Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Susan Meissner's Sticks & Stones ~ Reviewed




Sticks & Stones (A Rachael Flynn Mystery)
By Susan Meissner
Published by Harvest House
ISBN-10: 0-7369-1915-5

Description:
"They're going to find a body at the River Terrace construction site. He deserved what he got, but it wasn't supposed to happen. It was an accident."

Lawyer Rachel Flynn has only been at her new job in the Ramsey County attorney's office for four months when she receives an unsigned letter with the startling message.

Two days later the predicted body is found, but to everyone's astonishment, the remains have been buried for at least 20 years. When the body is identified as that of a 15-year-old-boy, the police begin to dig for clues. Rachael continues to receive anonymous notes...and the questions keep coming...
Was it really an accident, or was it murder? Why has it taken so many years for this story to come to light? And why did the young man "deserve" to die?

As Rachael searches out the identity of the writer, she finds herself drawn to the neighborhood where the body was found—and to an abandoned house that no longer exists, but seems to call out to her nonetheless.

Review:
Brilliantly written, Sticks & Stones is one of the best books I've read this year! Meissner's characters step off the page, taking you by the hand to journey with them.

And that journey takes you into a dark past, where a bully made their lives a living hell. I found myself angry at the parents and the school officials for not stopping him. And yet what could they really have done? Nothing more than they did. And that's why this story rings so true. You'll feel the victims' helplessness, their terror, and see how each has the perfect motive for murder.

Each one a suspect, Meissner leads you through a labyrinth of twist after twist, not to mention plenty of red herrings, and leaves you be kept guessing until the end. This reviewer gives Sticks & Stones her highest recommendation.

Reviewed by Ane Mulligan

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