The Supremes are three African-American girlfriends who bonded as teenagers in Plainview, Indiana in the 1960s, and remained friends for all their lives.
Odette - a short, round woman who's self-confident and assertive - had a happy childhood with two jazz-loving parents. Odette grew up to marry a sensitive man called James, and they raised three loving and successful children.
Unknown to most people, Odette often converses with ghosts, particularly her mother and Eleanor Roosevelt (ha ha ha). 😃
Eleanor Roosevelt
Clarice is a talented musician whose daddy encouraged her ambition to be a concert pianist. Clarice abandoned her dream when she wed handsome football star Richmond, a womanizer who embarrasses and hurts Clarice with his constant, blatant adultery. Richmond's behavior chagrins Clarice's friends.
Barbara Jean, whose mother was a drug addict and prostitute, grew up to be the town beauty and local fashionista. Barbara Jean married a wealthy businessman and tragically lost a young son - an event that deeply affected her life.
After church on Sundays the three couples assemble for lunch at 'Earl's All-You-Can-Eat' to dine and schmooze.
As the story proceeds we learn about life-altering events associated with Earl's restaurant - many witnessed by kind fatherly Earl himself. Everyone loves Earl, who's always ready to lend a helping hand.....particularly to troubled teens.
Racism, prevalent during the events of the story, profoundly affects the lives of the Plainview residents.
All the major characters are fully realized, believable, and relatable - and the male author was able to capture the voices of his female characters with great authenticity.
I thought the book was funny, profound, dramatic, and sad in turn, and well worth reading.🎈
Rated: 4 stars
At one time the Carrolls, living near Atlanta, were a happy family. The dad, Sam, was a veterinarian; the mom, Helen, was a librarian....
…..and the three pretty blonde daughters - Julia, Lydia, and Claire - were in school.
Then, when she was nineteen years old, Julia vanished and the family was torn apart.
The local sheriff and his officers investigated but thought that Julia was a rebellious teen who took off on her own and would come back on her own. But she never did. Julia's father Sam continued to relentlessly pursue the case, haunting the police station and searching for his daughter until he was driven to suicide. Julia's mom Helen, needing to get on with life, divorced Sam and remarried - but she kept Julia's room intact for remembrance.
Julia's sisters, Lydia and Claire, matured in this broken household - where they suffered greatly from Julia's disappearance. Lydia became a drug addict who lied, stole, and became estranged from her family. Later on, Lydia had a daughter and developed a relationship with her neighbor Rick, which provided her some peace.
Meanwhile, Claire went to college where she met wealthy Paul Scott, a budding architect. They eventually married and lived in luxury, with a huge home, pricey clothes, club memberships, and expensive cars.
As the story opens Claire Scott - now in her late thirties - has just been released from house arrest after violently assaulting a tennis partner. The Scotts celebrate Julia's freedom by dining at a classy eatery. When the couple leaves the restaurant, however, a mugger attacks them, robs them, roughs them up, and stabs Paul to death.
A day or so later Paul’s business partner, Adam, asks Claire to send him files from Paul’s home computer for a business presentation. While looking for the files Claire comes across a cache of shocking snuff pornography, and assumes her husband was a fan.
That would be bad enough, but the truth turns out to be even worse.
Almost immediately Claire’s troubles escalate when - following a foiled burglary at her home - a number of cops show up, ranging from the local sheriff to an FBI agent from the Georgia office.
Claire is understandably puzzled by this over-reaction to an attempted theft, but is eventually told that Paul embezzled money from his firm.
When Claire starts to question what was going on with Paul she learns about a snuff pornography conspiracy and calls on her estranged sister Lydia to help her investigate. A lot happens afterwards, and there are some surprising twists.
The book is very graphic in it’s description of violence to women, which I found hard to read. My main criticism of the book, though, hinges on unrealistic behavior by some of the characters.
In real life a woman like Claire – who has experience with lawyers and is rich – would probably call a high-powered attorney or the Washington office of the FBI when she senses big trouble. Instead Claire calls her sister, and together they embark on a dangerous investigation.
This is necessary for the book's plot but it doesn’t ring true. I also thought the seemingly omniscient perp – who knew everything that was going on everywhere - was not credible.
A number of ancillary characters add interest to the story, including the local cops who seem indifferent and incompetent; a creepy Georgia-based FBI agent; Paul's partner Adam, who had an affair with Claire; Lydia's boyfriend Rick, who seems like a nice guy; dad Sam Carroll - whose letters to his missing daughter are interspersed throughout the book; mom Helen Carroll, who's willing to help in a pinch; and others.
