Tag Archives: Loreth Anne White

The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White-a review

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The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 1, 2023

Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem. She’s the “invisible girl,” compelled to poke into her wealthy clients’ closely guarded lives. It’s a harmless hobby until Kit sees something she can’t unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This makes Kit dangerous to the couple. In turn, it makes the couple—who might kill to keep their secret—dangerous to Kit.

When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.

As Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes that nothing is quite as it seems. And no one escapes their past.

•••••

REVIEW: THE MAID’S DIARY by Loreth Anne White is a contemporary, adult, psychological thriller focusing on maid Kit Darling, former Olympic skier Jon Rittenberg and his wife Daisy, Vanessa and Haruto North, and Vancouver, BC homicide detective Mallory Van Alst.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from several back and forth time lines, and numerous third person perspectives, as well as first person diary entries by the maid, THE MAID’S DIARY follows the search for a possible killer, and a missing body. An elderly woman, with dementia and not much time to live, believes she has quite possibly witnessed a murder next door but when the police arrive the woman is clear headed and knows exactly what she saw. Vancouver PD Detective Mallory Van Alst, alone with her partner Benoit Salumu begin an investigation that reveals an enormous number of clues, lots of blood, intersecting pathways and trails, and several suspects all claiming to know nothing about a murder or a missing body. As Mallory and Benoit begin to ferret out the truth, secrets reveal a decades old crime that has come back to haunt them all.

THE MAID’S DIARY is a story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, secrets and lies, twists and turns, and an extreme case of ‘gas-lighting’ planned out for years. Loreth Anne White pulls the reader into a thrilling, intense, dramatic, shocking and intriguing story of retribution and revenge-karma as the ultimate target.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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In The Deep by Loreth Anne White-a review

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In The Deep by Loreth Anne White-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 25, 2020

I hope you don’t find him. And if you do, I hope he’s dead and that he suffered…

Real-estate mogul Martin Cresswell-Smith is the best thing that has ever happened to Ellie. After her daughter’s devastating death, a divorce, and an emotional breakdown, he’s helped her move as far as possible from the grief, the rage, and the monsters of her past. Ellie imagines her new home with Martin in an Australian coastal town will be like living a fairy tale. But behind closed doors is another story—one that ends in Martin’s brutal murder. And Ellie seems almost relieved…

Naturally, everyone thinks Mrs. Cresswell-Smith is guilty.

Senior Constable Lozza Bianchi has reasonable doubt. She sees evidence of a twisted psychological battle and a couple who seemed to bring out the worst in each other—adultery, abuse, betrayal, and revenge. If anything Ellie says can be believed, that is. As the case takes twist after spiraling twist, Lozza can’t shake the gut instinct that she’s being manipulated. That Ellie is hiding something. That there are secrets yet to surface. Lozza has no idea.

•••••••

REVIEW:IN THE DEEP by Loreth Anne White is a contemporary, adult, psychological thriller focusing on Canadian heiress and children’s book artist Ellie Hartley Cresswell-Smith, and the investigation into the murder of her husband, real estate mogul Martin Cresswell Smith.

Told from several first and third person perspectives including Ellie Hartley and Senior Constable Laurel ‘Lozza’ Bianchi, IN THE DEEP follows Canadian heiress Ellie Hartley in the months following her whirlwind romance with Australian real estate mogul Martin Cresswell Smith. Within days after meeting Martin Cresswell, Ellie Hartley reluctantly agrees to a working European vacation culminated by their marriage in Las Vegas, Nevada. Four months will pass before Ellie joins Martin in Australia where her life is about to spiral out of control. Frequent unexplained blackouts blamed on the use of alcohol and drugs finds our heroine the prime suspect in her husband’s murder, a murder predicated on secrets and lies. As the investigation, by Senior Constable Detective Lozza Bianchi, into Ellie’s husband’s murder takes on a life of it’s own, the author pulls the reader into the backstory and history of Ellie’s life including her first marriage, her controlling father, her friendship with Dana Bainbridge in Vancouver BC, and her descent into madness at the expense of her own happiness and sanity.

IN THE DEEP takes place in Agnes Basin, New South Wales, Australia where Ellie becomes suspicious within minutes upon arrival. Although welcomed into the bosom of small town life, Ellie finds herself on the outside looking in, and the unenviable target of her new husband’s anger and rage. Not all is well in Ellie’s less than well-ordered life but she never expected to find herself on the defensive with strangers who meant more to her husband than she could ever have imagined.

