I received these books in order to facilitate a review and giveaway. All opinions are my own.
Like most of our readers, we find ourselves reading more during the summer months. When the heat gets to you and all you want to do is relax while expending as little energy as possible, you reach for a good book. Lucky for you, we’ve already got two picked out for you!
Linda Castillo’s The Dead Will Tell will have you craving your own visit to Amish country. The best part is that you get to read about the murders rather than live through them. I suppose you could act extra cautious in Amish country but it seems there is a sordid past that means payback is personal. Only for murders of the past who is avenging the Hochstetler family when they have all died? Don’t worry that’s not a spoiler as the prologue sets out the tragic night in which the Hochstetler’s have an unexpected visit. Ok, so maybe one of the Hochstetlers survives, but when he has an air tight alibi then who is really at the center of this crime spree?
The Dead Will Tell is an elusive mystery that will have you turning pages late into the night. How can there be a retaliation from a family of ghosts? Surely, that’s not possible right? I was shocked at the twists and I am pleased to say that I didn’t see that coming. Expect yourself to swell with empathy and find yourself questioning your own moral code. I found myself asking who is really guilty and who deserves to be punished? How do you solve a case when the Amish have their faith that God will pass the final judgement? Kate has her work cut out for her to find the culprit, a human one. She doesn’t believe that ghosts are responsible and she wants to put an end to the twisted form of final judgement.
Lisa Unger’s In The Blood will have you questioning your sense of family. What it means to be yourself and how you define yourself are important matters. Lana has the means to live comfortably. After her mother’s death she has enough money to go to college and has some time to figure out her future. Yet, Lana isn’t able to feel safe. Her life is false as she continues to lie to those around her. There is more to her than meets the eye. There is more to the story than her mother dying when she was younger. Exactly where is her father after the night her mother died? Does she truly have family beyond her awkward relationship with her aunt, uncle and cousins?
She has her work cut out for her trying to get beyond her past. She might want to be happy, but the past hangs over her reminding her that misfortune is her lot in life. Yet she does her best to make a difference in the world by helping children as she majors in psychology. She takes on a job with a troubled boy named Luke. She wants to be useful by helping those who might stray off the beaten path. She wants to prevent bad things from happening which makes you wonder what in her past has her wanting this. We only get a glimpse of what might have happened and are left with more questions than answers. Lana isn’t exactly forthcoming and slowly opens up as those who know her secrets begin to appear. She can’t avoid the truth forever and trust me, you probably didn’t expect the shocking revelations Lana has in store. How can one little boy unearth years of lies and pain? Most of all how can Lana help him if all he wants to do is dismantle everything she worked so hard to build?
Summer is certainly a good time for secrets. You will find yourself delving into uncharted territory with these mysteries. Don’t expect to be able to figure out where the pages will lead you. These paths are not like other mysteries you will find yourself lost in more than wanting to solve crimes and point fingers at evildoers. You will be left wondering about the main characters and if they are truly going to survive unscathed. Secrets can be deadly but they can also be ways of keeping reality simplified for when secrets are revealed there is nothing left to hide behind.
Best of all you can enter to win a copy of both of these books! Start your summer reading list off with two mysteries because two is better than one! Contest is open to US readers 18+ years old. Contest runs 7/2/2014-7/12/2014. Prize consists of a copy of Linda Castillo’s The Dead Will Tell and Lisa Unger’s In The Blood.
