My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni

Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House—a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder—is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.

When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past—and open the door to deadly danger.

REVIEW:
This deftly plotted mystery centers on an enjoyable new police heroine searching for closure after the rape and murder of her sister decades before. After her sister's death, Tracy's world and family fell apart; she eventually went into police work herself after years as a high school science teacher. When her sister's body is finally found, Tracy pushes to reopen the case; though someone was convicted of the crime years ago, she has always had her doubts about the identity of the killer because of her questions about the way the investigation was handled. The mystery here is good as is the way the narrative jumps back and forth in time to show us glimpses of Tracy's past. Though the twist was not such a surprise, it was still well handled and believable. My one quibble is that once the police chief and other realized that an adult Tracy was going to push, they could have saved everyone a world of hurt by confiding in a fellow law enforcement professional. Still, an enjoyable read; I'll be on the lookout for future installments featuring this investigator.

The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna

Duro is off on a morning’s hunt when he sees something one rarely does in Gost: a strange car. Later that day, he overhears its occupants, a British woman, Laura, and her two children, who have taken up residence in a house Duro knows well. He offers his assistance getting their water working again, and soon he is at the house every day, helping get it ready as their summer cottage, and serving as Laura’s trusted confidant.

But the other residents of Gost are not as pleased to have the interlopers, and as Duro and Laura’s daughter Grace uncover and begin to restore a mosaic in the front that has been plastered over, Duro must be increasingly creative to shield the family from the town’s hostility, and his own past with the house’s former occupants. As the inhabitants of Gost go about their days, working, striving to better themselves and their town, and arguing, the town’s volatile truths whisper ever louder.

REVIEW:
This excellent novel tells the tale of one small town in Croatia trying to come to terms with its wartime history. Newly arrived from England, Laura and her family see a lovely town where they cam built a summer home and a future business. Handyman Duro sees the town where he grew up superimposed with the blood-soaked memories of the war. He has complicated relationships with two other men in the town, relationships that become more clear as the story of Gost unfolds. Laura wants to see only Gost as it could be, while Duro can't escape from Gost as it was. Having lived in the region, I think Forna does an excellent job laying out the complex and painful efforts of the war's survivors to come to terms with the ethnic cleansing that turned neighbor against neighbor. Highly recommended.

I Love You More by Jennifer Murphy

Picasso Lane is twelve years old when her father, Oliver, is murdered at their summer beach house. Her mother, Diana, is the primary suspect—until the police discover his second wife, and then his third. The women say they have never met—but Picasso knows otherwise. Picasso remembers the morning beautiful Jewels showed up at their house, carrying the same purse as her mother, and a family portrait featuring her father with two strange boys. Picasso remembers lifting the phone, listening to late night calls with Bert, a woman heavily pregnant with Oliver's fourth child. As the police circle and a detective named Kyle Kennedy becomes a regular fixture in their home, Picasso tries to make sense of her father's death, the depth of his deceit, and the secrets that bind these three women.

REVIEW:
The main draw for this mystery novel is certainly the pre-teen (though precocious) Picasso Lane. Her father has just been murdered, and her mother is the main suspect...until more wives start showing up that is! The mystery is enjoyable though the big twist wasn't a surprise to me at all. The beauty here is in Picasso herself, and the way she reveals what she has learned about life, and love, and how to reconcile truth. She is a delight, and certainly carries the weight here in this story. Highly recommended!