Moonglotexas“She should have paid more attention to her longtime neighbor, Oliver Schneider, when she passed him on the road at dawn.”
Opening line of Echoes among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright
Jaime Jo Wright has an amazing ability to write thrilling split-time fiction! In Echoes among the Stones, she weaves a 1946 murder into a modern-day cemetery mystery. Captivating from the first page, I raced through it wanting to know who killed Imogen’s sister, Hazel and why and equally wanting to know how it would relate to the modern day story.
Each of cast of characters is complex, each individual multifaceted. At it’s heart, the book struggles with the challenges of grief and how God fits into the death of loved ones. Whilst the central theme is a sad one, it’s written with hope and so, the mood of the story is positive. Aggie and Imogen are easy to relate to and root for and I enjoyed the archeologist, Collin’s, intelligence, sensitivity and British wit.
I loved this mystery, it’s clever and carefully plotted but to share more would be to spoil the journey. If you enjoy a good whodunit full of clues for you to work out as you go along, this is one to read!
All in all, another stellar read from Jaime Jo Wright and a five out five en-JOY-ment. It’s highly recommended, one not to be missed!
From the back cover:
After Aggie Dunkirk’s career is unceremoniously ended by her own mistakes, she finds herself traveling to Wisconsin, where her grandmother, Mumsie, lives alone in her rambling old home. She didn’t plan for how eccentric Mumsie has become, obsessing over an old, unsolved crime scene–even going so far as to re-create it in the dollhouse.
Mystery seems to follow her when she finds work as a secretary helping to restore the flooded historical part of the cemetery. Forced to work with the cemetery’s puzzling, yet attractive archeologist, she exhumes the past’s secrets and unwittingly uncovers a crime that some will go to any length to keep quiet–even if it means silencing Aggie.
In 1946, Imogene Flannigan works in a local factory and has eyes on owning her own beauty salon. But coming home to discover her younger sister’s body in the attic changes everything. Unfamiliar with the newly burgeoning world of criminal forensics and not particularly welcomed as a woman, Imogene is nonetheless determined to stay involved. As her sister’s case grows cold, Imogene vows to find justice . . . even if it costs her everything.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Bethany House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
