Daughter of Ashes

July 6, 2015
At the outset of Talley’s leisurely paced 14th Hannah Ives mystery (after 2014’s Tomorrow’s Vengeance), Hannah Ives and her husband, Paul, who live in Annapolis, Md., go looking for a vacation house along Chesapeake Bay. The couple settle on a charming English cottage, which was built in 1765 and needs a lot of work. During the renovation of the charming home away from home, one of the workers discovers the mummified body of a baby girl on the smoke shelf of the chimney, where it appears to have rested for over half a century. Hannah’s investigation into who the infant was and how she died involves her in unexpected ways in her new community. Despite the number of years that have passed, the story has ramifications for some local residents. Not surprisingly, dark secrets from Maryland’s past ooze out, making this a tale of love, greed, racism, politics, and power. Fascinating information on how to search historical records is a bonus. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

August 5, 2013
After a slow beginning, Talley’s 12th Hannah Ives mystery (after 2012’s The Last Refuge) delivers steady wit, intrigue, and shocks. Hannah, a feisty grandmother and cancer survivor, joins her two compatible sisters and 14-year-old niece, Julie, on an eight-day cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda aboard the luxurious Islander. Once at sea, Hannah befriends David Warren, a terse and edgy passenger traveling solo, and discovers that his grown daughter, Charlotte, disappeared 18 months earlier from the Islander’s sister ship while working at their teen camp. What’s more, a young girl was viciously attacked on that cruise. Later, Julie is given alcohol-laced drinks, and, more disturbing, is assaulted, beaten, and dumped in a remote area of the ship. Is this somehow connected to Charlotte’s disappearance and the earlier attack? David and Hannah make a determined (if not always rational) team in a basically lighthearted read that builds to a satisfying conclusion. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

August 1, 2015

After losing out on the house of their dreams owing to an unscrupulous realtor, amateur sleuth Hannah Ives (Tomorrow's Vengeance) and her husband, Paul, buy a fixer-upper on the Chesapeake Bay. Their renovations uncover the mummified remains of an infant in the chimney. When the dodgy realtor is murdered, is it possible that the two crimes committed 60 years apart are connected?

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
Hannah Ives is in a bad mood. The amateur sleuth, star of a series of popular novels, was burned in a real-estate deal. Now she and her husband are renovating another place, and they've found something shocking: a dead body buried inside their new house. A child, apparently. If you know Hannah, you know that she won't be able to rest until she finds out who buried the infant and why. Hannah is a likable narrator; she's a cancer survivor, and that always plays a role in the stories (here, she refers to her diagnosis in the book's opening sentence), but she doesn't dwell on it. She's not a cancer survivor who solves crimes; she's a crime solver who happens to have overcome a personal challenge. Like Hannah's life, the books are full of joy and sadness, of brilliant light and terrifying shadow. Fans of the series will be well pleased, and readers who haven't met Hannah should do so promptly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)