Karin Slaughter's books tend to be violent and disturbing and this one is at the top of the heap in that regard.
Still this is a well-written, compelling thriller that I’d recommend to mystery lovers who have a strong stomach.
Rating: 4 stars
Rosemary Cooke talked non-stop as a child in Bloomington, Indiana but grew up to be a quiet student at The University of California, Davis. She's been in college too long, unable to settle on a major and troubled by the long ago disappearance of her sister and brother.
We come to learn that Rosemary's father was an experimental psychologist and - around the time Rosemary was born - the Cooke family took in an infant chimp to raise as a member of the family. The chimp, Fern, was reared as a sister to Rosemary and her older brother Lowell until she 'disappeared' when Rosemary was five years old.
Karen Joy Fowler does a masterful job of slowly revealing how this incident profoundly affected the Cooke household. We come to know, understand, and empathize with each member of the family (mom, dad, Lowell, and Rosemary) as they deal with the effects of this aborted experiment. Some light relief is provided by Rosemary's interactions with college acquaintances, which also gives us insight into her behavior and personality.
This is a deeply moving, though somewhat disturbing, story with lessons to teach about how humans treat our fellow animals. Good book, highly recommended.
Rating: 5 stars
In this 10th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the former police detective helps search for a 'lost' husband. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Clara and Peter Morrow are residents of the lovely village of Three Pines near Montreal along with a cadre of other interesting and eccentric characters, including former Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (Quebec Homicide Bureau). Both Clara and Peter are artists, but Peter became jealous of his wife's increasing success and impossible to live with, so Clara asked him to leave for a year.
After that time Peter was supposed to return so they could re-evaluate their marriage. Peter didn't come back (or communicate in any fashion) so Clara asks Gamache to help her find out what, if anything, happened to her husband.
It's a promising beginning that doesn't pan out. The story wanders much too far from a detective novel, being mostly a treatise on art and muses. Even visiting with familiar, well-liked characters was unsatisfying because they mostly just blabbed on and on about art. I like and appreciate art but I wanted to read a mystery, not an art book - and this book didn't deliver. I don't recommend it.
Rating: 2 stars
Elizabeth Gaines - wife, mother, and real estate agent living in California - seems to have a unique problem. People who infuriate her die soon afterwards, including her overbearing boss, a nasty cop, her cheating husband, a rude driver, and so on. Elizabeth feels anxious and guilty about this, and in the case of her husband, comes under suspicion by the police.
Elizabeth, an adoptee, does seem to have some unusual abilities. As a child she predicted a bridge collapse - but this is a far cry from 'wishing' people to death. Elizabeth's little daughter Chloe also seems to have some psychic ability, but she's a stubborn, headstrong child determined to get her way - not a sweet little girl.
Elizabeth's social group consists mostly of the women in a 'mother's group', a friendship/support group for young moms. Some of the ladies are quite inappropriate though, attempting to set Elizabeth up with a new man less than a week after her husband's death. (Would anyone really do this?) Moreover, the women and their husbands, who are recurring characters in the story, are hard to disinguish from one another.
Elizabeth's blood relatives - who are unknown to her - live in an old-fashioned, insular community in Oregon and also seem to have unusual powers. Getting the sense that Elizabeth is in danger Aunt Catherine dispatches 19-year-old cousin Ravinia to find and warn her. Ravinia takes off with a few wrinkled clothes and very little money and makes her way to California along with a supernatural wolf who seems to shadow her.
In California Ravinia inveigles a private detective, Rex Kingston, to help her. Though Kingston tries to keep his distance, Ravinia keeps inserting herself into his life and his investigations, insisting she wants to be a partner in the detective business. To me this was not only pushy and annoying but unrealistic and I didn't like Ravinia.
The book follows two story lines. The first is Elizabeth and her everyday troubles: people are dying around her; the police suspect her of killing hubby; she's almost broke; unwanted men are asking her out; fellow realtors resent her recent success; her daughter is having spells, etc. The second is Ravinia's search for for Elizabeth.
Neither thread is very compelling. Moreover the end of the book, which supposedly explains what's going on, is so convoluted as to be almost incomprehensible - and the reason for the danger to Elizabeth is never made completely clear.
I didn't think this was a terrible book but there seem to be some missing elements. Still, fans of paranormal mysteries might enjoy the story.
Rating: 2.5 stars
