includes the aforementioned hero, a guy I really, really liked, I’m ready and waiting.

That hero is Jamie Saldano, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He’s been called to the scene of a death by explosion at the home of wealthy and pregnant Madeline Drake and her husband Wes, where a gender-reveal party was taking place. The “reveal” was to be made by an explosion triggered by a rifle shot to a staged container that would release the properly colored smoke. That happened as planned, but the shot was followed by another explosion that destroyed a nearby building – killing Madeline’s midwife and good friend Johanna. The question Jamie must answer is whether it was an accident or intentional. If it’s the latter, of course, it likely means someone at the party is a murderer.

But who might that be? And for that matter, was Johanna the actual target, or did she just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? As the investigation progresses, evidence points in more than one direction – from guests to the people who threw the party. Also not to be discounted are Wes’s older brother Dix and a party server named Millie, who narrowly escaped the burning barn with her life, and Madeline’s estranged sister, Lucy, who suddenly appears out of nowhere.

For his part, Jamie is haunted by his past years here – highlighted by the fact that Wes Drake once saved his life back when he was a teenager and his sister disappeared, never to be found again. But his ongoing quest to find out what really happened to her is overshadowed by doing the job he came here to do, so for the most part his memories get put on the back burner.

Of course, the rest of the book focuses on the investigation, muddled in large part because everyone – including Jamie – has some kind of an axe to grind. Except for Jamie, most of the characters to me weren’t very likable, but that simply made me more curious as to which one would end up being the worst of the lot. Overall, it’s a thoroughly engaging adventure (with a bit of a surprise ending), and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row, November 2025); 320 pp.

THE OVERNIGHT GUEST

4 stars out of 5

It takes a little work to really get into the swing of this - chapters that alternate among characters and time frames make it a little hard to keep track of what's going on, when and to whom. But once you get the hang of it, everything comes together to make the kind of good story for which this author is known. It opens in August 2000 in rural Iowa when two 12-year-old girls run toward a cornfield to escape someone who is shooting at them. Later, readers learn that one of the girls was shot but lived, the other is nowhere to be found and presumed dead, the parents of the injured girl have been brutally murdered and her brother is missing.

Fast-forward to the present, when Wylie Lark has rented an old farmhouse in the area and is writing a true crime book about what really happened there 20 years ago. She's almost finished, but a huge snowstorm hits, knocking out the power and cell phones. Thankfully, Wylie has stocked up on groceries, and there's plenty of wood in the shed (assuming she wants to plod through several inches of snow to get to it). Now, all she needs to do is wait it out.

Best-laid plans, though, often go awry; it happens here when Wylie finds what she's afraid is the dead body of a young boy out in the yard. Thankfully, he's alive, so she manages to get him inside and warmed up. What she cannot do, though, is get him to speak or eat. Something is definitely amiss, but with no clues to go on and no way to contact the police, there's not much she can do - except venture out to the road to see if by chance the boy was the victim of an accident. There, Wylie makes another human discovery; but when she runs back to get blankets and warm clothing, that human has mysteriously disappeared. So for now, Wylie can only try to make her new overnight guest as comfortable as possible.

Little by little, chapter by chapter, readers see connections between past and present. Adding more details here, of course, would give away too much, so I'll simply say that, as expected, everything comes into focus at the end with plenty of action (some of which, I must say, seemed a little far-fetched) plus a few surprises. All in all, it's a treat to read, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row, January 2022); 337 pp.

THIS IS HOW I LIED

5 stars out of 5

Based on my reaction to the books I've read previously by this author, it's safe to list her among my favorites; not one has been anything close to disappointing. And by golly, she's gone and done it again.

I've said many times, though, that I'm really not a fan of books in which chapters constantly switch between time periods and among characters. On the other hand, it can be a very effective technique, especially when the shifts are clear - as they are here. In fact, I doubt the story would be half as powerful were it not for the the backstory "reveals" - in this case, to 1995, when Maggie Kennedy O'Keefe discovered the body of her best friend, Eve Knox, in a secluded cave in Grotto, Iowa. Maggie's father was police chief at the time, but after a lengthy investigation, the killer was never identified.

