Eight stars
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Marcy McCreary and CamCat Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
Having recently discovered the work of Marcy McCreary, I gladly accepted this ARC to continue the Susan (and Will) Ford series. With mysteries that straddle two time periods, McCreary has a knack of pulling things in together without getting the reader too bogged down. A murder at a local theatre soon opens up mysteries five decades in the past forcing Detective Susan Ford to investigate with the help of others. However, nothing is quite as it seems and the connections, albeit apparent, do not make much sense. Marcy McCreary does well in this third novel and has me eager for more!
Detective Susan Ford is slightly nervous when she is assigned a new partner. When Jack Tomelli emerges on the scene with ideas and a spring in his step, Ford is slightly less anxious, but still somewhat on edge. The pair are called to the scene of a summer stage theatre, whose director has been murdered. His face is caked with stage makeup and arms bound before being smothered with a pillow. While this seems odd, it is only the beginning. When Susan speaks of the crime scene to her father, a retired detective himself, Will Ford remembers a similar crime he worked back in 1969. Could the two crime scenes be tied together?
While it is not likely that the same killer committed these recent crimes, there is an unnerving similarity that could mean a copycat is in play. Soon, Detectives Ford and Tomelli are sifting through the crime scene and the memories that Will brings to the table. They are able to make some tangential connections, which only deepen the mystery and have everyone scrambling to make links. While it might have been fifty years ago, some memories are indelibly inked onto the minds of those who were around in 1969, which helps create a vivid image and sets up an eerie motive for the recent murders.
Weighed down with the fact that another killing took place a few months before in Massachusetts, Detectives Ford and Tomelli rush to make sense of it all. There is an event in her personal life that derails Susan Ford for a time, forcing her to reassess working and her aging parents. With a killer on the loose and new evidence emerging, this is one case that no one wants to stretch out too long. When the pieces come together, it will take lightning speed and determination to ensure that nothing is left blowing in the wind. McCreary does well with this novel and keeps the reader in the middle of the action.
Marcy McCreary continues to impress me with this series, as she juggles two time periods with relative ease. The narrative flow between 2019 and 1969 connects seamlessly and helps to enrich the mystery at the core of the story. Strong development adds to the momentum and keeps the characters sharp and on point. While there are only a handful of faces who have returned from the past two novels, McCreary is able to add depth to them, while fashioning strong new characters to keep this story alive. I did enjoy the personal subplot that emerges when it comes to Susan Ford’s family and hope that there will be more to come in future novels.
Marcy McCreary not only developed two time periods in this piece, she uses them both to help develop keen plot points for all to enjoy., I have found the flash-forward/backward aspects of the previous two novels quite entertaining, but this piece needed both 2019 and 1969 to make things work well. I found the twists to be both useful and well placed to keep the reader on their toes. I am eager to see what will come and hope future ideas on plot development will make this series even better. While there were moments I needed the action to kick it up a notch, McCreary was able to find her rhythm and kept the reader in mind as she spun this formidable tale! And now we wait for more Susan Ford…
Kudos, Madam McCreary, for this gripping story that balances past and present effectively in another mystery.
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