And Then She was Gone

Posted on February 10, 2016 by opesopinions

Author: Rosalind Noonan
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Mystery
Source: Purchased

Goodreads: Eleven-year-old Lauren O’Neil vanished one sunny afternoon as she walked home from school. Six years later, her parents Rachel and Dan still tirelessly scour their Oregon hometown and beyond, always believing Lauren will be found. Then one day, the call comes. Lauren has been rescued from a secluded farm mere miles away, and her abductor has confessed. Yet her return is nothing like Rachel imagined. Though the revelations about what Lauren endured are shocking, most heartbreaking of all is to see the bright-eyed, assertive daughter she knew transformed into a wary, polite stranger. Lauren’s first instinct is to flee. For years she’s been told her parents forgot her; now she doubts the pieces of her life can ever fit together again. But Rachel refuses to lose her a second time. Little by little they must relearn what it means to be a family, trusting that their bond is strong enough to guide them back to each other.

Ope’s Opinion: Well, Rosalind Noonan did it again. She wrote a book on a subject (kidnapping) you are familiar with and took you on a different journey. Instead of the story being about the kidnap, it was about after it happened. I really enjoyed the different perspective.

It is hard to let you know all the reasons you should read this book without giving away too much. Some parts were a little predictable, but still very enjoyable read.

I have read Noonan’s book before and I will read as long she keeps writing!

Rating: 4

Missing Pieces

Posted on February 4, 2016 by opesopinions

Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Publisher: MIRA
Genre: Mystery
Source: MIRA

Goodreads: A woman uncovers earth-shattering secrets about her husband’s family in this chilling page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf

Sarah Quinlan’s husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery. The case rocked the small farm town of Penny Gate, Iowa, where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalized in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.

Upon arriving in Penny Gate, Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years ago—barely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia’s accident begin to surface, Sarah realizes that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the puzzling rabbit hole of Jack’s past. But the farther in she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a deadly truth she may not be prepared for.

Ope’s Opinion: This may not be fair, but if some one else had written this book, I would be writing how good it was, but I expected so much more from Heather Gudenkauf. She writes amazing books and this one was just okay. It does not deter me from reading her next book.

I just couldn’t get into Sarah and Jack’s relationship until towards the end of the book. They seemed so distant for being married so long.

I am always a little suspicious of a non-professional trying to solve a mystery that the professionals have not solved. It just didn’t come together for me.

I will read Heather Gucenkauf again and again. She has so many great books!

Rating: 3

Another Good Book in the Mail

Posted on January 18, 2016 by opesopinions

I can’t believe I received this book in the mail!!

Publication Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: MIRA

Goodreads: A woman uncovers earth-shattering secrets about her husband’s family in this chilling page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf

I have always enjoyed Heather’s books, so I am looking forward to reading this one.

BIGLAW

Posted on September 15, 2015 by opesopinions

Author: Lindsay Cameron
Publisher: Ankerwycke
Genre: Mystery
Source: BookSpark

Goodreads: The Devil Wears Prada meets One L, BIGLAW provides an insider’s view of the cut-throat world of big New York law firms.

Mackenzie Corbett has always dreamed of living in New York City. Now, almost two years into her job as an associate at a premier Manhattan law firm, she’s living her fantasy–big salary, high profile deals, cute boyfriend, designer bag on her arm. The giant bags under her eyes from lack of sleep don’t fit into the fantasy, though. To make matters worse, she’s being tormented by a bitter, bitchy senior associate, her cute boyfriend is annoyed she never has time for him, and now she’s stuck on the deal from hell with a partner whose biggest claim to fame is throwing a stapler at a cleaning lady because she touched his ficus plant.

With the opportunity to secure a prestigious secondment on line, the overachiever in her is determined to endure whatever it takes to close the biggest deal in the firm’s history. But when Mackenzie finds herself the focus of a devastating investigation her dream job begins spiraling into a nightmare.

In this pitch perfect, frightening accurate novel, Lindsay Cameron throws back the curtain to this intriguing world exposing the truth about life in Biglaw.

Ope’s Opinion: The ending saved the book for me. I was not enjoying the book. It was about a female lawyer who whined the whole time how her superiors were over working her. She felt like she couldn’t do anything about it, but I didn’t really see her trying to do anything either. She sacrificed all for the job.

If you took the “f” word out of this book it would have been a significantly shorter book. The word was used over and over and over and over again. I am not exaggerating at all.

After reading most of the book, I was thinking it was a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. Then the last couple of chapters brought it up to a 3.

