As those who have been reading this blog for awhile know, I am a fan of Lisa Scottoline. Her work is refreshing because her plots are anything but formulaic. Her characters tend to grab you and hold on. You care about what happens to them.
I certainly enjoyed "Look Again" for all those reasons. I relate to protagonist, Ellen Gleeson, perhaps because of her journalistic career and mindset, but even more so because she is an adoptive mother. We have twins we adopted at 15 months and went through some of the same angst in getting to finalization of the adoption, that Ellen has after the fact-- I can relate well to her feelings of helplessness and uncertainty when she finds out that, if the real parents' rights have not been legally severed, then the adoption is illegal and she has absolutely no rights.
The description of the difference between how custody battles are plaid out in court versus parental rights was a blast from my own past, and the explanation is right on the money. It's a hard distinction for adoptive parents to fathom or accept.
Anyway, fans of Scottoline will love this well written and nail-biting story of a missing child case gone wrong and how that impacts Ellen Gleeson and her son forever.
Liz Nichols
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Like me, Joanne Fluke grew up in Minnesota. Her Eden Lake, MN setting triggers so many memories whenever I read her mysteries in the Hannah Swensen Mystery With Recipes series. Eden Lake is a lot like the Lake Minnetonka area of suburban Minneapolis where I grew up, but perhaps a little further out from the Cities...
In this installment Hannah promises family members what she will track down the killer of a long lost Uncle Gus, who comes to visit for the first time in many years for a family reunion at "the lake." He seems like a jerk, and one likely to have had enemies during high school, as well as enemies back in Atlantic city where he runs a club.
On the personal side of things, Hannah begins to recognize that her dentist friend, Norman, is more than a friend, and cop friend, Mike, is only giving lip service to allowing her access to information in order to help solve murder cases. Mike, in fact, is worried that if Hannah knows too much it will jeopardize how well a case can stand up in court. When Hannah realizes that Mike is just humoring her, and also playing the field with other single women in town, it begins to make her choice of beaus a little more obvious.
I always have to ignore the scrumptious recipes in Fluke's books because they are very definitely not on my diet. I can salivate while I read and still get enjoyment from the book.
One minor irritation-- Fluke has been too long in California. She apparently does not realize that Minnesota is on Central time, and only one hour from Eastern. She repeatedly states that there is a two hour time difference between Lake Eden and Atlantic City. Geography is obviously not this author's strong suit-- but her editor should have caught this!
Liz Nichols
In this installment Hannah promises family members what she will track down the killer of a long lost Uncle Gus, who comes to visit for the first time in many years for a family reunion at "the lake." He seems like a jerk, and one likely to have had enemies during high school, as well as enemies back in Atlantic city where he runs a club.
On the personal side of things, Hannah begins to recognize that her dentist friend, Norman, is more than a friend, and cop friend, Mike, is only giving lip service to allowing her access to information in order to help solve murder cases. Mike, in fact, is worried that if Hannah knows too much it will jeopardize how well a case can stand up in court. When Hannah realizes that Mike is just humoring her, and also playing the field with other single women in town, it begins to make her choice of beaus a little more obvious.
I always have to ignore the scrumptious recipes in Fluke's books because they are very definitely not on my diet. I can salivate while I read and still get enjoyment from the book.
One minor irritation-- Fluke has been too long in California. She apparently does not realize that Minnesota is on Central time, and only one hour from Eastern. She repeatedly states that there is a two hour time difference between Lake Eden and Atlantic City. Geography is obviously not this author's strong suit-- but her editor should have caught this!
Liz Nichols
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