Kate Moretti

When hundreds of dead starlings fall out of the sky, curious reporters flock to the grim scene - a baseball field in a small, down-on-its-luck Pennsylvania town. The birds prove to be a bad omen for local high school teacher, Nate Winters. One of the reporters spots him with a student named Lucia at a seedy motel, and then Lucia disappears. His wife Alecia is already at her wits' end, and the accusations against her husband are too much to bear. It seems the only person Nate has to defend show more him is fellow teacher and friend, Bridget Harris, who's read Lucia's troubling journal in class.

The mystery about what happened to Lucia was an intriguing one. The story is told by Nate, Alecia, Bridget, and Lucia in alternating chapters. Other than Bridget, none of them were particularly likable, thought their predicaments held my interest. Something that was a bit jarring was how the dates/time jumped around from chapter to chapter. I had to go back several times to remind myself when something previous had happened. I think with four POVs the time jumps got confusing.

The setting of this book really stood out to me. The author captured the perfect dark and gritty atmosphere of a dying town with an abandoned mill. It gave me a feeling of unease throughout. I only wish the starlings had played a bigger part in the book. THE BLACKBIRD SEASON is a character-driven mystery with plenty of drama. Not a lot of big surprises, but it did keep me guessing.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

In Her Bones by Kate Moretti is a highly recommended mystery/suspense novel about a woman on the run trying to uncover the truth.

Edie Beckett, 30, is just trying to live her life out of the spotlight. Fifteen years ago, her mother, Lilith Wade, was convicted of murdering six women, and sentenced to death row. The media frenzy continued after the release of the unauthorized biography by an unknown author. Edie is a recovering alcoholic who keeps to herself, has a co-dependent relationship show more with her brother, and an unhealthy obsession with the surviving family members of Lilith's victims. She keeps notebooks on their personal information, stalks them online (and in person if possible).

Edie's current obsession is Peter Lipsky, whose wife was fatally stabbed by Lilith. She's stalking him online, through a survivor's message board, and collecting information about him and his late wife, Colleen. Colleen's murder is the one that doesn't fit the profile of Lilith's other victims. When Edie meets Peter during one of her reconnaissance missions, she ends up drinking too much and and goes home with him. She leaves before he wakes up, but is later found murdered that morning. She doesn't remember much of the night and now she is the prime suspect for his murder. Edie goes on the run while trying to uncover what really happened and who killed Peter.

Edie is a sympathetic, fleshed-out character and the main narrator in the book, although there are also excerpts from the biography of Lilith included and a few from Gil Brandt, the detective who caught Lilith, but also helped Edie. As the novel unfolds, Edie reminisces about her troubled childhood with Lilith while dealing with her current situation. Edie is also clearly a damaged character, and much of this began in her childhood with Lilith.

While on the run rather than talking to detectives, she does make some questionable/interesting choices along the way and has a few stumbles. In her own way, she is a resourceful, smart, and street savvy character. She is clever enough to evade being caught while trying to ferret out the truth about Peter's murder, which also requires her to look back at his wife's murder. Was Lilith responsible for it or is there another killer running loose out there and could Edie now be a target?

I found this to be a well-written, compelling mystery (rather than thriller). The pace is even, rather than fast, until the end, but the steps Edie takes and her reasoning is interesting enough to keep your attention. In Her Bones held my attention throughout. Although I had all manner of guesses and suspects, I didn't have a clue about the ending until just before it happened. Nicely played Moretti!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Netgalley.
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I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Woah. What the eff did I just read.

This book starts out as a slow burn but once it starts building, it doesn't stop. The thin line between what's supernatural and what's real will keep you second guessing both the characters and yourself throughout. I was pulled into this book up to the very last page and even now, can't stop thinking about it.

I loved the unreliable narrator, that she didn't remember show more every single fact she'd learnt along the way, things came and went from her mind until memories were triggered. She was morally grey, no better of a person than anyone else.

From the isolated setting to the small town secrets, this is a five star read. show less

Ingenious! The cunning and well laid out plot sucked me into a web of intense suspicion and edgy suspense.

For Zoe, a woman with a deeply troubling past, falling in love with Henry, a very wealthy man, who practically sweeps her off her feet, it’s a dream come true, almost like a fairy tale. Even after a year of wedded bliss, she still keeps pinching herself, unable to believe how fortunate she is.

But, Henry is not fully aware of Zoe’s past, so when she becomes the victim of a few show more break-ins and several other unsettling incidents, she begins to worry that her past has caught up to her, and becomes desperate to keep to preserve her secrets and possibly her life.

This story falls into the domestic thriller genre, which has suddenly risen in popularity, which is fine by me because for some reason it make the stakes seem higher, and the underlying uneasiness feels more sinister.

This book is well written, with impeccable timing and pacing, and has everything a good psychological thriller should, plus it totally screwed with my head! Good stuff! I loved it!
4.5 stars show less