Smorgasbord Bookshelf – Summer Book Fair 2022 – #MurderMystery Sharon Marchisello, #Family #Mystery Harmony Kent

Over the course of the summer months I will be sharing the recommended authors who feature in the Smorgasbord Bookshelf along with their books and a selected review.

The first book today is Going Home.. a family, murder mystery by Sharon Marchisello along with my five star review.

About the book

Michelle DePalma expected to jet into Two Wells, Texas, check on her elderly mother, and hurry back to her orderly life in Atlanta, where she has a happy marriage and satisfying career. Instead, she finds her mother, Lola Hanson, hovered over the bludgeoned body of her caregiver, Brittany Landers.

Since the events of 9/11, one month earlier, Lola’s memory loss has amplified, and the family suspects Alzheimer’s. Now Lola can’t tell anyone what happened to Brittany.

The agency that provides home care for Lola promptly withdraws its services. Michelle is stuck in her home town longer than planned as she cares for a mother with whom she has never been close and tries to prove her innocence. The police officers who investigate the crime are old antagonists from grade school. A secret thought to be long buried–that Michelle bore a son out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption–surfaces when a surprise daughter-in-law and granddaughter show up, distracting Michelle from her quest to solve the murder. And then she stumbles upon a motive which makes Lola look even more guilty.

Going Home was inspired by the author’s mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s and explores the challenge of solving a murder mystery when a potential witness cannot rely on her memory. Written from the perspective of a baby boomer forced to reverse roles with her parents, it crosses into the mainstream genre of women’s fiction

My review for the book 30th September 2021

This is a well written and thought provoking story that combines a care crisis that many of us face with elderly parents who have developed dementia, and the unravelling of the mystery surrounding a murder in a family home.

It is clear the author has experience of the challenge of communicating with someone who has short term memory loss, and brings in a cleverly crafted murder plot with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested.

There are flashbacks to the past and events which have a bearing on the present, and the reader is witness to the fallout that revelations result in as the search begins for a viable suspect amongst the outsiders who have access to the family home. It would seem that the authorities have only one suspect in mind, and without the ability to communicate coherently, an elderly woman must rely on her extended family to prove her innocence.

The author does a great job in keeping all the various strands of the plot running smoothly in parallel and brings the story to a satisfactory climax.

I recommend to those who enjoy well written murder mysteries and family sagas.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

Also by Sharon Marchisello

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and: Amazon UK – follow Sharon: Goodreads – blog: Sharon Blogspot – Twitter: @SLMarchisello 

About Sharon Marchisello

Sharon Marchisello is the author of two mysteries published by Sunbury Press, Going Home (2014) and Secrets of the Galapagos (2019). She is an active member of Sisters in Crime.

She contributed short stories to anthologies Shhhh…Murder! (Darkhouse Books, 2018) and Finally Home (Bienvenue Press, 2019). Her personal finance book Live Well, Grow Wealth was originally published as Live Cheaply, Be Happy, Grow Wealthy, an e-book on Smashwords. Sharon has published travel articles, book reviews, and corporate training manuals, and she writes a personal finance blog called Countdown to Financial Fitness.

She grew up in Tyler, Texas, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston in French and English. She studied for a year in Tours, France, on a Rotary scholarship and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California.

Retired from a 27-year career with Delta Air Lines, she lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, doing volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society and the Fayette County Master Gardeners UGA Extension.

The second book today is another mystery  The Vanished Boy by Harmony Kent... a parent’s worse nightmare.

About the book

It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen …

A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.

When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.

All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.

And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.

Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.

When your life turns inside out and upside down, who would you trust?

One of the reviews for the book

Amanda Sheridan 5.0 out of 5 stars A parent’s worst nightmare!  Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 September 2021

The Vanished Boy by Harmony Kent is a gripping novel that had me on the edge of my seat and I could not read it quickly enough.

Carole is a widow and raising her son, Jayden, alone. When she wakes up after a night of alcohol and sleeping pills to discover his bed not slept in and a text message from him the night before telling her he is stuck, she fears the worst and panics.

The police are called and the detective assigned to the case doesn’t seem overly concerned and considers Jayden to be a typical teenager who has run away from home.

As Carole searches through her son’s social media to try and locate him, she discovers that his disappearance may be more sinister than the police think.

The events in this novel take place over a week and the author, very cleverly, keeps the narrative running at a fast pace so the momentum is never lost and the reader is so engaged with Carole’s plight that they have to keep turning page after page.

The twist, when it came, was brilliant and it wasn’t totally unexpected as Kent left a very subtle trail of clues that a discerning reader will pick up, although she did leave me wondering exactly what the motive was.

This is a fantastic novel but I suspect any parent reading it will add it to their list of worst nightmares! 

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

A small selection of other books by Harmony Kent

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon UK – And : Amazon US – Follow Harmony:Goodreads – Website:Harmony Kent – Twitter: @Harmony_Kent

About Harmony Kent

Harmony Kent is an award winning multi-genre author. Her publications include:

• The Battle for Brisingamen (Fantasy Fiction) AIA approved
• The Glade (Mystery/Thriller) AIA Approved/BRAG Medallion Honouree/New Apple Literary Awards Official Selection Honours 2015
• Polish Your Prose: Essential Editing Tips for Authors (Writing/Editing) New Apple Literary Awards Top Medallist Honours 2015
• Finding Katie (Women’s Fiction)
• Slices of Soul (Contemporary Poetry)
• Interludes 1 & Interludes 2 (Erotic Short Stories)
• Moments (Short Stories and Poetry)
• Jewel in the Mud (Zen Musings)
• Backstage (Erotic Romance)
• FALLOUT (Apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic Dystopia) BRAG Medallion Honouree
• The Vanished Boy (Psychological Thriller)

As well as being an avid reader and writer, Harmony also offers reviews and supports her fellow authors. Harmony works hard to promote and protect high standards within the publishing arena. She is always on the look out for talent and excellence, and will freely promote any authors or books who she feels have these attributes. Harmony lives in Cornwall, England.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you will be leaving with some books.. thanks Sally.