 |
| Mystery |
See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY
There were thirteen steps to the cellar. They were steep and they were narrow—but was a fall down them enough to have caused the twenty-seven deep lacerations to her aunt’s head?
Callie Harris travels from her home in Alabama to her aunt’s former mansion in Maine to unravel the haunting forty-year-old mystery of Dr. Laverne Harris Doss’ brutal death.
Why wasn’t a murder weapon found? Was her uncle justly convicted of the killing? Was his mistress involved? Or was the murderer the bearded stranger rumored to have arrived by train that night?
In the charming town of Richmond, located on the banks of Maine’s historic Kennebec River, Callie uncovers the community’s darkest secrets—a botched police investigation, a betrayed widow’s lie, a dead woman’s blackmail, and a wealthy philanthropist’s shame. The web of intrigue extends far beyond Callie's suspicions and its connection to her personal story pierces her to the core.
My Review...
Well, this was a good book, hard to put down, easy to read
BUT...the ending didn’t end. Well, it did end but then, it didn’t, at least not
to me. I think it was because I wanted to know more about the characters and
their lives. I am in great hopes there will be a sequel. I bet some people
would tell you exactly the opposite and they thought it ended just fine.
The setting is in a small town in Maine, obviously not too
far from Ogunquit or Kennebunkport from the descriptions. It is, in fact, on
the Kennebunk river. The book’s main characters involve Matt, a builder and
architect and his mother Rachel. Also there is Callie who is visiting Maine to try and find what really
happened to her aunt who was murdered long ago. I say this about “main
characters" and yet there were a lot of characters in this story. Sometimes
this can be very confusing, but Teresa Mathews handled all of these characters
so well, they were never confusing to me. Actually this is the first time in a
long time where a “village” of people has been involved and yet I never seemed
to mix up who was married to whom; not even which ones were best friends. I
have a soft spot or two in my heart for a few other characters but won’t
confuse you by mentioning them all here.
The setting and scenes are so well described I was almost
sitting looking out at the river from Rachel’s house. In fact, I even had my
feet up on the front porch rail reading this book. Well, maybe all of this is a
little exaggerated, but I felt like it and I think that’s a pretty fine description
of a good book.
read an excerpt...
A man hovered over the crumpled body of the woman at the bottom of the cellar stairs. An awful, guttural sound forced its way up from deep in her lungs. A
cavernous head gash bled profusely, the blood pooling, forming a red halo around her auburn hair. Her glassy, fixed eyes looked up at Callie, pleading for help. I must
stop the bleeding, Callie cried. She hurried down the stairs, her feet heavy, her heart pounding. Why can’t I breathe? Why can’t I reach her? Why won’t my feet move
faster? She was only steps from her aunt when the grimacing man turned toward her, then looked back to Laverne and raised his hand for a final blow.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Teresa Mathews is a graduate of The University of South Alabama. She’s a member of the Mobile Writers Guild and serves on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association.
An avid gardener and artist, she has multiple book covers to her credit. Several years ago after visiting the site of her real-life aunt’s murder, Teresa discovered another passion–storytelling. Although inspired by an actual tragedy, Thirteen Steps to the Cellar is fiction.
Raised on the Gulf Coast, Teresa, her husband, and son now live on a farm with a second home on the sparkling white sands of Fort Morgan, Alabama.
facebook – TeresaMathewsauthor
THE BOOK IS $0.99 DURING THE TOUR
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting. I really appreciate you reading and reviewing "13 Steps to the Cellar"!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed it a lot.
DeleteThanks for sharing and for the great giveaway :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting book cover.
ReplyDelete