LynDee Walker

In my opinion, this is the quality of writing cozy mystery writers should strive for.

Because she's cooperated with the Richmond police in the past, Nichelle is owed a favour and it's paid in the form of an exclusive on a gruesome murder scene - with a request attached: the 911 call came from two homeless people who won't talk to the cops and her police contact is hoping she'll be able to coax their stories from them. Her efforts, coupled with the inability of the police to identify the show more victim, pulls her into the story and leads her to some pretty unexpected places.

First - this isn't your grandmother's cozy. It isn't gruesome, in spite of the opening scene, but there is language and the theme is more sophisticated than the bog standard "that old biddy deserved it!". No actual sex scenes either, although the author does an outstanding job speeding up a reader's pulse rate when Nichelle finally decides to fish-or-cut-bait.

Second - and I can't emphasise this enough - Nichelle is an investigative reporter whose job is to interview and question people and she still manages to investigate this mystery without resorting to sledgehammer tactics. She researches, she digs around, and when she does interview people she does so with empathy and intelligence. Writing like this just makes those other cozy MC's using bull-in-a-china-shop methods look all the worse in comparison.

Nichelle and all the characters in this series are the kind of people you'd be likely to find living in your neighborhood, or working in your office. Even the office witch, Shelby, gets a bit more dimension in this book (in previous books she was around merely for the smack-down entertainment value of watching her and Nichelle have at it).

Finally - the mystery itself. Complicated. Maybe too complicated, but I think it worked. What I loved best about it is the way the author used a not-unpopular plot setting but didn't lead us or Nichelle down the obvious path. It was interesting, and not impossible for such a scenario to exist in reality. The resolution also sets up the possibility of some interesting conflicts for Nichelle in future books.

Why not five stars? There's a love triangle. It's been there since the beginning, so the author scores points for not screwing with an existing relationship, but it's still a love triangle and both men have their allure. I believe it's been settled in this book, but there's enough question at the end to make me wonder if the decision is somewhat temporary. I also would have liked to have known what happened to some of the secondary characters, like Elaine. It's a small thing though and didn't make me feel like the story ended incomplete.

This series shot up my list of favorites almost from the start, and I wasn't at all disappointed in this one. Ms. Walker is an excellent story teller and writer and kudos go to the team at Henery Press for consistently putting out great mysteries with highly professional editing.


[PopSugar 2015 Challenge: A book with a love triangle.] show less

The Housewife Next Door by LynDee Walker is the ideal slow burn character driven novel for my taste.

I realize some readers only like the novels that have intense action from start to finish, and they are certainly fun reads. But when I can get to know, or at least think I know, the characters better I can also better appreciate the tension as it builds and when it comes. What I think works very well here is how the reader, starting with the book description and the prologue, begins to see show more everyone as deceptive and a ne'er-do-well. The more you let your imagination play, the more suspicious possibilities you see. Until, that is, at some point you then start eliminating some of them. But because of the set-up and the superb character-building you're more tense than what might seem necessary. Probably about two-thirds of the way through the book things then really pick up and you're discovering where you made your errors (a lot of them) and where you might have been right to be suspicious. By then, everything is happening more quickly than before and you're swept to the breathless end.

The way we are gradually let into everyone's past and the events that have formed them also allows for a number of themes, both minor and major, to become evident. And because the pacing is steady we have the time to think about them, in relation to our actual world as well as the fictional world we're visiting. Which is to say that this novel gives us space to think about and time to consider ethical and societal issues, positive and negative.

About the only people I wouldn't highly recommend this to are those who mostly want a fast-paced joyride from start to finish, but even with them I would suggest giving it a try, the payoff is well worth the investment.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the author and the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Meg moves with her infant son to a rural Kansas farm, hoping for a peaceful life. She soon meets her neighbor, Ainsley, and her family. She is in awe of Ainsley’s parents’ loving relationship and the home they have made for their six children. It is almost as if the family is stuck in an earlier time, but she sees SarahBeth as the best mom. Meg and Ainsley quickly become best friends, and Meg finds herself spending a lot of time with the family.

When Ainsley becomes show more seriously ill, Meg spends her time at her side. Knowing death draws near, Ainsley tells Meg about a little girl buried at the back of the garden. Meg realizes she has missed some key clues about this unusual family. Worried for the remaining children, but nervous about her own past being revealed, Meg knows she must tread carefully so that her world doesn’t come crashing down around her.

I have read and enjoyed several books written by LynDee Walker, and she is an incredible storyteller. In The Housewife Next Door, the story is told from the point of view of three very different and complex women: one, a tradwife to the nth degree trying to protect her family, keep them close by while educating them in their traditions, a woman with talent and dreams to go far out into the world, and finally, a woman hiding from her past and intent on burying her secrets.

The story has multiple timelines, but flows with ease, drawing the reader in as each layer is peeled away with twist after twist. A dark tale, much like Walker’s recent A Pastor’s Wife, everyone appears to be holding something back or has their own secret. The supporting cast is very well-crafted, playing integral roles and responsible for their own surprises.

I need to tell you, I found The Housewife Next Door impossible to put down. There is a final twist in the last chapter that I had talked myself out of earlier in the book. I shouted, “I knew it!” loud enough to wake my husband out of a sound sleep. After his “What?” he followed with, “Oh, you’re reading,” then he went back to sleep.

Complicated, dark, exciting, heartpounding, compelling, suspenseful, and thrilling with multiple twists and turns, The Housewife Next Door is a must-read for fans of this genre and this author. Be prepared for a late night of reading. It set the new year off to a grand start. show less

Tell No Lies is the sixth volume in the Faith McClellan series from LynDee Walker and delivers on every element you'd want in such a book.

First, if you haven't read any books in the series, I think this could be read as a standalone, but you will appreciate many of the nuances a lot more if you've read the others. If you're a reader who likes strong female leads, I would suggest starting from book one, though you could start here and then go back. Either way, I think you'll find a lot in the show more series as a whole to keep you engaged.

As is Walker's style, the reader is drawn into the story immediately, even if we're trying to figure things out. But so is Faith, so we're doing it together. The dialogue and action are believable and generally sheds light not only on the plot but on the characters as full human beings.

For me, what sets the book, and the series more broadly, apart is the characters. Faith at times appears to be like you would expect a Texas Ranger to be, but through her thoughts and approach we get the bigger picture. That is the norm for the lead character in any series and Walker does it very well. But in each volume the recurring as well as the case-specific characters are given a life beyond just their interactions with Faith. Maybe through peripheral dialogue, often through Faith's investigation itself, but also it is just placing them in environments that highlight more than simply their role in the case. If you're also drawn to books with compelling and interesting characters, you'll enjoy this series.

In this volume we question, along with Faith, almost everyone and everything. Who can be trusted? Maybe more important, how far can each be trusted? What hidden motives might be at play? We're constantly guessing, I mean, rationally making determinations. Oh, who am I kidding, we're guessing, no matter how educated some of those guesses might be. That is part of the fun of any mystery. show less