Rating: 3 – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Betrayed

Posted on November 21, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Mystery
Source: BEA

Publication Date: November 25, 2014

Goodreads: The women of Rosato & Associates return, after the relaunch of the series that started with Accused. This second entry, Betrayed, stars Judy Carrier, who has had the starring role in only one previous Rosato book. When Betrayed opens, Judy Carrier finds herself at a crossroads in her life. Her best friend, Mary DiNunzio, has just become partner and is about to become a bride, leaving Judy vaguely out of sorts. She’s not jealous, but she’s not happy either and she’s wondering where her own career and love life are going. To make matters worse, she is rocked to her emotional foundations when she learns that her beloved Aunt Vicky has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She races to her aunt’s side, and so does Judy’s mother, only to find that her aunt is dealing with the sudden death of a friend who had been helping her through chemo. The friend, Emelia Juarez, was an undocumented worker at a local farm, but her death doesn’t look natural at all, to Judy. Judy begins to investigate, following a path that leads her into an underground world far more dangerous than she ever imagined. Judy has to dig to uncover what happened to Emelia, and at the same time unearth the secrets in her own family.

Ope’s Opinion: When I received this book at BEA, I did not realize it was part of a series. As I read, it felt like a stand alone. Lisa Scottoline introduced everyone in such a way that you didn’t feel like you were missing anything. It read really fast.

I did feel that this book had a lot going on at the same time. Some times I lost the mystery among all the other events going on. I did enjoy the twists and turns before the end.

This book actually made me feel like it should be turned into series for television.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Truth Be Told

Posted on October 6, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Hank Phillipi Ryan
Publisher: Forge Books
Genre: Mystery
Source: BEA

Publication Date: October 7, 2014

Goodreads: Truth Be Told, part of the bestselling Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan series by Agatha, Anthony, Mary Higgins Clark, and Macavity Award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan, begins with tragedy: a middle-class family evicted from their suburban home. In digging up the facts on this heartbreaking story—and on other foreclosures— reporter Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret. Turns out, there’s more than one way to rob a bank.

Boston police detective Jake Brogan has a liar on his hands. A man has just confessed to the famous twenty-year-old Lilac Sunday killing, and while Jake’s colleagues take him at his word, Jake is not so sure. But he has personal reasons for hoping they’ve finally solved the cold case.

Financial manipulation, the terror of foreclosures, the power of numbers, the primal need for home and family and love. What happens when what you believe is true turns out to be a lie?

Ope’s Opinion: This book moved really fast. As a matter of fact it was moving so fast in the beginning I felt like I needed a play card to keep track of who was who. At first it flipped from one scene to another and I was having trouble keeping up with everyone. As I got to know the characters and who was involved with who, it became easier to hop from scene to scene.

This is my first book by Hank Phillipi Ryan, so some of these characters that have been introduced in earlier books, I was not familiar with. That may have been helpful in the beginning of this book. Once the story got going, I didn’t feel like I missed too much from previous books.

I enjoyed the pace of this book. It kept me reading when I was suppose to be doing other things! So before you start this book, make sure you have time just keep reading.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

The Last Breath

Posted on September 15, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Kimberly Belle
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Genre: Mystery
Source: BEA

Publication Date: September 30, 2014

Goodreads: From a remarkable new voice in suspenseful women’s fiction comes an emotionally searing drama about a woman who risks her life to discover the devastating truth about her family…

Humanitarian aid worker Gia Andrews chases disasters around the globe for a living. It’s the perfect lifestyle to keep her far away from her own personal ground zero. Sixteen years ago, Gia’s father was imprisoned for brutally killing her stepmother. Now he’s come home to die of cancer, and she’s responsible for his care—and coming to terms with his guilt.

Gia reluctantly resumes the role of daughter to the town’s most infamous murderer, a part complete with protesters on the lawn and death threats that are turning tragedy into front-page news. Returning to life in small-town Tennessee involves rebuilding relationships that distance and turmoil have strained, though finding an emotional anchor in the attractive hometown bartender is certainly helping Gia cope.

As the past unravels before her, Gia will find herself torn between the stories that her family, their friends and neighbors, and even her long-departed stepmother have believed to be real all these years. But in the end, the truth—and all the lies that came before—may have deadlier consequences than she could have ever anticipated…

Ope’s Opinion: There are some good things about this book. It had some really good twists and turns you will not see coming. The tension kept me reading. The relationships made me invested in knowing who committed the crime.

The things that made me not give this book more chairs were the foul language was over the top,unnecessary. The sex scenes were too explicit and did not add to the story at all. I was disappointed in the ending. I also think too much time was spent on the characters in bed instead of building relationships and figuring out who committed the crime.

