Edwin Hill (1) (1970–)

Little Comfort by Edwin Hill

Wow! Swept me in and kept me engaged from beginning to end!

This is a story of loneliness, wanting to belong, wanting more and needing to be wanted.

It is also the story of what ifs…what if those needs just mentioned had been met early in life and had not created such a huge vacuum that allowed choices to be made that would lead in a completely different direction.

Hester Thursby is a librarian. She is in a loving relationship and has been for a number of years. show more She and her partner are caring for the daughter of his sister and they are a family that Thursby really never envisioned herself being a part of. She is an interesting self-made person that I found intriguing. She sometimes doesn’t use the best judgment but she is who she is and makes no bones about it.

Hester is asked by Lila to find her brother – a brother she has not seen for twelve years – a brother that left with a friend – a brother who was only fourteen or so when he left. Hester is a finder of people and as a librarian and sleuth she has had great success so with some postcards from brother Sam sent from various places he has lived Hester begins to search and soon finds Sam and his friend Gabe not too far away.

As the story unfolds hints about the characters are leaked that indicate what one might surmise on first meetings is not necessarily true at all. The person that seems to be good could very well be just the opposite. The bad guy may not be quite as bad as he seems…or then again…he could be.

I came away thinking about the difference one choice can make. That choice can be made by self or it can be made by someone else. That choice can lead to a life that is filled with light or darkness.

This book will stay with me a long while and I have to say I am intrigued by Hester, Morgan and Kate and look forward to more books by this author whether in a series starring Hester or something else completely different. This is an author I will be looking forward to reading again soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

A toddler’s death revives family secrets and murder in “Watch Her” by Edwin Hill


Hester Thursby, a Harvard librarian, and amateur sleuth, makes her third appearance in Agatha Award nominee Edwin Hill’s mystery, “Watch Her” (Kensington). Dedicated to her job, Hester has commitment issues. For years, she’s lived with her “non-husband”, Morgan Maguire the local veterinarian, and refuses to marry him or discuss her past with him. She views Morgan’s five-year-old niece Kate as show more her own child, but that’s as close to establishing a family as Hester will get. She even keeps an apartment on the side as an escape hatch.
When Maxine Pawlikowski, the director of admissions of Boston’s prestigious non-profit Preston University, asks Hester to investigate a list of student alumnae, Hester soon discovers that some students do not exist. But, as Hester suspects, there’s more to the situation than a potential tuition scam. The art college, which is owned by the predatory Matson family, is the facade for a family hiding secrets, and a mystery that dates back three decades.
The mysterious drowning of a toddler, Rachel Matson, is a subject that no one will discuss. When Hester pokes around and asks questions, everyone seems sworn to secrecy. Neither Jennifer Matson, the child’s boozy mother, Tucker Matson, the child’s father and Preston’s chair of the Board, Vanessa Matson, the school’s new president and the Rachel’s older sister, Maxine, the family confident, nor her brother Stan, a cop who investigated the drowning, will discuss the child’s death. For Hester, the big questions are: what is everyone covering up and how is the Rachel’s death woven into the case of the missing students?
After a Preston student on Hester’s list is found murdered, Hester becomes embroiled in a mystery that runs even deeper than the shady student discrepancies or Rachel’s death. Each Matson is the bearer of additional secrets, which the cunning son-in-law, Gavin Dean, Preston’s CFO, has discovered and is threatening to expose. Gavin’s problem is that he, too, has committed sins. With a clan as powerful and wealthy as the Matson’s, there’s no limit to what money can buy. Even silence.
Hester, while never shying away from investigating others, has difficulty examining her own life and sharing it with others, especially her friends and family. She allows the traumas of her childhood to prevent her present and future happiness. Through the arc of the novel, Hester learns that families come in all shapes, sizes, sexual orientations and colors, and that life offers only one opportunity to make your own happiness–she simply has to trust and follow her heart.
“Watch Her” is also a tragic tale of mothers and daughters, the damage they can unknowingly cause each other, and the lengths they’ll go to protect of one another- even if the daughter is unrelated by blood, but by the heart, and even if the protectiveness leads to murder. It is also a story of forgiveness.
In “Watch Her,” the diverse supporting characters, such as a gay female detective, a graffiti artist, an art student, and many dogs, compliment the staid and uptight Hester as her hot shot research skills uncover blackmail, extra-marital affairs, and unwanted pregnancies. “Watch Her,” is a complex family saga, which will keep readers pondering long after the last drop of blood has been spilled. show less

Disclaimer: An ARC of this book was provided for review by the publisher, Kensington Books, via Library Thing.