Loreth Ann White pulls the reader into a suspense filled, psychological thriller of murder, deception, secrets and lies, intricate games of life and death. With a colorful, energetic and eclectic cast of secondary and supporting characters, IN THE DEEP is a complex and detailed story with so many twists and turns- you won’t be able to stop reading until the very end.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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In The Dark by Loreth Anne White-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

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In The Dark by Loreth Anne White-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 1, 2019

A secluded mountain lodge. The perfect getaway. So remote no one will ever find you.

The promise of a luxury vacation at a secluded wilderness spa has brought together eight lucky guests. But nothing is what they were led to believe. As a fierce storm barrels down and all contact with the outside is cut off, the guests fear that it’s not a getaway. It’s a trap.

Each one has a secret. Each one has something to hide. And now, as darkness closes in, they all have something to fear—including one another.

Alerted to the vanished party of strangers, homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton must brave the brutal elements of the mountains to find them. But even Mason and Callie have no idea how precious time is. Because the clock is ticking, and one by one, the guests of Forest Shadow Lodge are being hunted. For them, surviving becomes part of a diabolical game.

••••••••

REVIEW:IN THE DARK by Loreth Ann White is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, mystery thriller akin to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (aka Ten Little Indians).

Told from several third person and first person perspectives following two timelines, IN THE DARK follows homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton as they are called into a potential crime scene where a plane and its’ ‘pilot’ have been found in the BC forest, a pilot with obvious signs of knife wounds in her neck. What ensues is the search for the truth, and the discovery that more than one person fell victim to a masterful game.

Loreth Anne White pulls the reader into a mystery thriller as we are up close and personal with a group of people who have been invited to the opening of a new high-end lodge and spa in the BC wilderness , a group of people connected by sins of the past. From a PI to a former police officer, to a doctor, a business woman and her husband, a former prostitute, a one-time newscaster, and an airline pilot, the fated group will slowly succumbed to a game of revenge and betrayal, secrets and lies. Having willingly walked into a trap, the guests become pawns and prey to a killer, and the wilderness alike.

IN THE DARK is a story of intrigue and mystery; of revenge and retribution; of secrets and lies; of circumstance and opportunity. The premise is entertaining, sensational, and electrifying ; the characters are numerous, dynamic, and fated to die.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

 

“The gas stove and the gas water heaters work,” Nathan said. “And there’s plumbing.” He turned his back on them and busied himself taking mugs out of the cupboard in an exaggerated fashion. His heart hammered in his chest. Sweat prickled across his lip.

“And there’s tea, coffee, tins of tuna, and soup,” Steven said as he hurriedly opened more cupboards.

Bart frowned. “Well, at least we won’t go hungry.” He made for the living area, paused. “I found a path. It looks like it leads around to the other bay, but it was getting too dark to follow without a flashlight.”

“Do you think it might lead to the real lodge?” Steven asked.

Nathan blinked. It was like the doctor was reaching for straws by asking—as if hoping, still, that their pilot had just made some terrible screwup with the GPS coordinates.

Bart said, “We can check again in the morning to see if—”

“There is no real lodge.” Jackie appeared in the doorway that led from the great room into the kitchen.

They all turned to look at the solid woman with intense eyes.

“This is no mistake,” she said curtly. “This is a con, some sick game.”

“What do you mean?” Bart asked.

“Did you guys not see the plaque outside, next to the front door? This place is called Forest Shadow Lodge. As in Forest Shadow Wilderness Resort & Spa. Here, look at this.” She pulled a brochure from her pocket and smoothed it out on the kitchen island.

“I printed it off the website before I left home.” She jabbed a photo of the luxury lodge. “It’s fake. It’s photoshopped, because it’s using the same location. See this bay here? And the shape of this one here? This mountain? This is how the terrain looked from the air. It’s this spot, but someone has photoshopped the spa into the location. They’ve erased parts of the forest, added cabins and trails, plus interior shots from some other spa and lodges.” She met their gazes. “This whole thing was faked from the get-go. We were lured here. All of us. And now we’re trapped.”

A sinister cold seemed to enter the kitchen. A shutter banged upstairs, and wind whistled. Mist, cloying and wet, pressed up against the windows. It grew darker inside.

