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San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning the fate of her missing sister
Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly's teenage sister, Thea, slipped out of their family home in rural Maine to party with friends and never came home. Shaw (short for Shawnee), now a fingerprint expert for law enforcement agencies, is certain that her sister was murdered, but she is obsessed with learning where she was buried. Even now, after all these years, she continues to put up posters and roam the woods of their hometown with a cadaver dog. Her obsession takes a toll not only on her but on her family, driving her husband away and traumatizing her two boys. But in author Gillian French's 'Shaw Connolly Lives To Tell,' Shaw isn't the only one who is obsessed. Someone is obsessed with her. His name is Anders Jansen, and he calls Shaw frequently, often at odd hours. He taunts her about Thea, revealing details that hint at his involvement in the girl's disappearance — but never enough to justify an arrest. As their cat-and-mouse game continues, the phone calls become more menacing, and soon he starts following her and making vague threats against her family. When Shaw grows alarmed enough to get a protective order, he violates it, giving police a justification to make an arrest. But now he's on the run, the police can't find him, and the calls continue. Meanwhile, Shaw has a job to do. She assists police investigating the death of a man who was bludgeoned while walking his dog. She is called to assist with an arson fire in a vacant building. But then there is another arson fire. And another. And another. When the arsonist burns down the church Shaw attended as a child, she and the readers wonder if Anders could be setting the fires. This well-written, emotionally wrenching novel is not a mystery in the traditional sense. It is apparent early on that Thea is dead and that Anders killed her. The tension lies in how far Shaw will go to learn where she is buried, what Anders will do if she persists, and the price the people she loves will pay for her obsession. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning the fate of her missing sister
Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly's teenage sister, Thea, slipped out of their family home in rural Maine to party with friends and never came home. Shaw (short for Shawnee), now a fingerprint expert for law enforcement agencies, is certain that her sister was murdered, but she is obsessed with learning where she was buried. Even now, after all these years, she continues to put up posters and roam the woods of their hometown with a cadaver dog. Her obsession takes a toll not only on her but on her family, driving her husband away and traumatizing her two boys. But in author Gillian French's 'Shaw Connolly Lives To Tell,' Shaw isn't the only one who is obsessed. Someone is obsessed with her. His name is Anders Jansen, and he calls Shaw frequently, often at odd hours. He taunts her about Thea, revealing details that hint at his involvement in the girl's disappearance — but never enough to justify an arrest. As their cat-and-mouse game continues, the phone calls become more menacing, and soon he starts following her and making vague threats against her family. When Shaw grows alarmed enough to get a protective order, he violates it, giving police a justification to make an arrest. But now he's on the run, the police can't find him, and the calls continue. Meanwhile, Shaw has a job to do. She assists police investigating the death of a man who was bludgeoned while walking his dog. She is called to assist with an arson fire in a vacant building. But then there is another arson fire. And another. And another. When the arsonist burns down the church Shaw attended as a child, she and the readers wonder if Anders could be setting the fires. This well-written, emotionally wrenching novel is not a mystery in the traditional sense. It is apparent early on that Thea is dead and that Anders killed her. The tension lies in how far Shaw will go to learn where she is buried, what Anders will do if she persists, and the price the people she loves will pay for her obsession. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___ AP book reviews:
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning the fate of her missing sister
Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly's teenage sister, Thea, slipped out of their family home in rural Maine to party with friends and never came home. Shaw (short for Shawnee), now a fingerprint expert for law enforcement agencies, is certain that her sister was murdered, but she is obsessed with learning where she was buried. Even now, after all these years, she continues to put up posters and roam the woods of their hometown with a cadaver dog. Her obsession takes a toll not only on her but on her family, driving her husband away and traumatizing her two boys. But in author Gillian French's 'Shaw Connolly Lives To Tell,' Shaw isn't the only one who is obsessed. Someone is obsessed with her. His name is Anders Jansen, and he calls Shaw frequently, often at odd hours. He taunts her about Thea, revealing details that hint at his involvement in the girl's disappearance — but never enough to justify an arrest. As their cat-and-mouse game continues, the