Erica Spindler

New Orleans Detective Quinn Conners lost her father, Rourke, to suicide 5 years ago. Her father was her world. Now Rick has taken his exit from her life. What's left? Work as always. Always work. Her grief is taking hold of her all over again after a flyer left on her windshield announced,

"Your father didn't kill himself."

She wanted to solve the cold case he was working on before his death. She wanted to restore his reputation. But how? Just like her father taught her.

"—crimes are a

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kind of puzzle…Some, with only a few pieces, are easy to solve, and some have lots of pieces and are super-difficult to solve…"

I liked that the past was revealed by Quinn's father's POV and present-day by Quinn. It added a higher understanding of Rourke Conners as a son, a grieving single parent, and a dedicated police detective. It also illustrated the unique father-daughter relationship in ways that wouldn't have been as powerful or captivating if only from Quinn's flashbacks.

Even as layers of plot twists are unraveled, Erica Spindler always has another red herring in store. A word of caution: When reading a novel by this author, you'll be saying, "I'll read just one more chapter. Just one more chapter..." for more than just one. Guaranteed! show less

3.5-star read

Sienna Scott has spent her entire life dealing with her mother's mental illness. She doesn't blame her mother Vivienne for her illness, but she does blame her for not taking her medication on a regular basis or continuing with therapy. After Sienna came upon a murdered body on her college campus ten years ago, her mother's paranoia became untenable. The solution was to send Sienna overseas to London where her maternal grandmother lived. Sienna lived in Europe peacefully for ten show more years eventually becoming a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. Sienna has faced many fears over the past decade but her final fear is that of returning home and dealing with her mother. She expected to be welcomed home by her half-brother and touchstone, Bradley. He's happy to see her but not pleased at her permanent return, which raises some questions in Sienna's mind. Sienna's mother, Vivienne, is sure that "they" are still out to get Sienna and become even more unhinged than she was after the murder a decade earlier. Two good things come out Sienna's return, her renewed friendship with Randy Clark, a former campus police officer and now town detective, and a burgeoning friendship and romance with her neighbor, Jonathan Hart. However, it quickly becomes apparent that perhaps Vivienne's paranoia may not be unfounded or is it? Will Sienna be able to discern the truth of what happened 10 years ago before something else or someone else dies?

I usually spend my weekdays visiting with my 85-y.o. mother. It's up for question as to whether I'm keeping an eye on her or she's keeping an eye on me, but the one thing we both have gotten used to is spending our afternoons reading. The Look-Alike pulled me in to the point where I didn't hear the phone ringing or my mother talking to me until after she had called my name several times. (Yes, the story was that engrossing, I didn't want to set it aside.) I enjoy reading suspense and this well-crafted psychological suspense kept me on tenterhooks. I enjoyed the unexpected twists-and-turns the story took and Ms. Spindler kept me guessing until the bitter end. The characters are realistic and they all seemed to be hiding parts of themselves from each other, and yes that keeps the reader guessing about what's coming next as well as the action. Although there is violence in the story, hey it starts with a murder, the violence becomes almost secondary to everything else that takes place, such as the theme of dealing with mental illness, the possible hereditary nature of mental illness and the dangling threat of inheriting a mental illness, the destruction wrought by dealing with having a murdered family member, sibling rivalry, friendship, romance, and more. Ms. Spindler packs a lot into this story and although there are only a handful of primary characters, it is a story that seems all-too-realistic especially if you've had to deal with the fall-out caused by having someone with a chronic mental illness in your family. I'm always eager to read a new story by Ms. Spindler and I feel incredibly fortunate that I was given the opportunity to read a review copy of The Look-Alike. For those of you that enjoy mystery or suspense reads, make sure you grab a copy of The Look-Alike. For those of you looking for intriguing suspense read with romance elements, get a copy of The Look-Alike to read. And finally, for those of you looking for something a little bit different to read, grab a copy of The Look-Alike, you won't be disappointed. I enjoyed reading The Look-Alike and will be purchasing a print copy of this book to add to my home library. Who knows, perhaps I'll even lend it to my 85-y.o. mother to read during one of our afternoon reading sessions.

Happy Reading!

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review originally published on 01/23/2020 at https://www.thebookdivasreads.com/2020/01/2020-book-28-look-alike-by-erica.html show less

Randy Rader is a 15-year-old girl with a history of lies and trouble; seemingly on a path to nowhere. She is nearly raped and subsequently kidnapped along with another girl. When she escapes, no one believes her story, including the cop who found her. Instead he arrests her and she winds up facing jail herself.

The Other Girl by Erica Spindler picks up again 14 years later as “Randy” is now Miranda Rader. She has straightened out her life and is now a cop herself. Someone who has moved show more on from her past and become a respected detective. When she is called to the grisly crime scene of a murdered professor, Richard Stark, things start to go downhill. Stark is nearly universally described as a “good guy”, but Miranda begins to suspect that there may have been a much darker side to the good professor. When a retired cop also turns up dead, the one who happened to arrest Miranda 14 years ago, Miranda finds herself in the crosshairs. She discovers that her past isn’t as far behind her as she thought it was. Miranda must find Stark’s killer while also proving that he was a predator himself. And a lot of people in the community don’t want that to happen.

Strong and well-developed characters are the best part of this novel. Plenty of red herrings and false starts keep the mystery of who the killer is in doubt for quite a while. The plot occasionally hinges on people behaving stupidly, but nevertheless, it is a compelling mystery with plenty of tension, including some romantic tension. Miranda is an interesting character and the small town of Harmony, Louisiana comes alive in this distinctive setting. Spindler has a good feel for capturing small town life. An entertaining thriller.

The audiobook is narrated by Tavia Gilbert who does a wonderful job. Her character voices are distinctive and she expertly conveys mood, emotion and tension where called for in the story. Her pacing sweeps you along and complements the writing and the story.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this audiobook from the publisher. show less

I've read almost everything that Erica Spindler has written and always found that she crafted a story sprinkled with characters that you can both love and hate...feel empathy for and want to strangle... sometimes at the same time. Miranda was a character that fell into a world that was against her seemingly from the very first. I became frustrated..(4.5 stars instead of 5) with the people in authority and the way they treated her as a 15 year old girl and later the way these same people show more treated her as a decorated police officer. I knew who the "other girl" was early in the book but the perpetrator was a well kept secret almost to the last page. show less