“Why?” Bart asked, still holding his wood.

“God knows.” Jackie dragged her hand over her hair. “But right now, we’re stuck. We’ve been baited and lured into some weird kind of wilderness prison.”

“We are not trapped.” Stella entered the kitchen. “We have a plane. And you guys have a pilot—me. We have fuel. We—”

“We have no bloody radio!” Jackie snapped, whirling round to face Stella, her eyes furious.

“What?” said Steven.

“That’s right,” Jackie said. “Go on, tell them, Stella.”

Stella’s gray eyes flashed, shooting daggers at Jackie.

“Go on. Tell them. The radio is broken. Sabotaged, wires cut.”

“But I heard you speaking to your dispatch on the radio,” Nathan said.

“But it wasn’t working, was it, Stella?” Jackie said. “Your dispatch couldn’t hear you, could they? No one even knows where we are, do they?”

Stella’s features went tight.

“So when were you going to tell us this, Stella?” Steven asked.

“I didn’t want to say right away. Fear, worry, is not a good thing when—”

“When what? Jesus. Who are you to decide what’s right and wrong for us to know?” Steven barked. “You’re just the pilot, not the boss of our lives, for Chrissakes.”

“There’s a chance I could fix it in the morning. If I can—if it’s an easy fix—you’d never have to have known about it.”

“So you thought you’d play God?” Steven snapped. “Because we would all panic.” He wagged jazz hands at the sides of his face.

“And you’re not panicking?” she said.

Silence swelled in the kitchen. It felt for a bizarre moment as though the house was listening. Alive. Hostile. Nathan felt hairs rise along his arms. He was sensitive to these things. He could feel trees in the forest watching and listening to him.


1. You are very well known for your romantic suspense tales, but your new title, IN THE DARK, is all about mystery — a real whodunit! Tell us a bit about the story.

I like to think there is still a strong echo of my earlier romantic suspense books that ripples through IN THE DARK. Yes, it’s a locked-room mystery/thriller — wilderness style, but the mystery narrative is wrapped inside a romantic suspense-style narrative that follows a budding friendship between Detective Mason Deniaud and Search & Rescue manager Callie Sutton who must not only piece together what happened as they hunt for survivors, but also must race against time to save who might be left. The story leaves off with a promise of more ahead in the relationship between Callie and Mason, so my roots are still showing, I hope.

2. Your story definitely has shades of Agatha Christie as well as a nod or two to Stephen King. Did these authors act as inspirations for this book?

IN THE DARK is not only a homage to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, but Christie’s story becomes a plot device, a psychological tool that the villain uses to instill fear in the victims trapped in the lodge because the victims know what transpired in the book, and they anticipate the same will happen to them.

And yes, a teensy nod to master of atmosphere and horror, Stephen King’s THE SHINING where characters are trapped in a remote and snowbound hotel and become mercy to the psychological horror that descends on them.

3. A rural, isolated lodge is always a great place to start a suspenseful novel. How exactly did your characters all come to be at Forest Shadow Lodge?

The characters are invited for an all-expenses stay at the brand new, high-end, fly-in wilderness lodge and spa. They are lured by an offer to enjoy a ‘soft opening’, so to speak, where they can assess the accommodation and potentially negotiate lucrative contracts with the new lodge owners. Each guest runs a business that would be suitable for such an establishment. Each is excited by a possible lucrative contract. But not all is quite what meets the eye, of course.

4. Your story is told from multiple points-of-view as you take deep dives into the characters’ lives and histories. Does everyone have something to hide?

Don’t we all have something to hide? My characters in this book certainly do. Some of their secrets are more powerful than others.

5. Mason and Callie are two of the law enforcement responders that are trying to piece together exactly what happened at The Lodge. Tell us more about these characters and what makes them so good at what they do.

Mason Deniaud was a top homicide detective before relocating to the remote north for personal reasons. He lost a young son and a wife and he’s searching for a way to live, or exist, if not heal. Callie Sutton is a young mother who is single, but also isn’t because her husband lies in hospital and is brain dead. Her husband is there, but he also isn’t there for Callie and her young son. Like Mason, she’s in limbo, a place where she can’t move forward, or back. It’s through this they find a bond. And the search for the missing lodge party pushes them together.

6. IN THE DARK is a pivotal novel in your career. What does it have in common with your previous writing and how is it different? How does this inform your next steps as a writer?

