by JC Gatlin
Every murder has a story.
Every story begins at home.
Tampa newscaster Tori Younger is saddened to learn her childhood friend, Brooke Martin, hung herself from the old water tower in their hometown. Tori hasn’t spoken to Brooke in years and doesn’t feel comfortable returning to attend the services. Then cryptic text messages from Brooke’s cellphone change her mind.
Attending the funeral, Tori confronts a past that still haunts her and questions the text messages haunting her now. Her investigation leads to a fact she suspected all along: her old friend didn’t commit suicide but was murdered. There’s no shortage of suspects either: Brooke’s angry husband who instigated a fight the night she died; Brooke’s high school principal who denies rumors they were having an affair; and a town sheriff who shares a stormy past with Tori and is blocking her investigation at every turn. The only witness appears to be Brooke’s five-year-old daughter who hasn’t spoken since the tragedy and continually draws the same graphic picture of the night her mother’s body was discovered hanging from that old water tower.
Tori knows one of them has Brooke’s cellphone and is texting her from it. Others are convinced it’s Brooke reaching out from the Great Beyond. Either way, someone from her past is playing a deadly game of Hangman.
Page Count: 416
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: April 6, 2019
Imprint: Milford House
Genre: Mystery
FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth
FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
FICTION / Thriller / Suspense
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This engaging and entertaining thriller, complete with sympathetic characters and a complex plot, will make you smile while you’re on the edge of your seat. The chapters, with titles in a Hangman “missing letters” font, are chock full of drole descriptions like, “Winnie made her way upstairs, causing the dogs to leap off the couch with the synchronization of an Olympic swim team and race after her.” Set in Florida, the heat and humidity steam from the chapters, adding to the delicious suspense until the surprise ending explodes like the trap at the base of a gallows. A fun read from start to finish.
H_NGM_N's main character, Tampa news reporter Tory Younger has a problem. Torn between going home to her best friend Brooke's funeral or staying on her job, she and her cameraman, RJ, return to Elroy Springs to find a small town in turmoil. Together they unearth past secrets and reveal hidden lies that will endanger them both.
A fast-paced read with numerous suspects and a murderer among them, can Tori and RJ find the culprit before he kills again? It's a must for mystery lovers--a puzzler that kept me turning pages to find out the evil that escapes when a person kills. The end s_rpr_s_d me. Need I say that I also enjoyed the clever H_NGM-N clues at the beginning of each chapter?
J M West
Gatlin’s novel had me hooked from the first chapter. It was difficult to put the book down. Just when you think you know who the killer must be, another clue leads to a new possibility. Gatlin creates believable characters: Tori haunted by heartbreak; RJ, her cameraman, with boyish charm; Ash, a father and husband; Mike, the handsome sheriff; and Darla, the child who lost her mother. Florida is a perfect location for this crime novel with its waterways, dead orange trees, and abandoned water towers.
If you like mysteries, I recommend this novel
JC Gatlin surprised me. That's not that easy. I'm easily frustrated by mysteries because - frankly - they don't often seem all that mysterious. Not so for this book. Grab a copy, you'll enjoy it immensely.