"This was my second book by the author and it was another enjoyable read. The twists and turns left me dizzy, but in a good way. The POVs had interesting backstories and I loved that the book was based on a real event (a murder that made headlines in its day). White shows respect for the people involved and psychological insight. It’s obvious that she knows what she’s doing when she describes the POVs inner realities , and how that influenced their behavior. The story flowed easily and naturally, like watching a movie where everything made sense. "

"Sometimes you read a book that leaves you staring into space without realizing because all you can do after finishing it is blink. This was that book for me. And I am appalled to look at reviews and consistently see that book one was better, and I am appalled because book one has been on my TBR pile of books for a year without being touched. I have enjoyed several of Jess Lourey’s books quite a bit, but I was still taken off guard by this one. It was beyond creepy and I couldn’t help but think that a movie based on this book was freak me out (and I laugh at scary movies). I wonder if part of why it was so beyond creepy was it was based on Finnish roots and while they are the happiest people in the planet doesn’t everyone have secrets (this is a joke, I think we Americans could learn a lot from other cultures especially the Finnish on how to be happy). I liked the two main characters and their back stories and the ending frustrated me to no end because now I need book 3 and I guess I’ll have to settle for book 1…I don’t think I can summarize this one without botching it or giving away too much, so I will say if you like folklore tied to present tense, gruesome murder, small towns hiding big secrets than just do yourself a favor and pick this one up. "

"EXCERPT: Two months before 9/11

Death was in the air.

He smelled it as soon as he ducked under the crime scene tape and stepped onto the front lawn of the palatial estate. The Catskill mountains rose above the roofline as the early morning sun stretched shadows of the trees across the yard. The breeze rolled down from the foothills and carried the smell of decay, causing his upper lip to twitch when it reached his nostrils. The smell of death filled him with excitement. He hoped this was because this was his first case as a newly minted homicide detective, and not from some perverse fetish he had never known he possessed.

A uniformed police officer led him across the lawn and around to the back of the property. There he found the source of the foul odour. The victim was hanging naked from a second story balcony, his feet suspended at eye level, and the white rope around his neck angling his head like a broken-stemmed lollipop. The detective looked up to the terrace. The rope stretched over the railing, tight and challenged by the weight of the body. The twine disappeared through french doors that led, he presumed, into the bedroom.

The victim had likely twirled for most of the night, the detective imagined, and had now unfortunately come to rest facing the house. Unfortunate because, as the detective walked across the back lawn, the first thing he saw was the man's naked buttocks. When he reached the body he noticed welt marks covering the man's right burr cheek and upper thigh. The contusions flared a faint lilac against the liver mortis blue of the dead man's skin.

ABOUT 'TWENTY YEARS LATER': Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience's attention. Her latest story--a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal--is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner's office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.

Emma Ford has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won't be complete until she can clear Victoria's name. Alone she's had no luck, but she's convinced that Avery's connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria's DNA.

But the twisted puzzle of Victoria's private life belies a much darker mystery. And what Avery doesn't realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery's own secret past--one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .

MY THOUGHTS: I liked Twenty Years Later a lot, but I didn't love it. I failed to become totally immersed in the story and am not really sure if it was because the narrator didn't narrate with much emotion, or because the reader is being told much of the story rather than experiencing it.

There are several different storylines going on, narrated in the present and in flashbacks, primarily by Avery, secondly by Walt, and thirdly by various other minor characters. It was the murder that opens the book that I was mainly interested in, but that is very much a secondary thread though, to me, it was definitely the more interesting. I really had no interest in Avery's salary negotiations which went on, and on, and had no real relevance that I could fathom.

I found Avery's character difficult to relate to and I never really warmed to her, although I did admire her cleverness in resolving her family problem.

I really liked the way Donlea tied everything up at the end, even if it was a little tedious in parts getting there.

But the absolute ending, where the solution to the murder is revealed, that is absolutely delicious and made wading through all the other stuff worthwhile.

⭐⭐��.8

#TwentyYearsLater #NetGalley

I: @charliedonlea @recordedbooks

T: @CharlieDonlea @recordedbooks

#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #familydrama #murdermystery

THE AUTHOR: Charlie Donlea resides in Chicago with his wife and two young children.

He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane.

DISCLOSURE: Thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of Twenty Years Later written by Charlie Donlea and narrated by Vivienne Leheney for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my ŷ������.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage"

"This book is a fantastic start to a series and showcases an excellent main character. Kate Fox runs the ranch that belongs to her sheriff husband and his parents. When her husband is injured after a shooting that involves a murder, suspicion falls on him and it is up to Kate to find out the truth. Kate has an interesting and quirky family, and there are a multitude of other eccentric secondary characters in the rural small town setting. The plot moves along rapidly, and kept me completely engrossed and entertained. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy mysteries with strong female leads. I enjoyed this one enough that I had to pick it back up and read it again almost five years after the first time. I enjoyed it every bit as much this go round."