Pivotal sounds cool. I’ll take it! Thank you. But yes IN THE DARK is a bit of a departure from my previous romantic suspense books. If readers enjoy it, however, and if my publisher remains happy, I’d like to keep growing in this direction. But I do think my crime stories will always revolve around strong women, or women who might be victims to start with, but who find agency and take back their lives and become strong and survive through the arc of a story. (As with my forthcoming work IN THE DEEP). I do love to include a relationship element in my crime novels, but bonding with a potential love interest comes out of the personal growth of the protagonist. I like to tell—and read—stories of women who find ways to rescue themselves.

Loreth Anne White is an award-winning, best-selling author of romantic suspense, thrillers, and mysteries. She has won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Romantic Suspense, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Romantic Crown for Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book Overall. In addition, she is a three-time RITA finalist, a Booksellers’ Best finalist, a multiple Daphne Du Maurier Award finalist, and a multiple CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award winner. A former journalist and newspaper editor who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now resides in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her family.

When she’s not writing you will find her skiing, biking or hiking the trails with her Black Dog, and generally trying to avoid the bears – albeit unsuccessfully. She calls this work, because it’s when the best ideas come!

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THE DARK BONES (A Dark Lure #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review Tour

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THE DARK BONES (Dark Lure #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 21, 2019

he’s come back to solve the mystery of her father’s death and confront her own dark past.
When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself.

To prove it, she needs the help of Ash Haugen, the man she left behind. But Rebecca and Ash share more than broken hearts. Something darker lies between them, and the investigation is stirring it back to life. Clues lead them to the home of Olivia West and her deeply troubled twelve-year-old daughter, Tori. The child knows more about the murder than anyone can imagine, but she’s too terrified to say a word.

And as a cold-blooded killer resurfaces from the past, Rebecca and Ash begin to fear that their own secrets may be even harder to survive.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: –THE DARK BONES is the second instalment in Loreth Anne White’s contemporary, adult, A DARK LURE psychological thriller series. This is RCMP commercial crimes Detective Sergeant Rebecca North, and Ash Haugen’s story line. THE DARK BONES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person perspectives including Ash and Rebecca, following several intersecting paths, using present day and memories from the past, THE DARK BONES follows in the wake of the death of Rebecca’s father, retired Cariboo Country cop Noah North. Having never expected to return to Cariboo Country, Rebecca North struggles with the evidence of her father’s demise. A man determined to solve a twenty-year old missing persons case, Noah North had apparently disturbed the dead, having opened up too many wounds, that were long thought buried and forgotten. Rebecca, desperate to prove her father’s death was a homicide, our heroine battles demons from the past, the memories of what was and what will never be, and a close-knit town of reluctant witnesses, dark secrets, and painful regrets. Reconnecting with Ash Haugen, the man she once loved, meant reconnecting with the heart break of betrayal and loss. What ensues is the rekindling relationship between Ash and Rebecca as our couple separately begin n investigation of their own into Noah North’s death, and the possible connection to Ash Haugen’s past.

THE DARK BONES is an intense, psychological thriller that looks at the angry, small-town mentality of protecting their own. From the secrets long buried with the dead, to the habitual town gossips, THE DARK BONES slowly reveals a complicated past, dangerous present and potential future when Noah North reopened a twenty-year old missing persons case that sets into motion a series of events that resulted in his death. Loreth Anne White pulls the reader into a suspense filled, strong and dramatic story of secrets and lies; of betrayal and vengeance; of lost love and forgotten time.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Rebecca felt warmth. She was enveloped by it. She heard the crackle and pop of dry logs burning and, in the distance, dogs barking. The smell of … fire—Her eyes shot open, her heart thumping.

He sat there. Ash. In a chair by the fire, watching her with his ice-blue eyes. She was in his living room, and the lighting had been dimmed. The flickering glow of the flames in the hearth behind him cast his rugged features into sharp relief. The scar down the side of his face looked harsh. An old brown dog with a white muzzle slept on a rug in front of the hearth.

Rebecca’s brain slotted puzzle pieces into place as she struggled through a mental haze to backtrack and figure out how she’d gotten here: The lights following her. The razed cabin and the clues that someone had been inside the shed and maybe fled the scene. Ash shooting at her. No gas in her truck. Fear of dying. Coming here to Haugen Ranch. Shucking her dad’s gear in Ash’s mudroom. Him helping her into the living room of his old family home—a great big log house built by his grandfather. Seating her on the sofa.

