Someone Must Die
Review: When a grandmother finally convinces her estranged son to allow her grandson to visit her in Miami, Diana Lynd is thrilled. She dotes on six-year-old Ethan, and takes him to a neighborhood carnival. When Ethan doesn't come out of the funhouse, she begins to worry. And when no one can find him, she calls the police, in Someone Must Die, a novel of suspense by Sharon Potts.
Diana and Larry Lynd were not the best of parents to their two children, Aubrey and Kevin. Diana was working on her PhD in Social Psychology while Larry traveled extensively working for Innocent Projects, a group trying to free prisoners they believed were wrongly convicted. When they were together they fought. Years later, just before Kevin was to marry, Larry announces he's leaving Diana for another woman and moves out. Diana opted not to attend her son's wedding, causing Kevin to cut her out of his life leaving Aubrey alone to take care of her mother. Eight years have passed. Aubrey has become engaged to Jonathon Woodward and Kevin and his wife have a son, Ethan. Kevin didn't want his son to grow up not knowing all his grandparents, so arranged to have Ethan spend some time with Diana. And now Ethan has disappeared. Kevin and his wife fly to Miami from their home in New York City, with Larry joining them from Los Angeles. Though the Miami-Dade Police Department are conducting their own investigation in cooperation with the FBI, the family brings in their own set of investigators. It isn't long before Diana receives a ransom note: "We have Ethan. He is safe. We will return him unharmed if you do one thing. Kill Jonathon Woodward." Warning was also given not to contact any authority — they would know and Ethan would die. Her daughter's fiancé was being considered for the Supreme Court. Why would someone want him dead? Why would they want Diana to kill him? Why not just hire someone to do the job? She shares the information with Aubrey, who begins her own investigation. What she found was her mother was hiding something that happened in her life when she was a college student. The FBI believe her mother is involved in some way with Ethan's disappearance and is pressing her for more information. Aubrey needs to find answers, and whatever happened in her mother's past is her only chance to safe her nephew.
Someone Must Die is an intriguing and tense mystery. The reason for Ethan's abduction lies in the turbulent 1960s, when Aubrey's parents were in college, and part of the story is spent revisiting that time, decades ago. But why wait until now to bring it up? And what are her parents hiding that seems to be more important than the life of their only grandchild? How Aubrey unravels this twisted tale of lies and half-truths is fascinating to follow. This nuanced and complex novel of suspense is highly recommended.
Acknowledgment: Thomas & Mercer provided a copy of Someone Must Die for this review.
Review Copyright © 2016 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … In Their Blood Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover), September 2009 ISBN-13: 9781933515625; ISBN-10: 1933515627
Location(s) referenced in Someone Must Die: Miami, Florida
|
— ♦ —
Someone Must Die by Sharon Potts — A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-5039-3667-6
Publication Date: June 2016
List Price: $15.95

— ♦ —
Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
Mysterious Reviews is a Division of The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and a Business Unit of the Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites
|