Today, Maggie herself is a police officer, with a husband Shaun and a soon-to-be-born daughter. She gets the shock of her life when some kids find a boot in the cave where Eve's body was found - and everyone, including Maggie, recognize it as being Eve's. Shaun isn't happy that Maggie will be reopening and working the cold case with her partner; but Maggie is determined to get to the truth about what happened 25 years earlier.

But clearly, it won't be easy. For one thing, she must deal with Eve's sister Nola - considered by many to be, shall I say, mentally unbalanced back then, possibly even dangerous. These days, she's a veterinarian who specializes in large animals, and she's got her own ideas about who Eve's murderer is as well as what should be done about it. Knowing what the woman is capable of, though, Maggie has the Nola at the top of her own suspect list.

There are a few others on the list, too, and it's pretty clear that Maggie herself has some secrets she'd rather not have come to light. Slowly, readers get a peek into what really led up to Eve's murder - and who might be willing to stop at nothing to make sure their own secrets stay hidden.  Very fast-paced and exciting right to the end - thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an advance copy for review. Well done!

This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row, May 2020); 336 pp.

BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND

5 stars out of 5

Oh my. With close to 30% of the book left to finish, nothing stopped me -  not even the nail-biting finish of a March Madness basketball game that determined which team would head for the Final Four. Filled with more than a few characters I really didn't much like (and trusted even less), it was simply impossible for me to turn off my Kindle without learning who did what and why.

The story centers on the lives of three middle-school girls - Cora, Violet and Jordyn - all of whom exhibit the best, and more often worst, behaviors that constantly reminded me of what a saint our daughter is (she's a middle-school teacher who absolutely loves working with kids that age, bless her her heart). Readers also get to know the girls' extended families - brothers, sisters, moms and dads - all of whom are, shall we say, less than perfect.

Early on, the girls sneak out of their small town to an abandoned railroad yard late at night, but the situation turns sour when Cora is found on the tracks. Her arm is damaged and she's been stabbed multiple times, even on her face. Violet turns up nearby in a state of shock, and Jordyn is nowhere to be found. Immediately, questions arise: What were the girls doing out there at such a late hour? Why did they lie to their parents about where they'd be that evening? And of course, who hurt Cora? No one wants to believe that anyone from the town - and certainly not a family member - could have done such an awful thing. And then there's that frightening urban legend thing; but nobody (well, almost nobody) believes that one either.

Chapters shift from perspectives of the girls and their families and time periods, gradually revealing events and emotions and leading up to that late-night foray that ended so disastrously. In a very real sense, it's a sad commentary on how stressful middle-school years can be, but mostly it's a riveting story you won't want to put down. My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy. Highly recommended!

Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row, April 2019); 368 pp.

NOT A SOUND

4 stars out of 5

If nothing else, I'll give the author points for putting a unique twist on the lead character: Former trauma nurse Amelia Winn is deaf, the result of a hit-and-run accident that killed one of her patients in a hospital parking lot. Being totally unable to hear gives her a different perspective - and at times increases the tension - and gives readers a look at arguably the real star of the book, Amelia's lovable service dog, Stitch.

Her deafness really doesn't make Amelia herself more lovable, though, at least in my eyes. She's another of those headstrong females who questions the words and actions of every other character in the book (occasionally, even the dog) and is incapable of keeping her nose out of places she's been warned not to go - up to and including actually breaking the law several times over. But needless to say, without her interference there wouldn't be much of a story; and on the plus side, it was great to watch her regain confidence after falling into an alcoholic stupor for a time following her accident two years earlier (she lost her husband David, an OB-GYN, and stepdaughter Nora as a result of her alcoholic histrionics).