She sat up slowly, trying to pull her brain into sharper focus. A down duvet was wrapped around her, a heated blanket beneath that. The duvet smelled of fresh laundry. Yes, she recalled, the fire had already been going in the hearth when he’d brought her in—she’d noticed that. Next had come hot tea with honey, warm clothes handed to her—fleece, oversize. More tea.

He’d told her not to talk. Discussion could wait.

She met his eyes now and felt a visceral connection across the darkened room. This was her first proper look at him after all these years.

Her teen lover had aged. As she had. But he’d matured in a way she found attractive. He was neither sweet nor handsome. Rugged rather. A brooding look. Sun bronzed and weathered. Her attention returned to his scar. So prominent, cutting down the left side of his face from eye to jaw. He could have had plastic surgery over the past decades, but clearly hadn’t. Her memory slipped back to the day she’d tried to patch him up with the help of a small medical kit and knowledge she’d gleaned during her part-time job as a veterinary assistant.

He lied…

Her attention shifted to his hands. His knuckles were scarred.

What were you protecting him from that day?

She recalled the blood she’d seen on those ragged and bruised knuckles that day. Why had she not told her father she didn’t know for certain he’d fallen off his horse and been dragged across sharp terrain?

Why had she not questioned more firmly, at age sixteen, Ash’s refusal to go to the ER facility on that particular day? What deep psychology had driven her to possibly blind herself to search for a darker truth?

In that tempestuous, hormone-filled year she was sixteen, had she conveniently compartmentalized something that had created cognitive dissonance, because she’d just recently started sleeping with Ash, and needed to believe him? Needed to trust him again?

How had her actions that day shaped this present? Could it—she—have possibly played a role in her father’s death?

And why, oh dear God why, did Ash still make her feel things? This—this—was why she’d stayed away. He held an animal kind of magnetism over her. She felt it now, her gaze locked with his arctic eyes. Her attraction had blinded her to the fact he was not good for her. He was a liar.

She cleared her throat. “What time is it?”

“Almost midnight. You going to be okay? Do I need to drive you to Clinton?”

From his ranch it would take almost an hour, in the dark, on bad roads. And the ER would be closed. They’d have to call 911 for emergency to open up with an on-call physician. It reminded Rebecca that out here, one looked after one’s own.

“I … I must have passed out.”

A half smile. “Slept like a baby. You must have been tired.”

A desire to tell him all rose in Rebecca: How rough her journey home had been with the storms. How seeing her father’s body had gutted her. How exhausted she felt, emotionally. But she held back as her mind sharpened and the immediacy of why she was here, with him, in this house, was pulled into clear focus.

“What made you return to my father’s place when you did, Ash? How did you come to find me?”

“I go up to the Broken Bar mesa sometimes. The view of the valley on a clear, cold night is surreal.” A pause. “I needed to think.” After seeing you. The unspoken words seemed to simmer between them. “Someplace above it all. Then as the moon rose, I caught light glinting off metal where your father’s place was. I thought it might be a vehicle, so I went to check before heading home.” He paused. “You could have died out there.”

Rebecca swallowed as this fact sank like a stone through her gut.

“Have you been sitting there watching me like that all night?”

“You worried me,” he said. Then, very quietly, he added, “And I like to look at you.” He paused. “It’s been so long.”


 

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The Girl in the Moss (Angie Pallorino #3) by Loreth Anne White–a review

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THE GIRL IN THE MOSS (Angie Pallorino #3) by Loreth Anne White-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 12, 2018

A shallow grave exposes deadly secrets as bestselling author Loreth Anne White brings her thrilling series of romantic suspense to its shocking conclusion…

Disgraced ex-cop Angie Pallorino is determined to make a new start for herself as a private investigator. But first, she and her lover, newly promoted homicide detective James Maddocks, attempt a quiet getaway to rekindle a romance struggling in the shadows of their careers. The peace doesn’t last long when human skeletal remains are found in a nearby mossy grove.
This decades-old mystery is just what Angie needs to establish her new career—even as it thrusts her and Maddocks back into the media spotlight, once again endangering their tenuous relationship.

