The Weekenders; Mary Kay Andrews

The Weekenders; Mary Kay Andrews

McMillan Audio - 2016 

( St. Martin's Press)

Kathleen McInnerney - Narrator (decent)

Coastal Belle Isle, NC is the ideal setting for this beach read. As the story begins, it's Memorial Day weekend and Riley Griggs and her obnoxious preteen daughter Maggy, are waiting for Mr. Griggs (Wendell) to arrive by ferry to open up their summer beach home but, he never arrives.  Instead Riley is served with papers. She's thinking it's divorce papers she has been served with but, she later realizes that their beach house is being foreclosed.  How can this be?  She and her family have been islanders here for years and years. 

Little did Riley know but her husband was involved in some shady business dealings and there'a a reason he was a no-show, he's dead! Riley is left to pick up the pieces and figure out what Wendell was up to. In addition she must deal with the humiliation of all that has happened and raise her difficult daughter alone.

This novel has a little bit of everything to keep the story interesting enough -  romance, mystery, quirky and annoying characters and even an angst filled preteen girl. The audio was decent but, overall, I didn't find the story all that believable.  

My husband couldn't handle listening to this one on our road trip so I had to listen to this one solo.

3.5/5 stars

(library audio) 

The Bone Orchard; Paul Doiron

The Bone Orchard; Paul Doiron

Minotaur/McMillian Audio - 2014

In this crime mystery thriller former game warden, Mike Bowditch, now works as a fishing guide in Down East Maine after a few incidents and personal tragedy shook things up in his life. Just a few months after his job change he learns that his old supervisor Kathy Frost is under investigation after shooting and killing a suicidal war veteran.  Feeling for his former mentor he decides to visit her and offer his support, but has no idea what he is in for.

Kathy is shot, possibly and her sniper at-large. Mike, despite the fact he is no longer holds an official position in law enforcement, decides to pursue his own investigation to track down the shooter. As he dig deeper and deeper, he uncovers some new revelations about his friend Kathy. As the list of suspects grow, things escalate and quickly get a bit out of control.

I liked this crime mystery well enough, but I realized well into the story that this is the 5th book of a series which begins with, The Poacher's Son.....darn. So for me, there were some characters and some back history that would have made this a more enjoyable experience if I had read the other books first.  I loved the backwoods Maine setting, which played out so well in this story. I also liked the way the suspense grew gradually, but I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. Not sure whether I'll go back to read the first (4) books in the series at this point, but I still enjoyed the audiobook experience -- great narrator as well -- Henry Levya.

3.5/5 stars

(library audio book)