When my co-blogger and I decided to embark on our cross country trip to read a mystery in every state, I thought it would be hard to pick some of the authors. I was absolutely correct. I finally decided to start in New York because I was born there. Several years ago I met author Wendy Corsi Staub at a New England Book Show and have wanted to read pone of her books ever since. Hence the choice of “All the Way Home” for my first book.
Set in present day, New York, at the tip of the Adirondack Mountains, the story is based on every parent’s nightmare: a child disappearing with no trace. This was a riveting story right from the first sentence. One sister devastated and gone for ten years returns to her home to cope with her mentally ill mother and rebellious teenage sister and a healthy helping of guilt. She no sooner arrives on the scene then disappearances begin again.
There are numerous red herrings and mysterious unanswered questions: mysterious men on the street, missing food, strange smells of food cooking, and sightings by mother, a mysterious nun or two. Just amazing clues or non-clues make this a real page turner even though I missed the missed one of the most obvious.
Character development of the women in the Connolly family made sense. All three grew as the story continued. The dilemma of the new neighbors next door was also believable and their reactions to events made sense. Once it became obvious that something creepy was happening in their house, it was impossible to stop reading either when there was a babysitter or the baby was sleeping in his room.
Some reviews compared this author to Mary Higgins Clark in style. Although I can understand the thought, I have read both an find Staub to have more plot lines going on and better developed characters.
Staub who is a veteran author with more than 70 published novels. She also writes women’s fiction under the name, Wendy Markham. She is a nominee for the Mary Higgins Clark award for “Live to Tell”. She won the 2008 RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense and numerous other awards. For additional details, visit wendycorsistaub.com.
Set in present day, New York, at the tip of the Adirondack Mountains, the story is based on every parent’s nightmare: a child disappearing with no trace. This was a riveting story right from the first sentence. One sister devastated and gone for ten years returns to her home to cope with her mentally ill mother and rebellious teenage sister and a healthy helping of guilt. She no sooner arrives on the scene then disappearances begin again.
There are numerous red herrings and mysterious unanswered questions: mysterious men on the street, missing food, strange smells of food cooking, and sightings by mother, a mysterious nun or two. Just amazing clues or non-clues make this a real page turner even though I missed the missed one of the most obvious.
Character development of the women in the Connolly family made sense. All three grew as the story continued. The dilemma of the new neighbors next door was also believable and their reactions to events made sense. Once it became obvious that something creepy was happening in their house, it was impossible to stop reading either when there was a babysitter or the baby was sleeping in his room.
Some reviews compared this author to Mary Higgins Clark in style. Although I can understand the thought, I have read both an find Staub to have more plot lines going on and better developed characters.
Staub who is a veteran author with more than 70 published novels. She also writes women’s fiction under the name, Wendy Markham. She is a nominee for the Mary Higgins Clark award for “Live to Tell”. She won the 2008 RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense and numerous other awards. For additional details, visit wendycorsistaub.com.
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