I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Nikki Gillette needs another story. As a reporter and true-crime novel writer, that's how she makes her living. But nothing big seems to be happening in Savannah, Georgia... that is, until news leaks out that the infamous Blondell O'Henry is about to be released from jail after her son, a key witness in the trial that locked her away, recants his testimony. Twenty years ago, Blondell supposedly killed her oldest daughter, shot her son in the throat, leaving behind vocal damage, and fired the shot to her younger daughter's spine which put her in a wheelchair for life. As Nikki looks more closely into the case, she is thrust into danger by an unknown person who obviously wants her to keep her nose in her own business. Nikki knows she can find the truth - the question is whether doing so will endanger her life...
I was excited to start this book after receiving it from Goodreads First Reads. It's been a while since I last read a realistic mystery with no fictitious creatures. I love mysteries and suspense, but only when they're well-written. This book, I am pleased to say, was. Although written in the third person, which isn't my favourite, I found the story compelling and hard to put down. Although this is the third novel in the Savannah series, I found the storyline easy to keep up with. Lisa Jackson did a great job with letting the readers in on what had happened in the previous two books. However, the characters were not as easily kept up with. There were so many suspects, witnesses, and people in general that when a name was stated, I couldn't always remember what part that person played in the dynamics of the story. I would have preferred a bit more name association with part played to make it easier to remember.
There was one thing I found confusing about this book. At some points, the view switched to first person and the letters were italicized; this is when Nikki was interviewing a person in the jail cell. The view switched from interview to interview between Nikki and the criminal. However, at the end of the story when the reader finds out the identity of another person guilty from that night, the last interview is with that person. The disconcerting thing is that I'm not sure whether all the interviews were with the originally unknown criminal, or with this new person but with Blondell, as well. I suppose it could apply to either case; I just wish I knew which situation it was.
The best part of this story is that it started out interesting and kept getting better. I didn't necessarily have the urge to never put it down again at first, but as I traveled deeper into its pages, the plot and storyline kept getting deeper. There were false leads, dangerous situations, and realistic conversations and motives. I always love when a book keeps true to real life, because it makes the reader feel as though these things that are occurring in the story could happen in real life; this belief makes all the emotions the book provokes heighten even further. There was much suspense. I have a tendency to skip my eyes over the section I'm reading to see what happens next at exciting parts; I did that a lot throughout this novel. Thank goodness I have a wide bookmark; I used it to block the sections below what I was reading so I couldn't cheat. A book that inspires such strong emotions in a person is almost always a good one.
Overall, I'm very glad I read this story. It was enticing and amusing, romantic and terrifying, all at the same time! I am giving this book a rating of four stars. Jackson has proven (to me, at least) that she is a talented author. This was the first book I've read by her, but it may not be the last. I loved the creativity in the threats, and the difficulty in finding all the important clues in order to unmask the true villain. I would recommend this story to anyone looking for mystery, crime, and romance.
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