Then, when Angie’s inquiry into the old crime intersects with a cold case from her own policing past—one that a detective on Maddocks’s new team is working—the investigation takes a startling twist. It puts more than Angie’s last shot at redemption and a future with Maddocks at risk. The mystery of the girl in the moss could kill her.

•••••••

REVIEW: THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is the third instalment in Loreth Anne White’s contemporary, adult ANGIE PALLORINO murder/mystery/suspense series focusing on former Vancouver Police Department sex crimes Detective Angie Pallorino, and her partner/lover Detective Sergeant James Maddocks. THE GIRL IN THE MOSS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for cohesion especially as it pertains to our heroine’s back story.

Told from several third person perspectives including Angie Pallorino THE GIRL IN THE MOSS picks up several months after THE LULLABY GIRL (#2) and finds our heroine without purpose. Fired for going rogue as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department sex crimes unit, Angie Pallorino is working towards her PI certificate but the fame of notoriety is wreaking havoc with her current job. While on vacation, Angie and her lover Detective Sergeant James Maddocks will stumble upon a shallow grave believed to be the burial place of a young woman thought missing and drowned twenty-four years earlier. A phone call from the deceased woman’s family finds our heroine back on the hunt for answers, a hunt that leads Angie to a small town of hunters, lies, and closed door secrets. What ensues is a complex investigation and the detective work of one woman, as she battles her own personal demons, and the town residents who are desperate to keep buried sins of the past.

Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant James Maddocks offers up an ultimatum to the woman he loves. Unable to let go of the past, Angie struggles with the possibility of rejection including by the man that calls to her heart. James and his fellow detectives begin analysing a series of cold case files, files that will lead back to Angie’s current murder investigation.

THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is a mosaic of details and revelations from potential killers, to puzzling clues, clandestine lovers and secret lives. Old wounds will be opened, and families will be destroyed as one woman must come to terms with the necessity and determination to bring justice for a woman long thought buried and gone.

Loreth Anne White writes with purpose; an architect of amazing talent as her story line slowly gathers the momentum towards the final reveal. THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is a story of suspense and mystery; secrets and lies; violence and murder but ultimately a story of family and loss.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Drowned Girls
The Lullaby Girl
The Girl in the Moss

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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The Lullaby Girl (Angie Pallorino #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review, Interview & Giveaway

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THE LULLABY GIRL (Angie Pallorino #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review, Interview & Giveaway

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THE LULLABY GIRL
Angie Pallorino #2
by Loreth Anne White
Release Date: November 14, 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, murder, mystery, suspense

The Lullaby Girl

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 14, 2017

Detective Angie Pallorino took down a serial killer permanently and, according to her superiors, with excessive force. Benched on a desk assignment for twelve months, Angie struggles to maintain her sense of identity—if she’s not a detective, who is she? Then a decades-old cold case washes ashore, pulling her into an investigation she recognizes as deeply personal.

Angie’s lover and partner, James Maddocks, sees it, too. But spearheading an ongoing probe into a sex-trafficking ring and keeping Angie’s increasing obsession with her case in check is taking its toll. However, as startling connections between the parallel investigations emerge, Maddocks realizes he has more than Angie’s emotional state to worry about.

Driven and desperate to solve her case, Angie goes rogue, risking her relationship, career, and very life in pursuit of answers. She’ll learn that some truths are too painful to bear, and some sacrifices include collateral damage.

But Angie Pallorino won’t let it go. She can’t. It’s not in her blood.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: THE LULLABY GIRL is the second instalment in Loreth Anne White’s contemporary, adult ANGIE PALLORINO murder/mystery/suspense series focusing on Vancouver Police Department sex crimes Detective Angie Pallorino, and her partner/lover Detective Sergeant James Maddocks. THE LULLABY GIRL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.

Told from several third person perspectives including Angie and James THE LULLABY GIRL picks up immediately after the events of book one-The Drowned Girls-in which Angie Pallorino discovered that the life she lived has been based on a lie. Our heroine has recently been demoted and assigned desk duty in the face of violent take-down that was deemed excessive and unnecessary. Now with time on her hands, Angie begins a personal investigation into a thirty-year old cold case that will alter her life in more ways than one. Going rogue, and without the help of the man that she loves, Angie will come face to face with her past-a deadly encounter meant to end her life-a second time around.

