2 Suspense Novels to End the Year

by Susan Roberts

I'm catching up on some of my backlog of books as the year comes to an end. If you are looking for a good book to curl up with as you see the old year out, check out these two books of suspense.

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The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters  

October 2024; Catapult;  978-1646222384
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); historical fiction

A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years.

I missed this book when it was published last year and after reading all of the great reviews, I knew that I had to read it. It's now out in paperback. I loved it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are well written.  This is a book that needs to be read slowly so that you don't miss any of the beautiful writing but you want to read it fast to find out how it ends.  It's hard to believe that this was a debut novel for this author.  I know it's a book that I won't soon forget. 

In July 1962, a Mi’kmaw family traveled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries.  This is a trip that they make every year - parents, three sons, and two daughters - but this season will have a tragic ending.   Ruthie, the 4-year-old and the youngest in the family goes missing.  The family searched for her and finally called the police who weren't at all interested in the disappearance.  Joe, the closest in age to Ruthie is the last person to see her sitting on a rock at the end of the field.  Joe blames himself and the loss of his sister affected him for the rest of his life.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Joe from 1962 to the present.  He discusses the loss of his sister and the subsequent problems that he has in his life.  The alternating chapters are told by Norma -  a young girl who lives in Maine.  Her chapters mostly take place in the present time.  As a young girl, she felt that he mother was over-protective. She wasn't allowed to play with the children from school and was barely allowed to leave the house.  When she got older she was given a bit more freedom but her mother always kept her on a short leash. When she was a child, Norma had vivid dreams about a cabin and a large family.  They were so real yet her mother insisted that they were just dreams. As she grows to adulthood, she continues to feel like she doesn't really fit in with her parents.  Once her parents die, it's up to her aunt to tell Norma the truth about her past.  Norma is over 50 when she finally learns the secrets that her family kept from her.

There isn't a real mystery in the book...it's easy for a reader to put 2 and 2 together very early in the book.  What the author did a wonderful job with is showing how a young girl's disappearance affected two people throughout their lives.  The two main characters were beautifully written and their pain was so apparent throughout their lives.

This novel is about love and loss, families both good and bad, and the endearing love between siblings.  I highly recommend it if you enjoy well-written family sagas full of both sadness and love.

Buy The Berry Pickers at Amazon

The Off Season by Kelly Simmons

October 2024; Indie; 979-8334473171
ebook, print (342 pages); suspense

I've read several books by Kelly Simmons and she always gives her readers an exciting page-turning book with great characters and a suspenseful plot.

Vann is 13 years old and a very intelligent and determined young girl.  She and her parents have a home on the Chesapeake Bay where they spend their summers.  At the end of the summer, she found her mother's dead body on the shore.  The police and coroner determined that she had died by drowning but Vann just doesn't agree.  She and her father decide to stay in their summer house throughout the winter to help them deal with the death.  Vann goes to the police department and asks for information about her mother's death.  She explains to Nate Hunter, the current chief of police, that the department needed to re-open the case and insists that there was no way her mom drowned and that the police missed several important clues in their investigation.  Nate, who just moved from Baltimore, agrees to look into the case, and the more information he uncovers, the more convinced her is that a crime has been committed. Despite the demons in Nate's past, he is willing to listen to Vann and help her deal with her mother's death.  There are several secondary characters who help round out the story.

My favorite character was Vann.  She was smart and tenacious and didn't care whether the police got angry with her - she was determined to prove that her mother was murdered and didn't drown and nothing was going to stop her.

I found parts of the book kind of confusing -- the diary entries from a long-time resident and neighbor were interspersed with the story and it took a while to figure out why they were important.  The ending was also a bit confusing.  Overall, it was a fun book to read with a main character - a teenager that you won't soon forget.

Buy The Off Season at Amazon 

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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