It is still summer and there is nothing better in this season than some deliciously scary, should I say haunting, books. As you know, if you have been reading this column, my first encounter with tantalizingly scary was “The Bat” by Mary Roberts Rinehart. I was sixteen, and from the moment I picked up her book, I was hooked on summers of spooky. And still today, although my summer reading ricochets around a variety of topics, I still spend Sunday afternoons outside, with my eternally barking Chihuahua Isabella, dedicated to some seriously chilling reading.
There are so many to choose from these days that I struggled to narrow my selections down to three for this column, but here it goes. “The Sun Down Motel” by Simone St. James is currently my top contender for edge-of-the seat reading. Frequently, authors pack the back-story into the first couple of chapters and then jump ahead to current day happenings in the rest of the book. Not so for this novel. St. James has chosen to alternate her chapters between 1982 and 2017.
We start in upstate Fell, New York in 1982. Vivian Delaney, our first heroine, is trying to get to New York City from Illinois. She gets as far as Fell, and through a series of events winds up taking a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. Bizarre things begin to happen in the form of what appear to be hauntings. Intrigued, Viv begins her investigation, but then, something very bad happens to Viv and she disappears.
We quickly jump to 2017, and Carly Kirk age 21, our other heroine, is trying to investigate the long-ago disappearance (before she was born) of her Aunt Viv. Carly’s mom, Viv’s younger sister, has recently died without ever discussing this very painful part of the family’s history. Carly, however, finds two newspaper clippings that give some tantalizing clues about this mystery. She drives to Fell, actually gets the same job at the same motel, which has not fared well over the years, and finds that nothing has changed! Except perhaps an entry in the guest book of a man who does not appear to actually be in residence. Who is the missing man? What is his connection to the motel, to Viv, and maybe to the murders? Oh, did I not mention the murders? Several of them, in fact, and all unsolved. As we keep reading, we are also following Viv as she chronicles her investigations on those murders – before she disappears. Menacingly creepy, I assure you.
I like the style St. James has chosen. These two story lines, seemingly quite different, begin to merge midway through the book, building suspense and really involving the reader in speculating about what will happen. I didn’t see the end coming, by the way, which just makes it an even better read.
This brings me to “The Murder List” penned by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Her story structure is similar to that of St. James in that her chapters begin six years ago, come to present day, and then bounce back again, giving more details about those earlier years.
Rachel North, our protagonist, is the main narrator. She is currently a law student at Harvard. Her former profession was as an aide to a highly placed state senator, who may (or may not) have been indiscreet with certain aspects of his private life. North is smart, works extremely hard, and is married to a loving husband who is a member of Boston’s defense bar. Thus, the name “The Murder List.” This list is of lawyers who will defend clients with no money, who are accused of a high-profile killing.
North’s husband has his own history, and part of it is with the head of the Boston District Attorney’s office. His is not necessarily a good history, and when North is chosen to be an intern at that office, sparks fly in the home. Everyone’s past comes back, the plot becomes more complex, and suddenly it is a cat and mouse game being played – with the stakes being survival of the one who is the best gambler of them all. I didn’t see this end coming either. I just love those kids of books! Ryan has won many honors for both her reporting and her writing, and I suspect this book will pick up a few awards as well.
My last pick for a pulse-pounding read is, “The Hand on the Wall” by Maureen Johnson. Technically, this is a YA (Young Adult) novel, and the conclusion to the three-part Truly Devious series that many readers have been waiting for. Don’t let the YA classification throw you! Adults of all ages will enjoy this read; but to get the full benefit you should first read “Truly Devious” (first in the series), and “The Vanishing Stair” (second in the series).
Our heroine in all three books is Stevie Bell. She is a teenager with a high IQ who is hell-bent on solving a 75-year-old mystery that has haunted her boarding school, Ellingham Academy.
Again, the structure of the narrative for all three books moves from one chapter in the 1930’s to the next chapter written in the present day. We start with the kidnapping of Alice Ellingham and her mother Iris, in 1936. Albert Ellingham, husband and father, is one of the world’s richest men. His idea of how to spend money is to start a school for highly intelligent children. Ellingham Academy, in the heart of Vermont, is the result. After Iris and Alice are kidnapped and Iris is found dead with no trace of Alice, speculation runs wild that the academy must be cursed. In this last book of the series, three people are now dead. Two are definitely murdered, and one looks like maybe misadventure. In any case, all three victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and bad things happened.
Stevie is not the only one trying to solve the kidnapping because a massive reward had been offered for the return of Alice – dead or alive, and the money is still waiting. Being a teenager, Stevie does take risks that adults would never dream of. But, those risks may result in solving the 75-year old mystery – along with the current deaths (possible murders). This is a strong conclusion to the series, and well worth the wait.
Each of these chilling reads uses a similar story format that has proven to move the reader along, build tension, and keep up a menacing level of suspense. I like the edginess of these stories, and as there is still more summer to come, I will be outside reading more of the same.