Meanwhile, James Maddocks investigation into a sex-trafficking ring has caught the attention of the FBI and Canada’s RCMP. Partnering with the elite forces James will discover similarities between his case, and the one Angie has been investigating; and a potential showdown with the people in charge places Angie in the direct line of fire as she inserts herself where she doesn’t belong.

THE LULLABY GIRL is a story of betrayal and revenge, of power and control. The imagery and descriptive nature of the story line is dramatic and realistic. The emotional fall out is palpable and intense; the suspense is riveting and powerful. Loreth Anne White’s attention to detail is brilliant; the character development and world building is phenomenal; the energy and passion inspiring; the delivery fluent and artistic- a movie for the mind.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Drowned Girls
The Lullaby Girl

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Interview

TRC: Hi Loreth and welcome to The Reading Café.

Congratulations on the recent release of THE LULLABY GIRL.We would like to start with some background information.

Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Loreth Anne White 2Follow: Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Website

Loreth: Thank you for having me here! I’m excited to share Book 2 in my Angie Pallorino series with everyone. I’m a South-African-born-and-raised Canadian who lives in the stunning but wet, cold, and grey mountains of the Pacific Northwest. While it’s chocolate-box beautiful I miss blue African skies and sunshine and the wild ocean like a small hole in my soul. Like most writers, I’ve always loved books and stories. I’m a wife, a mother, a pet and nature lover, and weather influences my moods far more than it probably should.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Loreth: I’ve been lucky to have been surrounded by people who fed me books and stories from a very young age. From my Dutch grandfather, to my mother and father, my English teachers at school, my lecturers at university. Over the years these people all kept opening doors with secret keys to worlds of imagination.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your stories?

Loreth: Early on, when I first seriously sat down to write a novel, I was still working as a journalist. By far the most challenging hurdle was to come home after a day of overtime, deadlines, and solid writing at work, and then to try and write even more at night and over weekends while still balancing family commitments. Also, at that time, my girls were young, we were new immigrants who lived in a very small space. Our jobs were insecure, and I had no writing corner I could truly call my own—I wrote at a tiny table in our bedroom for the most part, where I could hear the noisy neighbours through the thin condo walls. Writing a novel, in some respects, seemed a ludicrous idea at the time. But I managed to sell that first one to New York, and while many more challenges lay ahead–and still do—it’s a journey I am pleased I started, and it’s a road I am happy to travel.

The Lullaby GirlTRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of THE LULLABY GIRL and the Angie Pallorino series?

Loreth: My Detective Angie Pallorino starts out in The Drowned Girls working sex crimes. It’s her wheelhouse. She’s good at it, and fiercely-driven to do it for reasons she doesn’t fully understand at the start of the series. By the end of that first book Angie has taken down a serial killer, permanently, and according to her superiors, with excessive force. Now, in The Lullaby Girl, Angie is forced back into uniform and she’s been benched on a desk assignment for 12 months. This challenges Angie in every way possible—if she’s not a detective, who is she? Then a decades-old cold case washes ashore, and Angie is pulled into an investigation she recognizes as deeply, frighteningly, personal. It could be a key to her past.

Driven and desperate to solve her own cold case in spite of her probation, Angie goes rogue, risking her relationship with Detective Maddocks, her career, and her very life in pursuit of the answers to her origins. But Angie will learn that some truths might be too painful to bear, and some sacrifices include collateral damage. And she’ll have to make some hard choices.

TRC: What type of research/plotting do you do, and how long do you spend researching /plotting before beginning a book?

Loreth: It depends on the story. I read non-fiction books, biographies, watch videos, movies, interview experts, do courses, and attend workshops. For example, for my Angie series, I read text books written for cops on how to investigate various kinds of homicides and crimes. I’ve done workshops conducted by law enforcement personnel, spoken with cops, and attended events like the wonderful Writers Police Academy that comes complete with hands-on weapons experience. And of course, there’s the writing craft aspect as well—for that, also courses, workshops, and better than anything—reading other novels in the genre.

TRC: How do you keep the plot(s) unpredictable without sacrificing content and believeability?

Loreth: I can only hope the plots are unpredictable while still delivering on genre expectations! I think the key is to develop rich characters who have their own unique takes on a plot situation, and to allow a unique setting to become character as well. Combined with one’s own voice and one’s own world view, hopefully the result is something fresh.

TRC: How did publishing your first book change your writing process?

