False Alibi by Marguerite Sansone
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (222 Pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by CyclamenLibrary Assistant Cory Parker gets more than she bargains for when a rekindled childhood friendship with Elizabeth Strafford catapults her on the trail of a murderer. Cory and Elizabeth have more in common than having once shared a school bus. They’ve both lost people they love through violence.
Cory sets out to solve the murder of Elizabeth’s mother in order to give her friend the peace and closure she needs. The past bleeds into the present as Cory uncovers a murder plot gone bad, the truth of which threatens to destroy both women. A stranger interferes with Cory’s research as clues emerge, intimately tying Elizabeth to the killer. Evidence linking the murderer to the crime turns up in Cory’s possession, making her a target.
Cory closes in on the killer–just as the killer closes in on her.
Cory Parker still has nightmares from a car crash which she barely survived and her passenger didn’t. She’s returned home to live with her mother and work as a library assistant in the children’s department of the local library. She’s struggling at work, and her boss has given her a warning. But things turn around for Cory when she runs into a childhood friend, Elizabeth Strafford. Cory learns that her friend lost both of her parents when she was seven. Her mother was murdered and her father died in a plane crash the next day. The murder of Elizabeth’s mother has never been solved and now many years later, Cory decides to look into the murder with the hopes that she can give her friend some peace and closure, something that she herself has yet to find.
Cory is a very likeable protagonist. She has great investigative skills and she will do anything for her friend. Unfortunately, her skills turn out to be too good and the murderer feels threatened by her investigation. Soon both Cory and Elizabeth are in danger.
The suspense builds slowly at first and then picks up, turning this novel into a real page-turner. There are several action-packed chase scenes, all done without any cars, which had me holding my breath as I read.
In addition to the actual mystery and all the tension that builds around its solution, I was also very impressed by the handling of the tragedies in both young women’s lives. The characters felt very real and I sympathized with both of them. The tragedies were handled with great compassion and empathy.
Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll just say that the solution to the mystery was truly hair-raising and the reader knows the answers long before Cory does, which increased the tension for me, since I could see Cory walking into danger but obviously I had no way to stop her.
False Alibi is a gripping mystery which will not disappoint mystery lovers.
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