The Liar's Girl

Title: The Liar's Girl
Author: Catherine Ryan Howard
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Source: Kindle Ebook
Rating: 3.5 out of 5




A young woman's body has been found in the Grand Canal in Dublin.  The body is that of a female student at St. John's College.  The local Garda detectives believe it is the work of a copycat of the Canal Killer, 10 years ago, so the visit the original serial killer.  He tells them he will talk, but only to his ex-girlfriend Alison.  Alison thought she left all of this behind her when she moved to the Netherlands, but once the Garda show up on her doorstep, she knows she needs to help.  Alison and Detective Malone work together to put the pieces together to stop the current killings and possibly free an innocent man.  Alison is forced to relive her past and face the demons she has been hiding from.

I am not sure what made me pick up this novel.  It spoke to me for some reason. Once I started reading it, I could not stop.  I couldn't get enough of them.  I felt as if I had known the characters personally and wanted to wrap my arms around Alison.  It is a clever use of today's technology and the dangers associated with sites like Facebook or twitter.  It really stands out form other novels in this genre, and is a fast paced read.  If you love thrillers, you would definitely love this one as well.


The premise is appealing to me, lately I have gotten into thriller/mystery novels a lot.  While it really stands out from others, it doesn't seem to compare with some of the other novels I have read.  Catharine Ryan Howard is a phenomenal story-teller.  She knows just how to grasp her readers and hold them hostage until the very end.  She gets into her readers minds and sets up camp, but I almost feel like more could have been done.  Some aspects were almost too predictable and a few things that drew away from the enjoyment factor of this novel.  One of which being that the murderer wasn't fully fleshed out.  His motive of teach women a certain lesson didn't seem all too plausible because how would they know that that was his motive.


While the book is a page-turner and held my attention  until the very end I still was wondering on a few things, like if Alison was careful to not post on the web and kept herself secret, how did the Garda find her in the first place?  The cops seems a little inept at their jobs and were more interested in flirting with Alison (at least Malone was), they didn't contribute anything to the case other than what Alison provided them.  She was a better detective than the actual detectives.  One thing I did enjoy was that there was nothing gory or sexual.  It was a clean mystery which I highly enjoyed.


Overall it was a good novel, I enjoyed the story and felt like I was helping to piece together the puzzle.  I would recommend it if you enjoy this genre.

Book of Killowen

Title: Book of Killowen
Author: Erin Hart
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library Book: Hardback
Rating: 4 out of 5


When a ancient body is found in the trunk of a car buried in bog located in Killowen Ireland, archeologists Nora Gavin and Cormac Maguire are asked to assist with the scene.  It is then that a second modern body is found and the mystery grows deeper.  The case takes the detectives and archeologist to an artists "Retreat" not far in search of answers, but everyone seems to be hiding something.  The further the archeologists dig the further into an ancient mystery they go.  Could the recent murder have something to do with the legendary Book of Killowen?  The other man found in the bog, could he have been a scribe or a monk of old?  Nora and Cormac embark on a journey into the past in order to solve the mystery of the present.  As they do so they begin to put their lives in more danger.



Medieval manuscripts, a bog in Ireland's beautiful countryside and a possible murder, what more could a girl possibly ask for?  I randomly picked this book up at the library because the cover caught my eye, and then when I read the synopsis, I felt the need to read more.  I am glad I found it or else I would not have discovered this author.  Erin's writing enthralled me from the beginning with the discovery of the bog man in the trunk of a car, then finding out he was centuries old! It was a great start to the novel.  I love how she incorporated history, art, philosophy, and a little bit of religion into the story.  She masterfully weaved her tale together that made it more than interesting.  I would say I would prefer her writing and stories over that of Dan Brown.

This is the fourth book in a series and I didn't feel like I was missing anything or felt lost when reading about the characters.  There are some things about Nora that may have been explained and happened in previous novels, but they don't affect the effect of the story.  If anything I want to go back and read the older novels as well.  I loved her character and how eager she was to learn and find out new things and how excited she got when she learned something new.  It felt like I was a part of her character because I love this sort of thing, well not murder but the archeology.  Honestly this book re-sparked my interest in archeology.  It is evident that Erin Hart did research and knew what she was talking about especially with wax tablets, ancient philosophers, the region her story takes place.  So much so, that it made me want to research Killowen and see if there really was a monastery there and add it to my list of places to visit.

The book is unpredictable, when things begin to get revealed you are astonished because the people involved are people you wouldn't have suspected.  Hart does a wonderful job at keeping things a secret and revealing just a small bit at a time.  She leaves her readers spellbound by the story, setting, characters, everything about her book leaves readers craving for more.  I looked into her and it seems there has been anything written since Book of Killowen, but I know I will go back and search for the other books in this series.  I need more of Nora Gavin!  I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a good story.