Loreth: Hah! My editors and reviewers and readers all began to sit on my shoulder as I wrote. They’d jeer and point at the screen and yell: no, no ways can you do that! Oh no, that sucks, that’s silly!! …. I still struggle to shut them out and let my ‘girls in the basement’ loose–in private–on the first draft.

TRC: What was your hardest scene –ever-to write?

Loreth: I can’t think that there was any one scene particularly harder to write over any other. I do however find sex scenes challenging to craft because they need to deliver so much in a romance novel, in terms of not being gratuitous, in showing real character development, in driving the plot forward, and in still complicating or ramping up the suspense element of a romantic suspense.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Loreth: Yes!

The Drowned GirlsTRC: When writing a story line, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Loreth: They go hand-in-hand as the story develops.

TRC: How do you select the names of your characters?

Loreth: I do think about marketing and back cover copy when I consider names. I think about what might resonate with readers, and how some names might put readers off reading a story. Also, I try limit names starting with the same letter, or ones that sound too similar. And then I consider the sound of the name itself and try to match it to character. For example, for a certain kind of hero, or villain, one might want a harsher, or shorter sounding word. Or maybe something softer for a female character. Or, if she’s bad-ass, maybe certain names could undermine that tough quality. Then … at the final stage, an editor might still ask you to change a name! This happened to me with my book A Dark Lure. Cole, my hero, was initially named Hunter, and I was (rightly) asked to change this because of the hunting theme and metaphors already playing strongly through the novel. But to this day, when I get reader letters that mention Cole, I scratch my head thinking, who in the hell is Cole!? (to me, he’s still Hunter 🙂

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the story line so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Loreth: This is a big craft question! Bottom line, I think the key is to have real-time, blow-by-blow beats occurring in a scene–without summarizing–in order to make readers feel right there, part of the unfolding events. The summarizing–or introspection or ‘telling’–works better in the sequels that bridge the real-time scenes. It also helps to decide on who the focal character in each scene will be, and what his or her scene goal is. This goal, ideally, should be apparent to the reader at the outset, and the blows should come as that goal is obstructed beat-by-beat throughout that scene—either via dialogue/argument, events, or physical action. And at the end of that scene, that focal character should have arrived at a new direction, a next scene goal in mind.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Loreth: I used to. Now I prefer quiet. But I do listen to music in between, or before writing, to set mood/tone. And yes, I pick music I think might help amplify the tone I am seeking.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Loreth: That authors enjoy writing!

TRC: What is something that few, if anybody, knows about you?

Loreth: Ooh, I don’t know … I was a competitive swimmer and once eyed by coaches as a potential Olympic hopeful. I still love long-distance, open-water swimming and have trained in the past with guys like Lewis Pugh who have crossed the English Channel and who swim the most extreme polar ends of the earth. I enjoy cooking, but not baking. I cannot sing to save my life but wish I could. I don’t like ice cream.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Loreth: Right now I’m tackling a project that is challenging me in new ways. It requires more research than I’ve ever done. There is an epic romance at the core—a love triangle–where my characters face impossible choices against extraordinary circumstances. And there’s a mystery. It’s something that is really pushing me beyond my traditional comfort zone. Which is both a good thing and scary! I’m terribly excited about it so far, but the perennial writerly struggle remains: Will I ever be able to meet my own vision for this idea? Perhaps not. But as my mother-in-law used to say: if you aim for the star you might hit the top of the tree. Heh. So I’m trying.

LIGHTNING ROUND

● Favorite Food – cheese!

● Favorite Dessert – more cheese! (and dark chocolate and espresso coffee)

● Favorite TV Show – too many to name, but at the moment I am hooked on several great Nordic noir-ish crime series, and UK and other European crime shows.

● Last Movie You Saw – Victoria and Abdul

● Dark or Milk Chocolate – definitely dark and fine and bitter

● Secret Celebrity Crush – I love Helen Mirren, Judy Dench, Emma Thompson – all wonderful celebrity role models who show women both young and old that females can age with ferocity and grace and embrace the wisdom acquired over years on this earth, and who are not shy of the wrinkles that come with that hard-won place.

● Last Vacation Destination – Australia

● Do you have any pets? – Hudson and Brunswick, my black labradog and my orange cat, and some wild birds who flap outside my window to be hand fed.

● Last book you read – Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

TRC: Thank you Loreth for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of THE LULLABY GIRL. We wish you all the best.

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