J.T. Ellison
Series: A Samantha Owens Novel (Book 3)
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA (February 25, 2014)
Idgie Says:
What follows below is an abbreviated, tidied up excerpt of an email I wrote to JT while I was reading her book - an "off the cuff" review.
"I'm currently reading your book, and am about 3/4ths through. All I can say is......Good Job! The reason I'm saying this is that I'm actually reading, and planning on finishing, your novel. I don't generally read the crime/forensic novels such as yours because the characters tend to be so dour and whiny and on the edge of throwing themselves off cliffs that I dislike them, leaving me to not care for the genre at all. I don't want to be depressed the entire time I read a book. But I LIKE your characters! The plot is very intense reading, but you don't have a bunch of whiny ass characters trying to solve a case in the midst of not throwing themselves off cliffs. Your characters are real, with sparkles of not only intelligence but also levity. I'm invested."
What I wrote to JT is quite true. I shy away from these types of books, both for the grimness of plot and also the grimness of the characters. But while the plot still was wince inducing on many levels, the characters were strong people who held my interest.
I plan on going back and reading the first two books in the Samantha Owens Series - I want to know what happened in her life to create the stage she's at now.
That's what good writing does - it makes you willing to go back to the beginning for the full story. Again I say, Good Job, JT!
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Book Description:
Dear Dr. Owens,
If you are reading this letter, I am dead and I would be most grateful if you could solve my murder…
Forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Owens thought life was finally returning to normal after she suffered a terrible personal loss. Settling into her new job at Georgetown University, the illusion is shattered when she receives a disturbing letter from a dead man imploring her to solve his murder. There's only one catch. Timothy Savage's death was so obviously the suicide of a demented individual that the case has been closed.
When Sam learns Savage left a will requesting she autopsy his body, she feels compelled to look into the case. Sam's own postmortem discovers clear signs that Savage was indeed murdered. And she finds DNA from a kidnapped child whose remains were recovered years earlier.
The investigation takes Sam into the shadows of a twenty-year-old mystery that must be solved to determine what really happened to Timothy Savage. Nothing about the case makes sense but it is clear someone is unwilling to let anyone, especially Samantha Owens, discover the truth.
Q & A with JT HERE
Covers for the two other books in the series.
