Mary Burton (1)

Sloane Grayson is a cold case reporter who is in Virginia to solve a 30 year mystery. Someone has been convicted in the crime of killing 4 girls at the Mountain Music Festival and is close to getting paroled but he was convicted with no bodies ever being found. Sloane's goal is to find the bodies of those four girls who have been missing for 30 years and it's personal because one of them is her mother who died when she was an infant.

This well written novel is a dual time line with one time show more line being Sloane's current quest to find the bodies and the other time line during the music festival where the reader gets to meet the four young women who disappeared. During the 30 year old time line, Sherriff Taggart is the person who worked to solve the crime. His dogged pursuit of a killer helped to convict the music promoter. Losing four girls in the small town was a real blow to the town and the Sherriff ended up committing suicide because of his inability to find the bodies and bring closure to the crime.

In the current time line, the main character is Sloane -- she appears to be kind of heartless but she is tenacious when it comes to solving crimes. She maybe does a few things that might be against the law - like breaking into houses - but she gets people to talk and closely follows the clues to try to solve the crime even if it puts her life in danger. She's one tough person with no family ties and pretty much a vagabond life who spends her time solving cases. When she first arrives in Dawson, Virginia, the townspeople are reluctant to talk to her and bring up collective memories from the past. Once she finds someone who will talk to her, she begins to start building her case. This time she is getting some help - unwanted help in her opinion - from a PI who had investigated this case in the past. Will Sloane be able to solve this cold case and find the bodies of the four missing girls or will her pursuit of the truth cause her to lose her own life?

This was a real page turner with lots of twists and turns. I thought several times that I knew who the killer was but I was wrong every time and the ending came as a complete shock to me. Once I went back and reviewed the clues, it all made sense and was a perfect ending to this mystery.

If you want a book with well written characters that you won't be able to put down -- this is the book for you! show less

The Lies I Told by Mary Burton

My, my, my - What a dark twisted story this is! I could not put this book down and had to find out what happened even though it meant staying up later to finish the last page.

What I liked:
* The plot, pacing, and setting with superb writing
* The way the secrets and lies, and there were many, that came out through the telling of the story
* Marissa Stockton: twin, daughter, sister, artist, photographer, addict, survivor, committed to finding her twin sister’s show more murderer…no matter what
* Clare Stockton: Marissa’s twin who died too soon
* Detective Richards: seasoned policeman and detective in charge of cases involving two Stockton family members, never gave up on solving Clare’s murder, nearing retirement age
* The look into the dysfunctional family the Stockton’s were – it was rather overwhelming when all was revealed
* The points of view of more than one character in this story, including the murderer
* The flashbacks to the past that fleshed out the story
* Paul: Marissa’s neighbor, lawyer, potential friend, and possible love interest
* Wondering what would have happened if one or more character in the story had done something other than what they did OR if the secrets kept and lies told had come to light earlier
* That it made me think and care and hope for more good than bad days in Marissa’s future
* Hoping that Karma would come back three-fold on those who had done evil and smack them HARD
* That all the threads of this tangled story were tied together so well by the end
* Thinking about what happens after the last page of this book

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The dysfunctional Stockton family and how it impacted them all
* That evil people got away with so much for so many years

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely

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

5 Stars show less

Book source ~ NetGalley

Ever since her brother was wrongfully arrested, convicted, and sent to prison, Rachel Wainwright has fought for those she feels gets shafted by Lady Justice. As a public defender she gets a lot of those cases and she gets the occasional Innocence Project client, too. She has taken on the 30-year-old case of Jeb Jones, a man put away for murder. He has steadfastly declared his innocence and has been petitioning for his DNA to be tested for over a decade and getting show more nowhere. Enter the Innocence Project and Rachel. Does she think he’s innocent? It’s not up to her. Her job is to get the DNA tested now that such a test is available. After that? Well, one step at a time.

Detective Derek Morgan inherited the case from his late father. The Jeb Jones case is the one that made his dad’s career so he’s understandably pissed that the DNA test is calling his dad’s integrity into question. But the law is the law, so he sent it in. And the wait for results begins. In the meantime, he has cases to solve, including the brutal bludgeoning murder of an aspiring singer. But that’s not the only murder he’ll need to solve as bodies start dropping like flies and the only connection he can find is Rachel Wainwright. Uh, oh…

This is one hell of a twisty turny tale! It held my attention from the first chapter all the way to the end. I even stayed up way past my bedtime trying to finish it. That’s a rare thing for me since I love my sleep. The characters are awesome, the world is great, the killer is…whew, what a mess. The mystery is one that kept me guessing. I had started to glean a few half-formed inklings at about the 60% mark, but not nearly enough to state with any certainty who I thought was the murderer. Great job! This is one of my favorite reads of 2019. I’m looking forward to continuing with this series even though I’ve already read book 4 by accident. Luckily, my memory sucks ass and I didn’t remember it until after I was finished with this one. I hate reading books out of order. lol show less

What She Saw is a story filled with unexpected twists and turns, featuring an unconventional main character. The author skillfully presents an intriguing perspective through a somewhat unlikable sociopath protagonist. Although I didn’t fully connect with Sloan, I was fascinated by her relentless pursuit of answers.

Just when I thought I had everything figured out, a surprising twist would steer me in a new direction. I appreciate being kept in suspense and I enjoy a mystery that doesn’t show more reveal itself too quickly.

This tale, with its blend of mystery, thrill, and suspense, kept me guessing throughout. While the touch of romance was a bit distracting and not particularly engaging for me, the fresh writing and unique storyline were ultimately satisfying.

#CoverLoverBookReview received a review copy of this book. Opinions are 100% my own. show less