BETRAYAL

4 stars out of 5

After reading one other in this series featuring former MMA fighter Robin Lockwood, I looked forward to another. And I'm happy to say this one (the 7th) doesn't disappoint - if anything, I enjoyed it more. This time around, Robin is a highly regarded defense attorney in Portland, Oregon. When a local family of four is murdered, the primary suspect is Mandy Kerrigan, a washed-up MMA fighter who once roundly defeated Robin, causing her to get out of the professional fight arena. Mandy, it seems, had beaten up the grown son of the murdered family and was even seen at their door not long before the bodies were discovered.

But Robin suspects the truth is more elusive, agreeing to defend her and, hopefully, identify the real killer or killers. Among the discoveries is the fact that the mother, Margaret Finch, was an attorney with a lucrative history of defending powerful mobsters, the father owed a ton of gambling debt and the aforementioned son was a drug dealer (plenty of reasons for payback, then).

The story, which employs flashbacks, follows Robin's investigation and courtroom proceedings as well as her budding romance with a colleague. There's plenty of action, all building up to a surprising end (well, sort of; fairly early on I made a deduction on my own that proved right on the money). All told, it's a very entertaining book, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Betrayal by Phillip Margolin (Minotaur Books, November 2023); 303 pp.

SOME DAYS ARE DARK

5 stars out of 5

Well, golleee! This one sucked me in at the start

and didn't let go till the end. What's not to like about a story that begins with a wife who found her husband murdered saying she's glad someone did him in? So what if the wife is somewhat of a sorry example of a human being, and so what if I guessed the whodunit about two-thirds of the way in - none of that mattered a whit. This is a totally engrossing story I really, really didn't want to put down.

Once married to steady-as-a-rock Frank, the restless and unfulfilled Olivia leaves him for adventure-loving Dane, who used to be Frank's employee. She and Frank share custody of their young son, Jake, at least until Dane is murdered and Olivia - who's overly fond of illegal drugs and alcohol, the former provided mostly by her new husband - is believed by most to be his killer. Even when someone else is convicted of Dane's murder, she's cut no slack; her friends abandoned her, her photography business is in shambles and a local cop won't stop harassing her because he's convinced of her guilt. Even Frank, with whom she shares custody of their child, has replaced her with a new, beautiful wife.

Even in her mostly drugged-out state, though, she knows she didn't do it; but she's not convinced the guy who confessed did it, either. As the story evolves, readers get behind-the-scenes looks at Olivia's life before Dane's murder as well as what's happening to her in the present. Toward the end, her current and former life start to merge amid a flurry of exciting twists and surprises. Definitely a winner - many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Some Days are Dark by Miranda Smith (Bookouture, March 2020); 354 p.

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

5 stars out of 5

Sometimes, you just need a little nudge. I've seen this book on best-seller lists for months now, but thinking it fell outside my usual mystery-and-thriller genre, I paid little attention. Then came high words of praise from a friend on Facebook, and I took another look, realized it has elements of mystery and decided to jump in. The verdict? No wonder it's been a top-seller for so long and garnered so many 5-star ratings. Add mine to that list; in fact, if I could give it more stars, I would - I was absolutely blown away.

Taken as a whole, the story does seem a bit implausible: A young girl nicknamed Kya grows up in a remote North Carolina marsh, abandoned first by her mother, then her siblings and finally her father (the latter not a moment too soon). Eventually, she learns that human life exists beyond the walls of her tiny shack, but she's none too thrilled at the prospect of interacting with any of it. Just the agony of growing up alone, the heartbreak of losing your entire family and the eventual realization that they're not coming back, plus the knowledge that her hurt is so deep that she'll never be able to trust anyone were enough to bring tears to my own eyes (more than once). Her story is told so eloquently and engrossingly, in fact, that not once did it even cross my mind that it probably couldn't really happen. 

The "mystery" part comes in at the beginning, when local football hero Chase Andrews, now grown up and married, is found dead under an abandoned outlook tower in the marshland - an apparent accident. But on further investigation, clues emerge that suggest his death might have been murder. And who might be a better suspect than the so-called "marsh girl" - the one who's shunned by everybody in surrounding civilization - and the one who is believed to have been unceremoniously dumped by Chase after spending, euphemistically speaking, quality time with him.

In between all this is the story of Kya's coming of age and, with help from a friend she loves but who, like everyone else around her, she can't trust, becomes a widely respected expert on marsh flora and fauna. It's an emotion-filled adventure packed full of the ups and downs of love, hate, betrayal, resilience and, of course, murder. My own emotions ran right along with Kya's, and it almost seemed that I sucked in a breath at the beginning and didn't let it out till the end (with a huge whoosh, for the record). Also for the record, it haunted my head for days afterward - totally unlike most books I read that I've forgotten the main character's name half an hour after I turn off my Kindle. Mostly, I think, I just wanted to wrap my arms around Kya and assure her everything would be all right - even with the full realization that she could never believe me.

In short, this is a must-read masterpiece. If you haven't grabbed a copy before, do it now. Awesome read!

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (B.P. Putnam's Sons, August 2018 ); 384 pp.

JUST

4 stars out of 5

Betrayal, human trafficking, blackmail, jealousy, unrequited love and super-lousy parenting - they're all in here. Added to what I'd call far from a happy-ever-after ending, and you've got a book that certainly wasn't fun for me to read. Every single character is flawed (save one who's too young to have been corrupted by the others, but I have no doubt her turn will come).

Although the description puts the setting in "idyllic" Cambridge and other lovely places, I respectfully submit that way too much of it for my liking takes place in godforsaken parts of countries like Libya, where a young doctor named Scott Langbrook is working for an organization known as Reach, which is charged with a task referred to as Dead Body Management. As one might suspect, it's not exactly a pleasant job - at least until Scott hooks up with Dr. Fiyori Maziq, the expedition leader. Problem is, she has more issues than Nike has swooshes.

Meanwhile, things on Scott's home front aren't going too smoothly either. He's got a shaky relationship with his mother, Lucienne, who's a dentist in Cambridge. Most recently, he's been living with his father, Eddie, and his second wife Susan (much to the consternation of Mom, who's been in a love-hate relationship with her ex for the past 10 years and has never met - nor ever wants to meet - Wife No. 2). Luci's good [platonic] friend and partner in the dental practice, Finlay Duff, clearly is infatuated with her, but apparently amid fear that he'll be rejected, he's never let her in on his secret.

As the story begins, Eddie is killed in a freak accident. Now, Luci is faced with really, truly never seeing him again - and worse, the possibility she actually may have to meet Wife No. 2. That her son is on a dangerous mission in an unfriendly country - and the awareness that if he makes it back home it most likely will be to his father's place instead of hers - just adds to her misery.

Then, come home he does - and the plot begins to thicken fast. If Luci thought her life was a mess before, she quickly learns she ain't seen nothin' yet. And for better or worse, this is where my narrative must end; to say more would spoil things for other readers. This is a short book as books go; my only complaint, as it were, is that the transition between chapter settings seemed on occasion a bit disjointed - meaning it took me a few paragraphs to realize where and about whom I was reading. For those who might object to such things, there are some sexually graphic passages; other than that, it's a well-thought-out, well-written story - and I thank the author for sending it to me to read and review. 

Just by Jenny Morton Potts (Amazon Digital Services LLC, June 2018); 318 pp.