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The murder of a woman in a small New England town opens a malignant Pandora’s Box of secrets, lies, and betrayals.

Hill takes this reliable setup and uses it, via rotating first-person narrators, to explore the secret lives of half a dozen people intimately involved in a series of brutal killings driven by narcissism, fear of exposure, and even a kind of inside-out show more vigilantism. “Who to Believe” is more than a title – it’s a cautionary note to the reader, because most of the characters in this tightly-packed novel have only a nodding acquaintance with the truth.

If there’s a problem with the book, it’s that it’s hard to find anyone to root for, with the possible exception of 13-year-old Chloe, whose family life goes from bad to worse as Hill’s other protagonists and victims trade places in an intricate dance of betrayal, deception, and violence. And, if one wants to be picky, it all slots together just a shade too slickly. There’s no reason to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon here, because no one is more than two degrees away from murder.

Readers interested in character development will find a lot to chew on as each character slowly reveals more and more of their inner self, and fans of whodunnits will have a ball, trying to foresee all the twists and turns. But if you’re looking for true nail-biting suspense or brilliant crime-solving tales, you’re going to need to keep looking. show less

4.5 stars.

Little Comfort by Edwin Hill is a twisty-turny, suspense-laden missing persons case that soon becomes a murder investigation. This first installment in the Hester Thursby Mystery series is an outstanding debut that I HIGHLY recommend to readers who enjoy mysteries featuring amateur sleuths.

Harvard librarian Hester Thursby is currently taking time off from her regular job to care for Kate, the three year old daughter of her best friend Daphne. She lives with her boyfriend, Morgan, a show more veterinarian who is also Daphne's twin brother. In addition to her regular career, Hester also takes on the occasional missing persons case. Her latest client, Lily Blaine, requests her help finding her long missing brother, Sam, who along with his best friend, Gabe DiPursio, vanished twelve years ago. Armed with nothing more than a series of postcards Lily has received over the years, Hester quickly finds Sam, who is currently romancing socialite Wendy Richards. She also locates Gabe, who lives a rather solitary life with his lifelong friend. Just as she begins to uncover the truth about Sam and Gabe, Sam's past crashes headlong into his present which puts Hester and her family in grave danger.

Hester is a smart and feisty woman who is quite resourceful due to her dysfunctional childhood. Despite all of her successes, her past still affects her since she remains afraid of commitment. Hester has no intention of becoming a parent and she does not want to admit how much she loves Kate. She makes some very questionable decisions throughout her investigation into Sam, Gabe and their past. Hester's compassion and empathy are admirable traits that leave her in a very precarious situation when she offers friendship to the wrong person.

Sam is ruthless in his quest to move up the social ladder and he leaves a swath of misery in his wake. He easily sheds his old identity when he starts over in a new city and he adapts easily to his new surroundings. Sam is quite charming and charismatic which makes it incredibly easy for him to insinuate himself in his target's life. He is also very manipulative with sociopathic tendencies that make Sam a very dangerous man to cross.

Gabe is incredibly loyal to Sam and he will do anything for the one person who has always been there for him. He does not seem to care that he lives in Sam's shadow but he does yearn for a normal life with a family. Gabe is quite captivated by Hester and he builds an elaborate fantasy about a future with her. But as Sam's current situation changes and he wants to tie up loose ends, will Gabe continue to blindly follow his orders?

While not a traditional mystery, Little Comfort is a tautly-plotted, tension-filled novel that is fast-paced and compelling. Hester is an immensely appealing yet flawed lead protagonist who is impossible not to like. Gabe and Sam are well-drawn, eerily sinister characters who are absolutely ruthless when their appalling schemes are inevitably unmasked. Edwin Hill brings this spine-tingling novel to an action-packed, chilling conclusion. A marvelous first installment in the Hester Thursby Mystery series that is sure to be a hit with readers of the genre. show less