phone calls become more menacing, and soon he starts following her and making vague threats against her family. When Shaw grows alarmed enough to get a protective order, he violates it, giving police a justification to make an arrest. But now he's on the run, the police can't find him, and the calls continue. Meanwhile, Shaw has a job to do. She assists police investigating the death of a man who was bludgeoned while walking his dog. She is called to assist with an arson fire in a vacant building. But then there is another arson fire. And another. And another. When the arsonist burns down the church Shaw attended as a child, she and the readers wonder if Anders could be setting the fires. This well-written, emotionally wrenching novel is not a mystery in the traditional sense. It is apparent early on that Thea is dead and that Anders killed her. The tension lies in how far Shaw will go to learn where she is buried, what Anders will do if she persists, and the price the people she loves will pay for her obsession. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___ AP book reviews: Bruce Desilva, The Associated Press
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning the fate of her missing sister
Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly's teenage sister, Thea, slipped out of their family home in rural Maine to party with friends and never came home. Shaw (short for Shawnee), now a fingerprint expert for law enforcement agencies, is certain that her sister was murdered, but she is obsessed with learning where she was buried. Even now, after all these years, she continues to put up posters and roam the woods of their hometown with a cadaver dog. Her obsession takes a toll not only on her but on her family, driving her husband away and traumatizing her two boys. But in author Gillian French's 'Shaw Connolly Lives To Tell,' Shaw isn't the only one who is obsessed. Someone is obsessed with her. His name is Anders Jansen, and he calls Shaw frequently, often at odd hours. He taunts her about Thea, revealing details that hint at his involvement in the girl's disappearance — but never enough to justify an arrest. As their cat-and-mouse game continues, the phone calls become more menacing, and soon he starts following her and making vague threats against her family. When Shaw grows alarmed enough to get a protective order, he violates it, giving police a justification to make an arrest. But now he's on the run, the police can't find him, and the calls continue. Meanwhile, Shaw has a job to do. She assists police investigating the death of a man who was bludgeoned while walking his dog. She is called to assist with an arson fire in a vacant building. But then there is another arson fire. And another. And another. When the arsonist burns down the church Shaw attended as a child, she and the readers wonder if Anders could be setting the fires. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. This well-written, emotionally wrenching novel is not a mystery in the traditional sense. It is apparent early on that Thea is dead and that Anders killed her. The tension lies in how far Shaw will go to learn where she is buried, what Anders will do if she persists, and the price the people she loves will pay for her obsession. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___ AP book reviews:
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Book Review: An aging widow's European river cruise turns deadly in 'Murder Takes a Vacation'
Muriel Blossom began her fictional career as a minor character in 2008, serving as an assistant to private detective Tess Monaghan, the protagonist in twelve of Laura Lippman's fine crime novels. Over the years, she proved valuable to Tess, excellent at surveillance because of an uncanny ability to blend into the background. But now, in 'Murder Takes a Vacation,' Mrs. Blossom, as she is always called, gets her star turn. 'She was a large woman,' Lippman writes. 'OK, fine. She was fat.' But Mrs. Blossom is comfortable with her body although she occasionally feels self-conscious when she senses others are judging her. She is in her late 60s now, widowed and a grandmother, but thanks to a winning lottery ticket she found in a parking lot, she has money for the first time in her life. One of the things she does with it is take her first trip to Europe. On the cross-Atlantic flight, and again when she reaches Paris, younger men begin showing Mrs. Blossom a great deal of attention. She rather likes this, although she wonders if they might be after her money. But soon, after she boards the cruise ship to tour the Seine, she becomes aware that she is being followed. Eventually her stateroom is ransacked and a stranger tries to mug her. To explain why would reveal too much of the story. Suffice it to say that Mrs. Blossom unwittingly gets caught up in something nefarious involving a jewel-encrusted bird that will remind readers of 'The Maltese Falcon.' And like Sam Spade, she has the strength and guile to deal with it. Lippman's crime novels are often gritty and street-smart, but in this funny, charming cozy about Mrs. Blossom's vacation, both the prose and the plot are playful. 'As someone who often writes about terrible people,' she says in her author's note, 'I loved every minute I spent with Muriel Blossom.' ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___
