No One Will Miss Her

Adult chiller 

     "They all thought I had it coming.

     They all thought I was better off dead.

     And the truth, the one I realized in that last horrible moment before the gun went off is just this:

     They were right."

     Lizzie Ouellette was doomed from birth to be her small town's outcast.  Her father's from away status kept him suspect in the minds of the native Copper Falls denizens.  Even having a native mother and being local born couldn't protect her from being shunned.  Maine has this saying:  if your cat births a litter in the oven you can't call the kittens biscuits.  Additionally she was the daughter of the owner of the local junkyard, residing in a decrepit trailer next to her dad's filthy, stinking place of business.  The other kids ignored and bullied her.  Their parents expected the worst of her.  She was basically an American version of the untouchable caste.

     "She smiled in a way that she hoped seemed self-deprecating, a little intimate, and leaned in.  'To be totally honest, I've had this color before.  It was last year's big fall trend, but I just can't let it go.  She paused, allowed herself to giggle.  'Is it awful to think that it really works on me?'"

     Adrienne Richards is the prototype of the woman many of us love to hate: the self-important social media influencer who posts, tweets, and whatever elses, mostly on superficial topics, while the rest of us work and/or parent.  She did hit a rough patch in the fallout from her husband's unpunished financial crimes that resulted in many people losing jobs or life savings.  But she still seems to have it all: the connections, the people to clean up any messes she makes, the money, and the lifestyle of luxury it can buy.  As in a $2000 gym tote.

     It would seem as though Adrienne's posh Boston digs and Lizzie's Maine boonies town (which is not part of the rural area considered tourist chic) would be worlds apart.  But when Lizzie turns up dead and mutilated with hubby, Dwayne, nowhere to be found homicide investigator, Ian Bird, finds himself heading South.

     Lizzie's dad had fixed her up a lakeside cottage to use for rental income.  Much to her town's horror, she used the internet to draw in clients "from away".  Adrienne and husband, Ethan, had taken to spending part of their summers there.  Who knows?  Perhaps the boundaries between the couples have become more fluid than traditional tenant/landlord ones.  Maybe the participants have found ways to use one another.  Maybe ways that went sour.

     If you can deduce the nuances and secrets of Kat Rosenfield's No One Will Miss Her before you get to the end of the book you're a much smarter sleuth than me.

On a purrrsonal note, it's the start of my three day weekend.  With frost coating the windows and the wind whipping around outside I am very grateful to not have to bus commute.  Tobago seems quite pleased to have me home.  It was a good week at school.  Yesterday at commuter lounge we offered people free smoothies.  I left the preparation to someone who had actually used a blender before and stuck to washing blenders and running around letting people know about the yummy treat they could enjoy.  Except my supervisor insisted I make his.  Don't worry.  He's still alive.  The smoothies were delicious.  I had two: a mango one and a blueberry one.  (Jules)

It's not fit weather out for feline or human. (Tobago)

A great  big shout out goes out to our readers with hopes that if you live in an area that is experiencing the arctic blast you will take precautions to stay safe.  Frostbite and hypothermia are not to be taken lightly.  My (Jules) father nearly lost his ears when he got seriously drunk and decided to ride his bike hatless in a cold snap.  

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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