Overall, a good mystery. Just a little too much of the book was spent on other aspects then the crime.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Keep Quiet

Posted on May 21, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Mystery
Source: St.Martin’s Press

Goodreads: New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award winning author Lisa Scottoline is loved by millions of readers for her suspenseful novels about family and justice. Scottoline delivers once again with Keep Quiet, an emotionally gripping and complex story about one man’s split-second decision to protect his son – and the devastating consequences that follow.Jake Buckman’s relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan at their suburban movie theater.　 On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection. However, what starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare. Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan’s entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of guilt and lies. Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family to shreds and ruin them all. Powerful and dramatic, Keep Quiet will have readers and book clubs debating what it means to be a parent and how far you can, and should, go to protect those you love.

Ope’s Opinion: Keep Quiet is a fast paced, intense read. I was literally sitting on the edge of the couch flipping pages as quickly as I could read. This story will make you think about your split second decisions, how far will you go to protect your child and what does hiding the truth do to you?

The Buckman family feel real. They have flaws, don’t always get along and need to communicate better. You want to see them heal and unite, but it seems like there is too much to overcome.

There was a constant dilemma going on – wanting the truth to come out and protecting the characters. It made you keep reading to the very end. There were several turns you won’t see coming. At certain points, I found myself holding my breath to see what was going to happen next!

What an amazing read – Lisa Scottoline does it again!

Rating: Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on….

Saving Grace

Posted on April 2, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Publisher: SkipJack Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Source: Shelf Awareness

Goodreads: 2010 Winner of the Writers League of Texas’s Romance Manuscript contest
2012 Winner of the Houston Writers Guild’s Ghost Story contest

Katie Connell is a high-strung attorney whose sloppy drinking habits and stunted love life collide hilariously in a doomed celebrity case in Dallas. When she flees Texas for the Caribbean, Katie escapes professional humiliation, a broken heart, and a wicked Bloody Mary habit, but she trades one set of problems for another when she begins to investigate the suspicious deaths of her parents on the island of St. Marcos. She’s bewitched by the voodoo spirit of an abandoned house in the rainforest and discovers that she’s as much a danger to herself as the island’s bad guys are. As the worst of her worlds collide, Katie drags herself back to the courthouse to defend her new friend Ava, an island local accused of stabbing the senator she’s been sleeping with.

Pamela Fagan Hutchins, a former attorney and native Texan, lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands for nearly ten years. She refuses to admit to taking notes for this novel during that time.

Ope’s Opinion: This is the first in a series of books. Hutchins took a lot of time in this book to set up the story behind Katie Connell being on the island of St. Marcos. The description of the island is vivid. Hutchins made you feel like you were there.

The jumbie ( ghost ) part was not my favorite. I do not care for super natural things in stories. If you do, you will probably like that part of the story.

The mystery part of it only seem to happen in the last part of the book. It was all solved at the end of this book.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Safe Keeping

Posted on March 24, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Barbara Taylor Sissel
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Genre: Mystery
Source: Harlequin

Side note: This book is available
March 25, 2014

Goodreads: At the heart of every crime, there’s a family.

My son is a murderer…. So begins this chilling and emotionally charged mystery from highly acclaimed author Barbara Taylor Sissel.

Emily Lebay had always thought of her family as ordinary. Sure, they’ve endured their share of problems, even a time of great trouble ;what family hasn’t? But when a woman’s body turns up in the dense woods near their home, and Emily’s grown son Tucker is accused of murder, Emily is forced to confront the unfathomable, and everything she believed about her life is called into question.

This isn’t the first time Tucker has been targeted by the police; a year ago he was a person of interest when another woman was found dead in the same stretch of woods. Still, neither Emily nor her daughter, Lissa, can reconcile their Tucker with these brutal crimes. Terrified, convinced there’s been a tragic mistake, Emily and Lissa set out to learn the truth about Tucker, once and for all. And while his life hangs in the balance, what they discover proves far more shocking than their darkest fears.

Ope’s Opinion: This book is a really good read. It kept me turning the pages. I wanted to know who was the guilty person. It is hard to write this review without talking about the ending – which was amazing and unexpected.

This story is about more then who is guilty – it is about family and how each member views the others. Could you believe someone in your family was guilty of hurting another person? I think that would be a hard concept to accept. How hard would you fight to prove their innocents? This book gives you a glimpse inside a family, their history and how they relate to and protect each other.

I would read another Barbara Taylor Sissel book. She writes in such a fluid manner that I just flew through the pages.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Ope's Opinions

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Tag Archives: Mystery

And Then She was Gone

Missing Pieces

Another Good Book in the Mail

BIGLAW

Betrayed

Truth Be Told

The Last Breath

Keep Quiet

Saving Grace

Safe Keeping