Black Valley
A Novel
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Therapist-turned-reluctant detective Jessica Mayhew is on the trail once again in this smart, fast-paced novel of suspense from Charlotte Williams—author of the debut The House on the Cliff—a tautly written psychological thriller that ventures deep into the recesses of the mind.
Jessica Mayhew has enough problems without getting wrapped up in her patients’ drama. Her separation from her husband doesn’t seem as amicable as she once thought, and her daughters are drifting away as fast as they’re growing up. But her new client—chic, moody, obsessive painter Elinor Powell—has a way of drawing people in and soon Jessica’s getting involved with what seems to be a most artful murder.
Elinor presents a rare professional challenge. She blames herself for keeping a valuable portrait in her studio, where her mother was killed in an unsolved robbery. An attack of claustrophobia is interfering with her work, as is her deepening paranoia about her twin sister, Isobel, and her brother-in-law, Blake, a ruthless art dealer. But when Jessica meets the entire unhappy family at the debut show of Blake’s protégé—a reclusive ex-miner producing gloomy canvases in the Black Mountains of southeast Wales—she starts to wonder whether Elinor might be on to something. Might there be more to her mother’s death? Could Blake have been involved? And just what’s going on in those lonely hills?
Set against the otherworldly Welsh countryside, Black Valley is a novel rich in character, intrigue, and harrowing dangers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A plucky heroine is the best part of this sequel to The House on the Cliff from Williams, who died in 2014. Welsh psychotherapist Jessica Mayhew is intrigued by a new client, artist Elinor Powell, who suffers from claustrophobia and feelings of guilt after finding the body of her mother, a murder victim. As Jessica becomes embroiled in Elinor's world, she connects with Jacob Dresler, an art critic, with whom she begins a passionate affair. When Jessica and Jacob go away for a romantic weekend to an area of the Welsh countryside where Elinor said she would be camping, someone dies. Jessica tries to figure out what's going on, but Jacob dismisses her theories. Jessica's choice to investigate solo leads to her making some poor, credibility-straining decisions. Williams's breezy style and her well-rendered details of rural Wales compensate for the mystery's overall lack of suspense. With Williams gone, this is presumably the last in the series.
Customer Reviews
Black Valley
Good read. Definitely a "can't put downer."