They haven't yet divorced, and Amelia - who narrates the story - holds out some hope that they might get back together, or at minimum, he won't try to stop her from seeing Nora. In the interim, she's been banished from her former home by her estranged husband and is living in a (where else?) remote cabin in the Iowa woods. On one of her relaxing kayak voyages on the local river, a restless Stitch discovers a body that turns out to be her former nurse friend Gwen. After placing a 911 call, the authorities arrive and she bumps up against another of life's complications; childhood friend Jake, who's now a police detective. From then on, Amelia's emotions hop on a does he/doesn't he, should she/shouldn't she roller coaster with David on one end and Jake on the other. 

Gwen's murder leaves her devastated, though, in part because she lost Gwen and most of her friends when she was drinking heavily. Now, she wants to get to the bottom of things not only because of the guilt she feels for not staying in touch with Gwen, but also because she's afraid the murderer thinks she saw him. Still, she tries to forget it all and manages to land a job at a cancer clinic as a medical records clerk, in the hope it will lead to a return to her beloved career in nursing. Even though David is friends with the much-loved head of the clinic, though, he's not at all supportive. So what's up with that, she wonders?

As the story progresses, Amelia's snooping leads her from one suspect to another to another to another. She pleads her cases to Jake so often, in fact, that he pretty much tunes her out, and conversely, his pleas that she butt out and let the police do their jobs fall on deaf ears as well (pun intended). Along the way, she finds evidence that someone may be stalking her, at best to discredit her and at worst to, well, you know.

Will Amelia identify the killer before the killer kills her? Will her insistence on ignoring his warnings to stop nosing around kill any chance she may have for romance with Jake? Truth is, I didn't care all that much how she fared, but the whats, hows and whys kept the story moving along quickly and interestingly from beginning to end. Good job!

Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row Books, June 2017); 352 pp.

MISSING PIECES

4 stars out of 5

Right off the bat, I'll admit fighting the urge to give this one 3.5 stars. But the plot seemed believable to me, the pace was fast enough to hold my attention throughout and better still, for the most part kept me guessing all the way to the end. At issue is the fact that I had a tough time relating to the main character; but in all fairness, my objection touches on a personal bias that really doesn't have much bearing on the quality of writing, so I upped my score to 4.

The story begins as Sarah Quinlan returns with her husband Jack to his hometown of Penny Gate, Iowa, after he learns that his Aunt Julia, who raised him and his rather wigged-out sister Amy, fell down the stairs and is in a coma. Jack, who's always been closed-mouthed about his parents (revealing only that were killed when he was a teenager), hasn't returned to the area since before he and Sarah were married 20 years earlier.

Soon thereafter, Julia dies, and details about Jack's childhood experiences begin to emerge. Sarah - a former reporter turned advice columnist - starts to dig deeper into the events of her husband's past. In the process, she unearths "secrets" surrounding the death of his parents that could put other family members - and perhaps Sarah herself - in danger. From that point on, it's a race to get to the truth before someone else bites the dust (as for how all that turns out, of course, my lips are sealed).

What turned me off, though, is that I have no sympathy for hand-wringing females like Sarah, whose angst jumped to 9.5 on the Richter Scale the second she concluded that her husband of two decades is a lying, cheating scumbag  - or worse - simply because he failed to tell her every tiny aspect of his past. He didn't share names of all the girls he dated in high school? Oh, the horror! Granted, there are a few relatively important things he probably should have mentioned somewhere along the way; but it's 20 years and two kids later, woman - get over it. Somewhere around the 50% mark, I decided the best ending for me would be learning that he'd kicked her sorry butt to the curb (no, I won't reveal that outcome, either).

That off my chest, this is a good, solid mystery that gave me plenty of motivation to keep reading (I finished it easily in a couple of days). I had suspicions about how it would all come together, but I had to wait till the final pages to find out for sure. For those who don't mind a goodly dose of melodrama with their suspense, I give it a big thumbs up, and I thank the publisher (via NetGalley) for providing me with an advance copy for review.

Missing Pieces by Heathrer Gudenkauf (Harlequin Digital Sales Corp., February 2016); 288 pp.